CHRIS THOMAS As an artist, Thomas is largely self-taught. He began developing his childhood interest in drawing and painting by studying the great Dutch Masters, as well as the American Masters such as William Harnett, Andrew Wyeth, and Winslow Homer. Thomas studied for a short time at the Art Students League in New York and the New York Academy of Figurative Art, and attended the Daniel Greene Portrait Workshop. Thomas paints still lifes, florals and portraits. He explains, “My preference is to paint from life, because painting from photographs makes the painting process feel mechanical. It has been my experience that photos interpret light and color much differently than the human eye.” When painting flowers, however, he does take several photographs to freeze the pose; he then blends the photographs with his own color studies to capture form, color and light. Thomas spent several years refining a tight and precise painting style. Many of his works are trompe l’oeil, a technique of realistic painting to trick the eye, using perspective to create an illusion of three-dimensionality. Thomas has recently explored a more spontaneous approach; his brushwork is looser, yet purposeful, imbuing his paintings with a sense of life. Thomas’ works have been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions across the country and have received numerous awards in juried competitions. Recent Exhibitions: 2002 Evansville Art Guild (Juried Exhibition), First Place, IN 2002 Ohio Valley Art League Portrait Show, First Place, OH 2002 Group Exhibition, San Francisco, CA 2001 Henderson Society of Art (Juried Exhibition), First Place, KY 2001 Evansville Art Guild (Juried Exhibition), Third Place, IN 2001 “Chris Thomas,” Solo Exhibition, Indianapolis, IN 2001 “Private Conversations,” Group Show, Indianapolis, IN 2000 “Nature to Nature,” Group Show, Audubon Museum, Henderson, KY 1997 Henderson Society of Art (Juried Exhibition), Second Place, KY 1996 Henderson Society of Art (Juried Exhibition), First Place, KY 1996 “Celebration of the Arts,” Juried Exhibition, Second Place 1996 48th Mid-States Art Exhibition, Juried Exhibition 1996 The Artist Magazine, Finalist, Landscape Competition 1996 “The Order of Things: Contemporary American and European Still Life,” Group Show, Evansville Museum, Evansville, IN Corporate Collections: Fifth Third National Bank, Evansville, IN; American General Finance, Evansville, IN; Welborn Baptist Hospital, Evansville, IN; St. Mary's Hospital, Evansville, IN; George Koch Son; Bristol-Myers Squibb, Evansville, IN.