Linda Thomas

Paintings and Prints

I like to explore a subject until I’ve expressed much of what I find interesting about it. Sometimes after a length of time, I’ll return to the subject and use a different medium. Living in Tennessee, with its extraordinary natural beauty, I find much of my subject matter in the land and wildlife. Driving into town, I often see wild turkeys, deer and groundhogs while dodging squirrels and chipmunks in the road. And then there’s the possum sitting on the bar b q grill in the moonlight; a fox taking a shortcut through the gas station parking lot or the crows that caw and flap away when my dogs run out on the deck. I’m also intrigued by the ordinary human-made objects of our lives and my chair series reflects this. A chair is a reusable, ordinary object in which we rest, meditate, mourn, people-watch or worship. Each has a distinct character whether it’s a Greek taverna chair, a rusty metal lawn chair, or a fragile antique. There’s an unspoken history that we can only guess at. I often work in watercolor, Prismacolor and oils, but my favorite medium is intaglio printmaking. I have an Art Education and Fine Arts degree but I taught myself etching techniques while living in Saudi Arabia. Since then I’ve experimented with different etching chemicals and techniques, always seeking less hazardous materials. I carefully plan my image at the beginning of the process, but after exposing the plate to chemicals, tools, inks and sometimes accidents, I relinquish control and see what happens. Sometimes the spontaneity pays off, sometimes it’s a mess, but it all makes for a lovely tactile experience.