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Joy Thomas with Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig at official presentation of his portrait at the Pentagon, January 25, 2001 (Photo by JOSN Rain Thomas)
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A painter of portraits, still lifes and landscapes, Joy Thomas is
proficient in watercolor, pastel and oil. Her paintings have been
selected for many juried shows, including the historic Salmagundi
Club and the National Arts Club of New York City where she has been
honored with numerous awards. In 1996, Thomas received the First Place
Prize for Portrait Painting from the American Society of Portrait
Artists. In 1998, she traveled to Sydney, Australia to serve as guest
lecturer/instructor and to accept the Honorary Lifetime Achievement
and Membership award from the Australian Society of Portrait Artists.
Thomas won the first place prize "The Best Paintings of 2000"
competition, sponsored by The Artist's Magazine, the winning painting
was selected from among 13,800 entries and was featured in the December
2000 issue. Her career has been featured in American Artist
magazine (Nov. 1996), The Artist's Magazine (April 1997), International
Artist magazine (January 1999), in the books; The Best of
Portrait Painting by North Light Books and in Portrait Highlights
published by Watson-Gupthill. She is the author of the book, The
Art of Portrait Drawing published by North Light Books, a division
of F&W Publishing, in 2006.
Joy Thomas is the author of The
Art of Portrait Drawing - You can order the book from
Amazon. Hardcover: 144 pages Publisher: North Light Books (June
12, 2006) |
Thomas has completed portrait commissions for leaders of business,
government, academia and finance. In 2001, she was commissioned
to paint the official portrait of the Secretary of the U.S. Navy,
Richard Danzig, for the Pentagon. In 2004, she traveled to New York
City to paint New York Jets owner, Robert Wood Johnson, philanthropist
and heir to Johnson & Johnson pharmaceuticals. Joy Thomas recently
completed the official portrait of the Commandant of the U.S. Coast
Guard; it was unveiled in 2006 in Washington D.C.
A fine arts major in college at Murray State University, she continued
her training at the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts in Connecticut, The
Loveland Academy of Fine Arts in Colorado and the Fechin Institute
of New Mexico. Thomas received merit scholarships from the Pastel
Society of America and the Scottsdale Gallery Association to study
at the Woodstock School of Art in New York and the Scottsdale Artist's
School in Arizona.
 Joy
Thomas has served as guest artist/instructor for the Minnesota River
School of Fine Arts, the Loveland Academy of Fine Arts in Colorado,
the Dallas Association of Creative Artists, the St. Louis Artist's
Guild, the Cincinnati Art Club and the Australian Society of Portrait
Artists in Sydney. Advertisements for her paintings have appeared
in Southern Accents and Veranda magazines.
Ms. Thomas lives with her husband, Kentucky native Fredrick Thomas.
They have three grown children and one grandchild. Fred Thomas designs
and creates hand carved museum quality frames, specializing in gold
and silver leafing.
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