Issue 1 Artist Spotlight | Priscilla Thomas
Luna Beckons, 11” x 14,” oil (Original artwork © Priscilla Thomas)
C+B: Tell us about yourself, Priscilla…
PT: Aside from creating art, I enjoy reading "sciency" books and sitting on a shaded deck listening to the sounds of nature. I also enjoy keeping up with events and advances in space travel and exploration; and listening to thoughts and opinions from diverse viewpoints on them. What would surprise most people is the lengths I’ve gone to in order to assure I could attend rocket launches and NASA media events. I will NEVER reveal them, I have a clean criminal record and want to keep it that way ;) . My brazen tactics have given me many experiences that have inspired numerous pieces of art.
C+B: What is one quote that inspires you or informs your work?
PT: Wow, there are so many... I am a book addict and would personalize the books in my home library with bookplates (it was a thing). My favorite bookplate, that I adored, had a silhouette of a battered Don Quixote on his steed, continuing on his quest along a landscape with a broken lance. I have never forgotten the inscription above the image... "Break a lance for an ideal." That comes back to me when making decisions in life, or specifically when I am faced with weighing what I want to say in a painting against whether the painting will have mass appeal. I never go with mass appeal.
C+B: What are your long-term goals for creating?
PT: Inspire people from ALL backgrounds to see new ways we can rise and progress as a united humanity.
Ideal creative retreat: A remote cabin in an evergreen forest, in complete solitude - for an extended stay. Give me a nice bonfire pit, big stone fireplace, and fresh coating of powdery snow.
Currently inspired by: Paula Dunn (@pauladunnartist) for her astonishing efficiency in creating mood and pulling the viewer in, and Roger Olmos (@el_olmos) for his perfection in storytelling. His images sweep me away. But an artist that tugs at my heart consistently, that has a longer duration career is Saul Chase (@chasesaul) - the breadth of his work while maintaining a tone that haunts and welcomes, is just, well, I'm speechless.
Priscilla Chase Thomas
