Growing up in the small rural town of Bay Village, Ohio, Thomas William Jones fell in love with nature and the stories it holds. His father, a banker by day and a watercolor artist in his spare time, was a masterful example to both Thomas and his brother, Bill.
“I was fortunate to have a dad who loved to draw and paint. On the weekends he would set up his paints and like any little kid, I wanted to emulate him. I would watch him for hours using colors in Winsor Newton tubes that he stored in a little cigar box.”
As Thomas grew up, time allowed for the exploration of the rural countryside. The natural surroundings began to build up layers in his mind culminating in a desire to express what he was seeing. Thomas didn’t realize it at the time but his unique ability to capture the most nuanced details of an image was beginning to develop in him and would serve him well in the future. His time outside inspired Thomas naturally to get out his own paper and paints where his dad began to show him how to shape a tree trunk, how to express bark texture, and over time how to paint a sky suggesting the feeling of clouds using color.
In high school, Thomas had an art teacher who recognized this ability. “I guess it was just in my DNA, and he recognized that. My confidence started to grow as I realized I was becoming a better judge of what was in my head and getting my impressions onto watercolor paper.”
After attending The Cleveland Institute of Art, Thomas gleaned a little more technique in drawing and painting. Along the way, to help with tuition, he accepted commissions to do paintings of Bay Village homes. Also, with his interest in flying, World War II pilots would ask him to paint aircraft they had flown during the war. In 1967 Thomas visited Everett, WA after having been commissioned by the president of General Telephone Company of the NW to paint 25 paintings of their five-state rural service areas to hang in their new corporate headquarters.
“Through that experience, I learned to appreciate the way light plays throughout the day in the PNW as compared to in Ohio. I love the contrast between light and dark, and as a result, I developed the ability to simplify - where less became more. By doing so, I became a more emotional painter.”
In 1969 Thomas met Carrie, a teacher and quick champion of his talent; soon to be his wife in 1973. Until the early 1980s, Carrie continued teaching while Thomas pursued his art. Gaining more exposure, his local & national invitational exhibitions increased and Carrie chose to stop teaching to join Thomas in his endeavors.
During the next few years of national recognition, Thomas found himself interacting with other well-known American artists and collectors. In 1985 he was contacted by the White House social staff informing him that he had been selected by the Reagans to create their Presidential Christmas card. Mrs. Reagan had been shown Thomas’ work and fell in love with his ability to capture beauty and detail on paper. That 1985 card, “The Blue Room at Christmas”, turned out to be the first in a series of 4 paintings that he would do for the Reagans in their final term in office.
Thomas and Carrie eventually decided to relocate to Snohomish where they have lived for 31 years. “We are fortunate to live where we live and do what we do”, says Thomas. “It quickly became home because of this community.”
"I developed the ability to simplify - where less became more."