This biography from the Archives of AskART:
|  Western painter Richard D. Thomas was raised in a small town in the San Joaquin Valley of California. He was 30 before he began painting as a hobby while working as a high-tech defense equipment contractor. After his marriage ended and he lost his job due to a plant closing, he began painting full time. Thomas is a self-taught artist who spent years perfecting his skills and showing his work at hotels, shopping malls and convention centers.
The artist eventually found success and his paintings hang in major private collections and have been exhibited at many shows including Masters of the American West at the Autry Museum in Los Angeles and Western Visions at the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, Wyoming.
Today Thomas is remarried, and after 23 years in Colorado is living in Montana. He finds his inspiration and subjects in the scenic landscape and the state's rich Native American History. Thomas researches his subjects thoroughly, spending a lot of his time observing and interacting with locals. "I pretty much paint only that which I can experience myself," states Thomas in the June 2002 issue of Southwest Art. This approach is what makes Thomas' western paintings fresh and genuine.
Source: "Southwest Art Magazine", June 2002
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Biography from Trailside Galleries - WY:
|  Richard D. Thomas gets his inspiration for his landscapes and background for his western paintings from his native state, Colorado. He recently moved to Montana and still participates in the lifestyle he paints.
A professional artist for more than 25 years, Richard Thomas is nationally recognized for his images of contemporary working cowboys, western landscapes, cow ponies and Native American warriors. An outdoor painter, he immerses himself completely in his subject matter, becoming a part of what is conveyed on the canvas.
A top 100 finalist in the 1987 nationwide Arts For The Parks Competition, Thomas has won numerous awards for his work and has participated in various group and one-man shows around the country including the prestigious miniature show at the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, Wyoming. His works are found in private, corporate and public collections throughout the country.
Richard D. Thomas’ work was selected for the 2002 show at the Gene Autry Museum of Western Heritage in Los Angeles, “Masters of the American West.”Art of the West, 2001, April, The Studio Art & Antiques, 2000, May, "The House That Art Built", Southwest Art, 1998, March, 'Best of the West', "Art of the West", 1995, November, Richard Thomas: 'Molding a Mood', "Art of the West", 1995, November, 'What’s New' |
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