Andy Thomas, his daughter Tria, left, and wife Dina, pose in Thomas' studio at his Carthage home. Globe/T. Rob Brown

Carthage artist Andy Thomas and his family have released a new book, "The Artful Journey." Globe/T. Rob Brown

Carthage artist Andy Thomas works on a new oil painting in his home studio on New Year's Day, Thursday afternoon, Jan. 1, 2004. The Thomas family recently had a new book published titled "The Artful Journey" about Thomas.

CARTHAGE, Mo. -- Turn the pages of Andy Thomas' new book "The Artful Journey," and you'll quickly feel a certain familiarity as you study the faces in his paintings.

But don't stop with just a casual glance. It's likely -- if you live around these parts -- the nagging feeling that you know the people on the pages is right on target.

In fact, if you've ever crossed paths with Thomas, there's a chance you might even be seeing yourself.

Thomas, through his collection of paintings, has gathered family and friends for a ride in his latest creative voyage, "The Artful Journey."

Sitting at a long wooden table in the kitchen of his Carthage home, Thomas drinks coffee and waits for reaction to this new "coffee table" book. For the first time the nationally recognized artist has turned writer, penning many of the stories that accompany his artwork.

"There's my daughter," he says, pointing to the face of the young girl depicted in the painting, "Margie's World." The text next to the portrait is fun and whimsical and is his 14-year-old daughter Tria's favorite page of the book.

Images of his wife, brother-in-law, father and a host of friends from local art circles look up from the pages filled with over 100 images of Thomas's artwork.

"You see the woman here is Dina," says Thomas, talking about a subject in a painting that looks a lot like his wife. "But then again, it's not. I've used her features, but changed them some. I do that in a lot a my work. I'll think about someone I know and maybe use some of their features."


Family project

Andy and Dina Thomas produced and edited "The Artful Journey," and daughter Tria learned to use a box camera so she could take the pictures of her father's work.

Thomas, now in his mid-40s, had worked as a commercial artist for Leggett and Platt, Inc. for 16 years before he left in 1991 to pursue his artwork full time. It was the experience he had in advertising, design and copywriting, that allowed Thomas to create the book on his own computer. Maze Creek Studio -- the upstairs loft where Thomas paints -- is the distribution point.

"It's something we've always wanted to do," said Thomas. "But, it's been difficult, because it seems like you never have your paintings together. Somehow, it just all worked out for us."

Most of Thomas' artwork hangs in the Greenhouse Gallery of Fine Art in San Antonio, Texas. Clinton B. Watson, director and co-owner of the gallery provided the foreward to the book.

"After realizing that, visually through his paintings, Andy is a storyteller, it didn't surprise me to learn that Andy also composes written stories, some fictional and some historical, to accompany most of his paintings," writes Watson in the foreward.


Memory lane


Ever the marketer, Dina Thomas says the book helps put into perspective her husband's range of works. There is no real chronology to the book, although Andy Thomas' Civil War paintings are grouped together in a section, and his Western art in another.

"Sometimes people are a little skeptical about the range that Andy has as a painter," says Dina Thomas. "Someone who picks up this book will know just what a talented artist Andy is."

The artist himself sees the book as a bit of an autobiography. He flips to Page 97 and a painting called "Fall Football Classic."

A group of young boys, a few with helmets on, is chasing after a fleet-footed runner. Thomas writes:

"I hope you were lucky enough to grow up playing football in the side yard. Watching the Super Bowl on a big screen TV doesn't begin to match the joy of boys and girls playing a real game."

"This painting is from a particular afternoon game with me and some of my life-long friends. That's me on one knee, shouting (I really wasn't much of an athlete). Bill, Craig and Jimmy are there too. The spirited runner is John Norris ... average speed in a foot race, blazing speed when chased."

Thomas grins as he looks at the page.

"This was fun. Writing these stories made me remember why I painted the scene in the first place," he says.

The Artful Journey is a collection of works by American artist Andy Thomas.

Primarily working in oils,Thomas' artistic passage through realism reflects his passion for the depth and nuances of representational art. Certainly the Artist's exuberance for painting and drawing are evident at each turn of the page.

Special insight to many of the paintings come from the notes and writings, most written by Thomas, collected and reprinted for this book.

The Artful Journey is indeed a voyage that takes us through the world created by Andy Thomas with his paintings, drawings, sketches and sculpture. This body of work confounds convention. Each page is a study in realism but the style, technique and content prove to be elusive changelings that let us drift from page to page with a delightful sense of anticipation. This collection reminds us that art can be intriguing and entertaining.

The book is a hard bound, full-color book. It is 128 pages of fabulous paintings that include many of the historical paintings that had been done to date. In addition to the historical images and stories, you will enjoy the vast variety of subjects and styles that only an artistic genius such as Andy Thomas can achieve. It is available for purchase for $50.00 plus shipping and applicable sales tax. studio@andythomas.com