RT Thomas

I grew up in Hattiesburg, Miss.I could draw before I could write, and, growing up, I mostly did pen-and-ink and graphite drawings. In 1983, I had just started air brushing when I went on vacation in an RV with my family to Cherokee, NC, and I took my equipment with me just to have something to do. We stayed at a campground, and I ended up at a barbeque restaurant; the owner let me set up in a parking lot, and it went well. I made friends in N. Carolina and explored ideas about where I could air brush for work. It was the end of the season, so I decided to go back the next year. I was in love with airbrushing so what better way to make a living? I went back the next year, found some places to set up and spent 18 or so years working there as an airbrush artist catering mainly to tourists, doing t-shirts, auto tags, murals and almost anything I could get paint to stick to. In 1998-99, while still working in Cherokee, I started doing a few signs on the side, including painting signs. I learned of a group of sign painters/airbrush artists/pin stripers called Letterheads that was beginning to have a huge presence online. It was there that I met and became friends with some like-minded individuals in Australia. In 1998 I went to a "meet" there that was actually the International Letterheads Meet of Australia. One of my good "mates" was having the meet in his hometown of Loxton, South Australia. I spent three weeks there visiting his family and doing some sightseeing. I met another "mate" while there, and in 2003 he asked me to come back down to help him do some murals on three huge water tanks located near the northeastern city of Rockhampton . I went back and spent about 2 months working and traveling. The time of my life!! When I left Cherokee, I came back to Mississippi full time to be with my aging parents and open a sign business. I got involved with South Mississippi Art Association some time after that. Other media I enjoy besides airbrush are watercolor, digital and anything else that inspires me at the moment. Artists I admire are Van Gogh, Frazetta, Dali, Rick Griffin, The Hildebrands, Rowena, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Goya and too many more to name here. My favorite quote by and artist is, “When it came to my art, I went my own way and did not follow the trends.” ~Frank Frazetta

Water Tower in Australia painted by RT Thomas.