About – Dave Thomas

Dave Thomas

Born in Fresno California, grew up in Santa Cruz California
BFA California Institute of the Arts
MFA California Institute of the Arts
Lives and works in McCall Idaho

Artist Statement

My daily practice is where everything begins — the discoveries, the meaning, the questions of what’s real and what isn’t. Nothing I make starts from a fixed idea; it all comes out of that ongoing work. The paintings aren’t really an expression of me. They’re shaped by the materials and conditions of the moment — I paint, then physically interrogate what I’ve made. I stay with painting rather than turning to other mediums, working to arrive at images that haven’t been considered before.

Dave Thomas – Biography

Dave Thomas is an American painter whose five-decade career has been shaped by the landscapes of California, Montana, and Idaho.

Born in Fresno in 1949, Thomas began painting at fifteen and has maintained an uninterrupted studio practice ever since. His early exposure to the California coast — surfing and sailing throughout adolescence — established a lasting framework for his artistic thinking, drawing a parallel between the instinctive, responsive decision-making of navigating open water and the act of working on canvas.

Thomas went on to earn both his B.F.A. and M.F.A. from the California Institute of the Arts in 1974. Thomas’s paintings have been exhibited and collected in galleries across the United States, from Beverly Hills to the East Coast, and are held in numerous private collections.

A move to Montana introduced the open spaces and expansive skies and Rocky Mountains of the American West into his visual language, an influence that continues to define his work today. Thomas maintains an active studio practice. He lives and works in McCall Idaho, sustained by continued engagement with the wider contemporary art world.