Acrylic Interior Drawings and Watercolors

Unique floral watercolor of irises in a multi-faceted crystal vase by John Paul Thomas (American, 1927-2001). Signed "Thomas" lower right. Gallery tag on verso from Malama Arts, Inc. in Honolulu Hawaii notes the artist as John Thomas and the title as "Dark Essence". Displayed in a new brown mat and metal frame. Image size: 11"H x 11"W. John Paul Thomas was born on February 4, 1927 in Alabama and died on September 5, 2001 Honolulu, Hawaii. Thomas was an American artist specializing in oil painting, watercolor and drawing in several media. He was also an educator and arts scholar. He received a B.A. degree in 1951 from The New School [for Social Research] and an M.A. degree in 1954 from New York University where he studied with William Baziotes. He spent a year (1954-1955) in Rome, Italy studying Italian Renaissance painting. Upon returning to the U.S. he established his studio in Los Angeles (1956-1959), then San Francisco (1959-1963) and Marin County (1963-1970). He moved to the Kona District of Hawaii Island in 1970 where he worked for thirty-one years until his death. Thomas is among the foremost painters of Hawaii. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally in over 200 solo and group exhibitions in museums, universities and art galleries. He received residence fellowships at Yaddo Foundation (1954) and Huntington Hartford Foundation, Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California (1957 and 1962), a National Endowment for the Arts grant (1975), and commissions from the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts and Delta Air Lines...