When a person grows up in the Texas panhandle devoid of large trees and lush greenery, but long on open spaces and big skies, one quickly develops an appreciation for a variety of terrain and landscape. With the cultured eye of an artist, detail, line, color, and variety become all encompassing in Robert Dale Thomas' paintings. His versatility appears in the big sky sunsets of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of New Mexico, the unmistakable portrayal of the Franklin Mountains of El Paso, and the lush woodlands of east Texas.
"The value of art for the patron lies in the finished work; for the artist, the value lies in the process of creating the artwork. My sincere aspiration with each piece is that it will elicit a response from the viewer: a taste, a smell, a memory off a moment of contentment and peace. My goal is to create the essence of a scene rather than a recreation of it," Thomas states. Indeed, Thomas' work consistently achieves that state of serenity for the viewer regardless of subject matter.
Born in 1950, he began painting at age thirteen. Thomas studied art and earned both a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Art degree from West Texas State University, where he subsequently taught. He has been teaching and painting full time since 1987. Robert and his wife, Mary, now make their home in Dallas, Texas. He is a member of the Academy of Arts, and the Texas Fine Art Association. Thomas' work is currently displayed in fine galleries in Amarillo and Dallas, as well as in Taos and Santa Fe, New Mexico.