Artist: Ken Thomas

Kenneth Thomas began at the tail end of the baby boom (1959) in Northern Lower Michigan.  Raised for the most part in Antrim County, he had an un-extraordinary childhood, save for his need to express himself with his hands; painting, drawing and assembling objects.

After graduating from Elk Rapids High School in 1978, he enrolled in an engineering curriculum at Northwestern Michigan College. But, he was quickly drawn along a more expressive path.n 1984 he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Northern Michigan College where he added to his fascination with surrealism (among a myriad of great influences), exquisite isolation of Edward Hopper and the divine color fields of Mark Rothko.

Ken returned to Elk Rapids after college because You can take the boy out of Antrim County, but...

Although Ken's deepest desire has been to return to his love of art and his expressions on canvas, he has prospered in his life's employments of carpentry, home building and the design of his unique barn-style home.

Fast forward twenty-five years, and Holy Crappeth, was it fast! Primarily a painter, Ken's work is a manifestation of life-long search for meaning. His treatment of light in his paintings is intended to elicit recollections of a state of mind in the viewer (like smells trigger memories)  Ken asks his viewer, "Do you remember when you felt like this?"

Ken is saying, "I do too. I do too."