Today we’d like to introduce you to Terry Thirion.
Terry, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
My values are shaped by my Belgian upbringing. I left there when I was 22. Community and nature, craftsmanship and commerce, all intertwined in my youth. My father a stone carver, my mother had been a teacher and artist but gave it up to partner with my father to start up his monument and building business. I saw medieval architecture and paintings all around me, I absorbed it! Later these images became a building block for much of my art. Community life, Belgian farms, butterflies, landscapes and eventually pure nature and water.
My education started at the Academy in Leuven where I took live drawing classes, oil painting at the YWCA in Brooklyn (and what great teachers I had) and continued at Broward College in Florida. My most important teachers were Andy Braitman, Skip Lawrence, Paul Keysar and Steven Aimone. They gave me the foundation to move on to creating a body of work that became what I call, Extreme Color Spectrum. I do not have a favorite Color and work from extremely colorful to extremely white. It’s up to you to savor it.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
My works of art have included and been inspired by natural landscapes, water and particularly the edges of ponds and small creeks. The fragility of all living things and their interconnectedness are what empower me to act. I may sit at the edge of a river with a box of pastels or in my studio where I express my joy or sadness about these places. I use acrylics and oils and paint on canvas. I often use simple tools like tree sticks, inks and black walnut ink that I make myself from walnuts that grow in my backyard.
“During the past 20 years I have been inspired by natural landscapes and water scenes, particularly the edges of ponds, small rivers and creeks. This was expressed through landscape paintings. My work evolved from pure landscapes into abstraction and a “feeling” of the places where life exists in our imaginations.
I was moved by the plight of amphibians—and realized the power of art to raise awareness and inspire action. For more than 250 million years, frogs have been an integral part of earth’s web of life. Yet in one generation one third of all species have become extinct. Our natural environment is rapidly disappearing. In my own neighborhood, nearby creeks are being covered by developments, lawns and non-native vegetation, which will not sustain wildlife, and may lead to our own extinction.
For the past four years, my efforts to organize and support local events highlighting amphibian decline have raised awareness and ignited positive action by thousands of individuals.
Any advice for aspiring or new artists?
If you enjoy making art, don’t give up on that special exploratory side of yours, the one that may make “not such a good piece”! It is what will give you the energy and the inspiration towards your next masterpiece.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
One can see all my exhibitions history and resume on line –http://terrythirion.com/resume/.
Near Future:
A traveling exhibition I will participate in at Elder Gallery in Charlotte NC and in Boone, NC, October 3d. through 7, 2018 This exhibit is organized by the German American organization Zeitgeist as part of their one year German American Celebration.
Contact Info:
- Address: Studio 212 – 1817 Central Avenue, mailbox #1 Charlotte NC
- Website: http://terrythirion.com/terry-thirion-abstracts/
- Phone: 704-334-0800
- Email: Terry@EnjoyLifeNow.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/Ba-FHz0F1TC/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/terrym.thirion
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkHZ69PyVJM
Image Credit:
Terry Thirion: All paintings are oil on Canvas.
Promise of summer
The tryptic: teaming with life,
Summer’s end
Fragments
Vibrations
Pebbles
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