Childhood days in Hendersonville still an inspiration to famed Georgia artist

STONE MOUNTAIN, GEORGIA - Driven, inspired, energetic, humorous, often spiritual - These words don’t begin to describe the motivation for Olivia Thomason’s creations.

For nearly a half century she has painted scenes of her beloved South based on memories. Her brightly-colored surfaces celebrate everything from family dinners, farming, fishing, youth baseball to creek baptisms, worship services, outdoor political rallies and urban balloon races.

Many of her paintings are in homes and corporate and professional collections nationwide.

“I guess there’s around 300 by now,” she said, “but I never counted.”

Many paintings were commissioned, contracts to produce paintings to honor a marriage, a birthday, special moments and even restaurants and arts centers.

“Olivia excels in capturing the spirit of a place,” one gallery owner in Georgia said, “and somehow inserts humor, different generations and cultures-even animals- onto a canvas.”

Her influences relate to her mountain heritage.

“My warmest memories are from childhood days in Hendersonville, North Carolina. The Blue Ridge Mountains are deeply embedded in my heart and soul and the spirits of ancestors are strong.”

Ms. Thomason has, however, lived in the Atlanta region for all her adult life.

“I love where I am now, and I love the big city as well.”

Her portfolio is a tour-de-force of city life: The Atlanta Braves, Fabulous Fox Theatre, Old Dekalb Courthouse, Midtown Balloon Race, Oxford Bookstore, The ’96 Summer Olympics, Elvis in Atlanta, Decatur Arts Festival, Avondale Arts Festival, Stone Mountain Historic Village and dozens more.

The Primitive Eye, Olivia Thomason’s renowned and wildly popular folk art gallery near Emory University, won media acclaim as “Gallery of the Year,” multiple times and was the region’s epicenter of self-taught artists and their works for over a decade.

“Many artists who would have likely been overlooked got started through Olivia’s support,” according to Atlanta Historian Dr. Richard Funderburke.

An artist himself, Dr. Funderburke describes Ms. Thomason as “Georgia’s queen of folk art.”

The late Dr. Joe Perrin, who chaired Georgia State University’s Art Department, said in a past interview that “Olivia is one-of-kind, a Southern original whose works stand alone for originality and amazing detail. She has the rare ability to see everyday life through the eyes of a child and transfer what she sees on a canvas.”

Several of Thomason’s paintings honor events and historic landmarks. She painted Carl Sandburg’s historic Flat Rock farm, “Connemara,” commissioned for a graduation present. The Statue of Liberty in New York City has been featured in two paintings. Jack Daniel’s International Barbecue Competition inspired a popular work.

“Lynchburg is a lovely Tennessee village,” the artist recalled , and after visiting the event and meeting barbecue teams from the world over, I knew I had to paint this.”

“The Jack,” as the gala is called, became part of Ms. Thomason’s most popular works and now adorns a wall in a suburban Atlanta home.

Books are prominent in her life. Once a librarian, then a bookstore employee at Atlanta’s legendary Oxford Books, her home showcases shelves with almost countless books. Perhaps destiny required her to publish a children’s book. “The Great American Pie Contest” (Austin Macauley USA 2022) features a whimsical but meaningful story along with 28 original paintings and was selected by Scholastic US and made available to schools throughout the country. Two other children’s books are in the works, she revealed, and one, “The Dinosaur Grocery Store,” has recently been previewed before audiences, earning some raves.

During the heyday of her gallery, Thomason hosted an annual folk art soiree, “The Dog Days Folk Art Festival,” was held on select August weekends. Artists from throughout Georgia and as far away as Texas, Illinois, Kentucky and Florida displayed their works and crowds came to buy art, eat real barbecue, drink sweet tea and Coca-Cola and enjoy Blues and Country Music.

“I never charged admission,” said Ms. Thomason, “and we made new friends."

She added that the gala was multi-cultural.

“All artists were welcome and the goodwill just glowed,” she said.

Those who have worked alongside her attest to one essential truth: No painting ever excluded people.

“We are all God’s children and I want my legacy to honor different generations and all races, never favoring one over the other,” she said.

Folk art, according to Ms. Thomason, “is truly inclusive. It’s a wonderful way to celebrate who we are, where we came from and where we’re going.”

Teaching others to express themselves through art is another path Olivia Thomason has pursued. Children and seniors have been her students.

“The pandemic cut my last seniors class short,” she said. “I have appeared before civic groups and one second grade class to talk about the children’s books and the pleasures from storytelling through art.”

She said she planned to resume seniors classes soon.

Peggy Johnson is one of Ms. Thomason’s friends and a long-time admirer. Now retired from a career as an assistant for an Atlanta lawyer and living in Ball Ground, Georgia, she posed a question: “Why isn’t Olivia in the (Atlanta) High Museum’s Folk Art collection? She’s a genuine cultural treasure and has been a real force in keeping folk art alive.”

The path of self-taught artists can be quite lonely. In many ways, recognition parallels the emergence of Southern music, itself a branch of folk traditions. Blues, Gospel, Country, Bluegrass, Rock and Jazz evolved from grass-roots of the South. Obscurity was inextricably tied to isolation, poverty and even racism. Recordings, broadcasts, television, music halls, clubs and journalists provided many artists recognition and some gained fame. For some talents like Blind Willie McTell, fame arrived after he was buried.

Folk art has followed the same trajectory. Nellie Mae Rowe, discovered is the twilight of her life, is now receiving well-deserved recognition. O.L. Samuels, who died sick and alone in a public housing project was a Georgia native whose works are in major museums including the Smithsonian.

There is a thread connecting Thomason’s life and art to music, something she likes to incorporate in her paintings. Her father, a musician, once played in the band of one of the greatest Country stars of them all, Hank Williams.

The folk art tradition is in Thomason’s DNA. It’s on display in each and every painting she’s completed over the years. She has sailed her own ship and navigated the rough waters of popular culture quite well. Something deep inside her soul, rejects obscurity. She’s still painting, celebrating men, women, children, cooks, fiddlers, quilters, farmers, dancers, gospel singers, church choirs and red-faced politicians with humor and a lot of love.

Just like a Southern queen.

Doc Lawrence is an Atlanta native educated at Florida State University and Emory University and was editor at The Nationwide News. He is a food and wine editor and also an art and theater critic. Contact him at doclawrence@mindspring.com

This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: Childhood days in Hendersonville still an inspiration to famed Georgia artist