Spring gallery show honors late co-founder

From a back wall in the Artists Circle gallery in downtown Amityville, Ron Thomson keeps watch.

His deep blue eyes look out to the side as a paintbrush dangles from his fingertips, fresh red paint dripping off the bristles. It may only be a painting, but Artists Circle founding member Andriani Lazaridou Mikolaitis hopes the 2008 self-portrait gives gallery visitors a bit of insight into Thomson.

"It gives you a sense of who he was as an artist," she said of Thomson, who died in February at age 68 of a heart attack.

Thomson, who was also a founding member of the Circle in 2001, is being honored this month by his fellow members with a gallery exhibit of five of his paintings. Thomson's work is part of the Artists Circle "Welcome Spring" show that runs until May 13.

Thomson was born in Brooklyn and raised in Levittown. He was attending Manhattan's School of Visual Arts when he was drafted into the Army in 1966.

War's impact

He served in Vietnam and was the only one in his unit to survive, said his wife, Janet. It was an experience that would come to inform his work as an artist and his view of foreign conflicts; he would later join the community organization PeaceSmiths. Thomson billed himself as an "artist, warrior, prophet for peace," said his sister, Carol D'Agostino of Levittown. "He felt there was a purpose as to why he survived," she said. "He felt he had to get the word out."

Thomson, a longtime Amityville resident, was a commercial artist for many years before deciding 10 years ago to devote himself completely to fine art. He ran his own art studio, with his wife handling the business end of things. The couple met at the wedding of Thomson's cousin, when Thomson caught the garter and Janet caught the bouquet. Thomson went off to war, but the same cousin played matchmaker when he returned, inviting them for dinner. They were soon married and were together for almost 42 years, having two sons. A portrait of Janet is one of the pieces on display in the gallery.

"It makes me feel really good," she said of the exhibit. "I'm very proud of him."

Artwork elsewhere

Thomson's artwork can be found all over Long Island -- a sculpture of two soldiers is at the veterans hospital in Northport, and a sculpture of Captain Kangaroo spent many years in Babylon Town Hall Park and is now being restored. Some of his pieces are also in Russia and Paris, his wife said.

The piece in Russia, a painting, was a result of Thomson's love of running and his devotion to war veterans. In 1990, he ran in the Moscow Peace Marathon in support of veterans from the war in Afghanistan.

Thomson, a lifetime member of the Levittown VFW, also once ran from Long Island to Albany in support of veterans.

"He loved running," his wife said. "He said he did his best creative thinking when he ran."

Thomson, an admirer of Monet and Gauguin, made improvement in his art a priority and continually pushed his own boundaries in using different mediums and techniques. In addition to painting, Thomson did pen-and-ink drawings, wood and papier-mâché sculptures and wrote poetry.

Thomson's work was "vibrant, with a lot of emotion" said Lazaridou Mikolaitis. "It was a realistic yet impressionistic type of work with vivid colors, and it really evoked a mood," she said.

Thomson was also a teacher. "He enjoyed showing anything he learned, whatever latest thing he was doing," Lazaridou Mikolaitis said. And not just to his students, she added. Not long ago, she said, he showed fellow artists how to do drawings on scratchboard, where a sharp tool is used to scratch out images on a board covered in black ink.

"He lived for his art and he always wanted to share it with others," said Lazaridou Mikolaitis.