Oliver Thomas, First Post
Hi, this is Janet on behalf of both Ken and me. We have been artists for many, many years but only met four years ago. I have had an art business for over 20 years called Grand Traverse Arts and Ken had a construction and gallery business called Mr. Pinn.
Ken and I married in 2023, and since then we have been thinking about how best to showcase both our talents as one business. We decided a company reflecting each of our names was the most sensible approach to take and, thus, came up with Oliver Thomas Studio.
Our plans are to use this blog for several things: to provide a platform for sharing our experiences, to give you greater insights into who we are and why we love art, to provide updates on upcoming events and workshops that we are involved in, and to share tips and techniques we have learned over the decades of doing a variety of artwork.
Let’s begin with a little more about us, starting with Ken. Ken, as you see on this website, has a lot of experience painting (primarily in acrylic and oil), designing animations, and constructing unique 3D art.
Unfortunately, on October 24, 2024, Ken had a stroke that paralyzed his right side. AND, of course, Ken paints with his right hand! Since then, due to a strong, positive attitude, along with the help of great therapists, Ken has improved significantly. BUT his right hand still cannot grip a brush correctly.
A couple weeks back during Occupational Therapy, however, he was able to create a small acrylic painting with the assistance of an arm lift and wrapping a brush in foam to fit within his loose fist.
I will provide progress updates as time goes on!