WB Thompson

“Creativity is a journey, not a destination.”

WB Thompson creates with a compulsion that originates from his adventurous spirit. He takes the viewer on his personal creative journey. That odyssey includes his participation with community theater, in writing, in acting, and in designing sets, and in every painting and installation he constructs whether large or small. He has created a large-scale commissioned assemblage at the Key West International Airport.

Thompson shines as modern day Renaissance man. He earned both a BA in history while studying art, and a Juris Doctorate. While reflecting on his academic studies, he notes that his greatest influence came from his art teacher, Bill Bristow, at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. His mentor became his champion. He convinced the university to purchase several of Thompson’s paintings, likening his talent to that of Pierre Bonnard.

Eventually, Bill and his wife Lori decided to move to St. Thomas, her home. Here, while waiting to pass the bar, he began drawing and painting on paper. Painting was not just the new lawyer’s pass-time, but an activity he could not resist. Consequently, his successful law career presents a slim chapter in his life’s story, which centers on his painting and exhibiting his works for the past twenty five years.

Bill’s first works on paper found a ready audience. Gallery owners noted the raw energy in his choice of composition and color. He expanded to include canvas and hard board as the base. His choice of medium became Conté pencil, acrylic paint, and oil pastel. He began creating sculptural paintings and assemblages. Thompson has developed a loyal island client base and also exhibits in California, Connecticut, the Carolinas, Florida, New York, San Antonio, and Key West, Florida.

St. Thomas has greatly benefited by being Thompson’s home base. In 2004, he created and donated an  eighty inch by eighty foot mural “Carnival: An Island’s Collective Imagination” to the island’s Schneider Regional Medical Center.

He was selected to represent the Virgin Islands in the 2007-2008 juried installation Absolut Connections Art Project, for Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. He collaborated with at-risk youths in 2011 to create “Instruments of Change” a mixed-media mural assemblage. That same year he won first prize in the juried Caribbean Color Show. He also enjoys an annual exhibition at Mango Tango Art Gallery.

Thompson invites viewers to follow his creative journey and to let his art become a part of their lives.

Originals – small

Originals – Medium

Originals – Large

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