Ronald Thomason

Harper Former Texas State Artist, Ronald Thomason, has died peacefully at his home, The Artists Eye, in Harper, TX on August 4, 2011. His wife Sherra was at his side. It was his 80th birthday.

In addition to Sherra, he is survived by three daughters Rhonda Goff of Grand Cayman Island, Gayle of Fort Worth, TX and her husband Matt Barrick, DeAnn of Austin, TX and her husband Ronnie Walker a sister Bettie Fullart of Dallas, TX nine grandchildren Angie Lancaster, Jeffery, Jason and Casey Goff Lauren Carfa and Richard Barrick and Christina, Jacqueline and Jordan Walker, as well as three nieces and two nephews.


Among his many honors and acclamations Ronald was the Texas State Artist of the Year 1973 1974. He was also the creator of the famed Mary Martin quotPeter Panquot statue in Weatherford, TX. Ms. Martin personally requested Ronald to design the lifesize bronze herself. In addition to being a studio and design artist specializing in egg tempera and dry brush watercolor, he was also a book and technical illustrator, lithographer and art teacher.


His work has been showcased nationwide in numerous galleries and museums as well as extensive private collections around the world. Among his exhibitions The Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, The Fort Worth Art Center Museum, The Grace Museum, Abilene Columbus Museum of Fine Art, Columbus, GA Norwich University, Norwich, VT San Angelo State College Wichita Falls Art Museum Diamond M. Foundation Museum, Snyder, TX Baker Collector Gallery, Lubbock Charles and Emma Frye Art Museum, Seattle Wisconsin State College St. Edwards University Houston Baptist College The Smithsonian Institutions Traveling Drawing Exhibition Norfolk Art Museum Stephen Jackson Galleries, Wilmington, DE The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts The Butler Institute of American Arts, Youngstown, Ohio and numerous others.


Among the many honors owed on Ronald he received the National Academy of Design quotOlbrig Prizequot for Watercolor, the Louis Comfort Tiffany Fellowship Final, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Thuron Prize Honorable Mention and Best Painting West of The Mississippi, the Dixie Watercolor Annual in Montgomery Alabama, the Texas Watercolor Society 19th Annual Exhibit 2nd Award as well as others. His painting, quotThe Federal City quot a birdseye view of Washington D.C. with the dome of our nations capitol in the foreground, hangs in the National Archives, not far from the original Declaration of Independence. It was also the cover illustration for the boundandboxed tome, THE FEDERAL CITY, which Thomason and President Ford both autographed in a White House reception in 1976.


Ronald was born in Shawnee, Oklahoma, son of Carl Cecil and Elsie Farris Thomason. As a child he moved with his family to Fort Worth. He attended public school and at age ten began his formal art training with instructor Sally Gillespie at Texas Wesleyan. Upon high school graduation he attended North Texas State University, later enrolling in the Military. While stationed in Japan he took art instruction at the University of Nagasaki with K. Sakamoto. Returning to Texas he enrolled at Texas Christian University and studied with John Chumley at the Ft. Worth Art Museum and in Dallas with Chapman Kelley. He also attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts for three years and was a student of John McCoy, soninlaw and acolyte of N.C. Wyeth. Said McCoy of Thomasons work, quotIt is quite unnecessary to explain the work of Ronald Thomason to talk about his pictures can only be a personal reaction. The fine thing about these pictures is that they communicate to everyone because they are in a universal language. He paints his own country with a perception that speaks of a deeply religious nature and a love of the land and the state in which he lives. He reveals to anyone, who takes the time to look, a new and different way of seeing while evoking in each beholder a private meaning.quot


Ronald was a charming, gregarious and loving man. That rare breed of vanishing Texan who never met a stranger, he kept up an extensive correspondence with many hundreds of family, friends and acquaintances throughout the years. He was always interested in knowing what you were up to and how you were doing. He was especially a connoisseur of Texas tales and Texas humor. No one appreciated a well told, good joke better than Ronald Thomason.

His great joy in living, his passion for life, surrounded by good friends and quality times, was both heartfelt and infectious. To have experienced the delightful twinkle in his eye with the telling of yet another good yarn was a blessing owed and a privilege conveyed. His unique and endearing presence will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved him so.


A Memorial Service will be held in Fort Worth, Texas on Friday August 12 at 11:00 AM at the Ridgelea Country Club, 3700 Bernie Anderson Ave., Ft. Worth, 76116, 817 7328111.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the TEXAS HISTORICAL FOUNDATION, P.O. Box 50314, Austin, TX 78762, 512 4532154.

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