OC Mag 01-22

little more.”
She had a variety of jobs, some more
creatively oriented that others, and was
able to find an artistic outlet in different
ways.
“There was a time when I did creative
gingerbread houses for people.
I also worked as a children’s pastor
and developed a puppet program, so
I was a puppeteer, wrote scripts and
designed sets,” Thompson said. “And
when you’re a mom with kids you’re
always trying to be creative in terms
of thinking up things to do that would
captivate their imaginations.”
Her son would actually end up tagging
along when Thompson decided to
dive back into
the art world.
“I had been
out of doing art
seriously for
decades and
thought maybe
I should brush
up on my skills
when I saw an
art class come
available, so I
jumped at it,”
Thompson said.
“My son, who
was in junior high at the time, encouraged
me and said ‘I like to draw. I’ll
go with you.’ He was the only guy, let
alone young guy, in the class and was a
real hit with the whole class.”
Once that class was finished the
teacher encouraged Thompson to try
painting and enroll in her watercolor
class.
“I was a bit hesitant but decided to
give it a try. It was a real eye opener
and, quite literally, added color to my
life!” Thompson said. “She took me
under her wing, mentored me and encouraged
me to start exhibiting work
and things kind of took off from there.”
The medium
Watercolor can have a life of it’s
own, which presents a unique set of opportunities
and challenges for an artist.
Thompson enjoys both those aspects
of the medium.
“Watercolor appeals to me both aesthetically
and practically,” Thompson
said. “It is a very versatile medium
which has a unique luminosity which I
find very expressive. Colors are transparent
or can be layered to produce
bright, rich color. It can also be combined
with other mediums to create
unique textures.”
While the artist can exert a certain
level of control, they need to be flexible
as well to go with the flow.
“With watercolor you put water
on paper and drop in the paint and it
spreads out and mingles and does its
own thing. You have some control, but
it’s kind of mysterious and I like the
spontaneous nature of it,” Thompson
said. “That mysterious aspect is very intriguing
and I enjoy working with that.
It’s kind of a good cognitive problem to
solve.”
As far as her preference for watercolor
over other types of paint, it can
be boiled down to practicality.
“Watercolor is easy to clean up,
doesn’t smell like oils and dries rather
quickly,” Thompson said. “It is used
18 OC MAGAZINE | SPRING 2022