Megan Thomas doesn’t see the everyday as mundane. What may go overlooked has its own value and a role in our daily lives. Every painting of a family member, friend or even a typically overlooked object tells a story, and what may seem uninteresting is anything but.
Her show at Cali Commons Saturday night contains pieces spanning her career and displays an artist interpreting the everyday into still life paintings and portraits. It began with cropped images of inanimate objects. Her goal was to try and catch little moments that could otherwise go unseen. “I like that because it’s the things people don’t really notice or see so much they don’t notice. It’s a close up of life.”
Today, Megan is working with old family photos and other captured images that she finds interesting. These images are turned into portraits from “whatever the camera captured in that moment…” The idea of translating a photo to a painting allows her to give new life to something that she sees intrinsic value in.career and displays an artist interpreting the everyday into still life paintings and portraits. It began with cropped images of inanimate objects. Her goal was to try and catch little moments that could otherwise go unseen. “I like that because it’s the things people don’t really notice or see so much they don’t notice. It’s a close up of life.”
While growing up in Omaha, Megan was drawn to the arts at an early age with influences from her mother, who worked with graphite and charcoal, and her artistic brother. She eventually enrolled at UNO and began to take art classes, and was drawn back into the visual arts after time in pre-veterinary science and advertising school. After attending UNO she knew, “This is what I want to do and what I’m supposed to do.” The experience was reaffirming.
From Megan’s early work involving still lifes of everyday objects to her recent portraits of family and friends, anyone can appreciate what we often overlook. She hasn’t only set out to “magnify the ordinary,” her work gives meaning to the things we don’t always see.
Come see Megan Thomas’ show at Cali Commons on Saturday night from 7 to 10. Her work will be displayed throughout the month of November.
518 N 40th St
Omaha, NE 68131
(402) 513-2321
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