Sandra Thomas

Sandra Irene Thomas works from her studio and gallery, 'Just Off Centre', in the agricultural village of Bathurst in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, home of the Xhosa-speaking people of the country. As a multi-media artist who has spent most of her career as an oil painter, Sandra has returned to drawing, the medium that originally drew her to art. The extreme versatility in the choice and use of materials and drawing tools allows for flexibility and experimentation.

Sandra has developed a unique technique to apply pencil drawings to specially prepared stretched canvases, finishing with touches of color in oil paint. The size of the canvasses has no limit, which allows a freedom that can't be found with paper. Like oil paintings, these works are presented free from protective glass, allowing greater interaction with the viewer. The etchings and watercolors that Sandra also creates, are framed behind glass. Her artworks are a journal of her travels through South Africa, the forests and flora of the indigenous landscape and the distinctly marked Nguni Cattle of the area.

Sandra works from her own photographs and on-site sketches, embracing and exploring a subject; investigating and reinterpreting the image in a way that is different from the traditional portrayal of a purely realistic rendition of the subject. Her work consists of many small focal points as opposed to one single obvious view. In doing this, she plays with the positive and negative impressions of nature.

Moving from the city to the country, Sandra realized how little most people see of the ever-changing landscapes and how few have considered the relationship between man and the natural world. She has witnessed the disastrous effects human activity has had on the environment, from careless pollution and over-grazing to indifferent neglect. She is in search of the untouched and finds that in the wild, unpopulated landscapes of the Eastern Cape.

Sandra doesn’t deliberately look for subjects for her work but rather journals her travels in and around the Ndlambe, along the Wild Coast, the Great Kei River region, the North Eastern Cape and the Southern Drakensberg mountains. The uninhabited wilderness challenges and inspires Sandra. Through her work, she wants people who cannot reach the places that she does, to explore them with her.

Education[edit]

Sandra was born in 1960. As a pupil at Cambridge High School in Chislehurst, East London, she received the headmaster’s prize for art in 1977 and matriculated the following year with a distinction in art.

In 1979, Sandra enrolled at the East London Technical College Art School under dynamic art master and mentor Jack Lugg, who himself had studied under Walter Battiss. In 1980, Sandra married Brian Thomas, had two daughters and moved to Umtata (now Mthahta)in the then Transkei, now part of the Eastern Cape.

Returning to East London in 1990, Sandra completed a diploma in Fine Art and was awarded the Jack Lugg Trophy for Fine Art Student of the Year. In 2005 she completed her B.Tech. Degree in fine art at the Border Technikon in East London, graduating Cum Laude.

Career[edit]

In 1991, while teaching ceramics and child art at the Belgravia Art Centre, Sandra bought CVD Framers, Art Supplies and Art Gallery.

In 2010, Sandra sold CVD and moved to Lady Grey to paint full-time. She relocated to Bathurst in 2016. Sandra and Brian’s property is an integral part of the popular Bathurst Farmers’ Market, and Sandra continues to paint full-time.

Exhibitions

1980-2000 Various Fine Art Society Exhibitions - Ann Bryant Gallery
1984 Round Table Exhibition - University of Transkei
1985 Art Exhibition - Umtata City Hall
1986 Transkei Fine Art Society Exhibition - Umtata Rotary Room
1987 African Women Collages Exhibition - Grass Roots Gallery
1998 Retrospective Exhibition and Opening of CVD Gallery, East London
1993 Three Woman Art Exhibition & Soirée - 1820 Settlers Association
2000 Collaboration with Bernard Barry - National Arts Festival
2001 Collaboration with Bernard Barry - National Arts Festival
2001 Erotica Exhibition - Thomas Art Consultancy
2005 B. Tech Final Exhibition - Ann Bryant Gallery
2005 'Paperworks' Group Exhibition - National Arts Festival
2008 'Hidden Places' Solo Exhibition - National Arts Festival
2011 'Animals in Painting' Group Exhibition - The Art Business
2011 'Erotica' Group Exhibition - The Art Business
2011 Group Exhibition - Pear Tree Gallery
2012 'African Flame'Group Exhibition - D-Street Gallery
2012 'Country Life' Solo Exhibition - Pear Tree Gallery
2013 Solo Exhibition - Belgravia Art Centre
2013 Solo Exhibition - Ann Bryant Gallery
2014 'Colors of Drought' Solo Exhibition - Gallery on Leviseur
2015 Group Exhibition - Floradale Art Gallery
2016 Group Exhibition - Moor Gallery
2017 Group Exhibition - Gallery 91
2017 Group Exhibition - National Arts Festival
2018 Two-Person Exhibition - National Arts Festival
2018 Group Exhibition - Floradale Art Gallery
2018 Group Exhibition - StudioG, Bay Hotel
2018 Group Exhibition - Studio at 54
2019 'Walk With Me' Solo Exhibition - National Arts Festival
2019 'In And Around' Solo Exhibition - Floradale Art Gallery

Commissions

1986 Mural 8m x 2m - Anglo American & De Beers, Transkei
1986 Two collage paintings - In-Service College, Umtata
1986 Ethnic collage paintings - University of Transkei
1988 Christmas card - S.A. Embassy, Transkei
1988 &1989 Design and development of beading and textiles - Mzamba Craft Village SIDO, Transkei
1988 Indoor stand designs for Trade Exhibition - ManpowerGroup and Ohlssons
1988 Stand designs for Agricultural Exhibition - Langeni Forest Products and Nature Conservation
1989 4 children’s dining room murals 2m x 1,8m - Umngazi Hotel
1989 Goat character: Keep Transkei Beautiful Campaign - Transkei Development Corporation
1989 Crested Crane logo design - Transkei Wildlife Society
1989 Centenary T-shirt design - Umtata High School
1992-1994 New range of CDs - National Barkrose
1994 Four etchings - Selborne College Heritage Foundation
1995 Badge design - Rotary International
1997-2000 26 oil paintings for nine stores - Juicy Lucy, Western and Eastern Cape and Natal
1999 Large painting for boardroom - Department of Tourism, Bhisho
2000-2011 Eastern Cape landscape paintings, international buyers - Artwork Dealer at Own Gallery
2006 Logo design - East London Guild of Needle Workers
2008 Two paintings to represent East London(sister city) in Leiden, Netherlands
2009 Two oil paintings - World Focus 1325
2011 Two Eastern Cape landscape paintings - Bhisho Legislature
2018 Mural - Fritz Teroerde, Friedrich Teroerde Consulting, Germany
2019 Wagon Tracks Through Bathurst - Emma Cooper Design

References[edit]

Thomas, Sandra. In an interview for Wikipedia

Categories[edit]

Categories: 1960 births Living people South African artists South African contemporary artists South African female artists 20th-century South African female artists 21st-century South African female artists Fine artist

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