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Jamie (Jay) Thomson is a metro Detroit based painter, brand designer, and retired psychologist. She grew up in rural Ohio and has lived in Virginia, Missouri, Florida, and Australia. The exposure to different places and different art communities has influenced the art she creates today.
Jamie minored in art at Ohio Northern University where she received a BA in 1997, she went on to get her doctorate in psychology immediately – and practiced for about 8 years before retiring from psychology in 2011. At that time she got an AA in digital design. This rather unconventional return to art and design reflects the pull that art and design had throughout her time as a therapist and her overall struggle to find a balance in the multiple areas of interest and skill in her life.
Jamie paints abstract acrylic paintings for the ease of exploration and experimentation. She tends to favor fluid acrylics as they have a flow and effect that are at once unique and yet similar to watercolor and softer media. As an artist with ADHD (attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder), acrylic offers immediate visual feedback while also offering the grace of course correction – all while offering vibrant color and depth.
While abstract, Jamie’s work often exhibits themes of her relationships with others, and her relationship with herself and her own mind. Themes of seeking balance and weathering lifes’ ups and downs are prevalent.
Most frequently in her work, she examines her personal struggles with a need for structure and the conflicting urge for spontaneity and freedom. Defined, geometric shapes contrast with more flowing, organic shapes and dramatic, wide sweeping painting strokes peek out from underneath more polished layers, reflecting this push and pull.
6/24/2023-8/12/2023 Celebrating 120 Years of Art in Detroit, DSWPS, Anton Art Center, Mount Clemens, MI
4/28/2023-6/1/2023 Students of Kim Fay, BBAC, Birmingham, MI
4/8/2023-4/30/2023 2023 Spring Salon, detroit contemporary, Detroit, MI
3/16/2023-4/3/2023 Green – Grosse Pointe Art Center, War Memorial, Grosse Pointe Farms, MI
2/3/2023- 3/3/2023 Sights & Sounds Together – Articipate Art Studio and Berkley Coffee, Berkley, MI
Jan 1-29 2023 A Celebration of the Creative Life – Fine Arts Gallery, Livonia Civic Center Library, DSWPS
Fall 2022 Abstract Expressions, Red Bluff Art Gallery 3-D Virtual Exhibit
8/5/2022 – 9/10/2022 Emerge – Gutman Art Gallery, Ann Arbor, MI
2/2/2022 Out of the Darkness – Riverside, Detroit, MI
9/17/-9/18/2022 Common Ground’s Birmingham Street Art Fair
8/20-8/21/2022 Levis Commons Fine Art Fair
7/21-7/23, 2022 Ann Arbor Art Fair
Eastern Florida State College , Melbourne, Florida (2010-2012)
Associate’s Degree – Graphics Technology
Wright State School of Professional Psychology, Dayton Ohio (1997-2002)
Doctoral in Professional Psychology
Ohio Northern University, Ada Ohio (1993-1997)
Bachelor’s in Art – Major in Psychology, Minor in Art
Lawrence Street Gallery contributing artist and co-chair for call for art gallery shows as of December 2022
Detroit Society of Women Painters and Sculptors
The Guild of Artists and Artisans
Many of my paintings are available for purchase and I also do giclée prints for shows and often have them on hand. Please contact me if you are interested in a purchase!
