who is eric g. thompson?
EARLY ROOTS
While Eric grew up in the city, summers and holidays at his grandfather's farm in Idaho left a lasting and significant impression on his heart. Wandering the old, rusted outbuildings, exploring the potato cellar, watching the animals in the pastures at sunset, turning rusted and strange tools over in his hands and wondering about their significance...created an appreciation for detail, for mystery, for the simplicity and beauty in bucolic scenes and sights and smells.
INSPIRATION
It is clear that Eric's work since 2000 was inspired by the early American Realist movement but many would be surprised to discover that he began his painting career as a surrealist. Discovering the overwhelming majesty in the humble images of early American traditionalists, left a permanent impression.
The way that these painters shone a spotlight on the ordinary, making dusty and gritty scenes into studies of wonder, nostalgia, and beauty. Agrarian narratives and lifestyles lit his imagination on fire as he sought to pay tribute to the feelings he felt.
Far from rural America, the people of Japan have a concept called "wabi-sabi" that Eric has always been fascinated with - it creates a connection between two cultures that is profound. "The aging of things, the use, the history, the rust and the wrinkles and the fingerprints - they tell a story. Of usefulness, of impermanence, yet resilience and wisdom. The Japanese appreciate their elders, and an old hammer is appreciated and beautiful in the same way."
Rural America is always where the Thompsons took their vacations, and Eric has always painted these scenes that captured his childhood. In 2022 he moved to a tiny town of 1400 people, a lot more cows and sheep, with no stoplight, and clean air. Seeing extraordinary in the ordinary, Thompson's exhibit seeks to illuminate the American Farm - its beauty, the economy of re-use, the craftmanship and care and weathering of dwelling places, the royalty of livestock, the poetry in the lines of an alfalfa field...
MEANING & METAPHOR
Nostalgia is at the center of his work; a distant love, old memories, traditions, emotions and spirit of the past.
"I want to create pieces where others could immerse themselves in this simple and often overlooked beauty I'm lucky enough to live in every day in the rural West. I want them to see the exquisite form within the function, imagine the sturdy souls that walked these fields and used these tools, I want them to smell the clean air and breathe in the American farm life that is truly the silent heartbeat of our country."
TRAINING & TECHNIQUE
Eric is one of the few artists who masters multiple media. While he uses oil, gouache, acrylic and watercolor (the most unforgiving medium of all,) he is best-known for his work in egg tempera.
The medium, egg tempera - an old world tradition in which very few attempt and even less master, is one that has put Eric on the map. Eric uses eggs from his own chickens, and makes his own panels using a renaissance recipe that takes intensive labor. "Egg tempera is truly a labor of love. Very few are crazy enough to invest the time and energy into it, when other media are so much more accessible. When I started 25 years ago, there was one book on the subject."
Eric is completely self-taught. "I learned a lot by trying and failing - the best teacher."
PAST EXHIBITS
YEAR/EXHIBIT
2025 Meyer Gallery "Small Works Show," group exhibition, Santa Fe, NM
2025 Meyer Gallery "Close to Home," solo exhibition, Santa Fe, NM
2025 Mockingbird Gallery "Rural Pahts," three-man exhibition, Bend, OR
2023 Mockingbird Gallery "Outside Perspectives," three-man exhibition, Bend, OR
2021 Mockingbird Gallery "Lasting Impressions," four-man exhibition, Bend, OR
2019 Mockingbird Gallery "Americana," solo exhibition, Bend, OR
2018 Montgomery Lee Fine Art, two-man exhibition, Park City, UT
2018 The Artist Study, "Aesthetics of Personhood" two-man exhibition, Southhampton, NY
2017 Springville Museum of Art, "93rd Annual Spring Salon," group exhibition, Springville, UT
2017 Mockingbird Gallery, "4th Annual All Gallery Group Show," group exhibition, Bend, OR
2016 Springville Museum of Art, "92nd Annual Spring Salon," group exhibition, Springville, UT
2015 Matthews Gallery "New Works" solo exhibition, Santa Fe, NM
2014 Montgomery Lee Fine Art group exhibition, Park City, UT
2014 Tree's Place Gallery, Small Works group exhibition, Orleans, MA
2014 Matthews Gallery "The Boundless Moment" solo exhibition, Santa Fe, NM
2014 Springville Museum of Art, "90th Annual Spring Salon," group exhibition, Springville, UT
2014 Tree's Place Gallery, "Art in Bloom," group exhibition, Orleans, MA
2013 Kimball Art Center, "PC Collects II," exhibit of private collections, Park City, UT
2013 Tree's Place Gallery, Small Works group exhibition, Orleans, MA
2013 Matthews Gallery "Breaking Through with Light solo exhibition, Santa Fe, NM
2012 Matthews Gallery (formerly DNFA) "Shadow Play" solo exhibition, Santa Fe, NM
2011 Edward Hopper House Museum "Hopper Re-Imagined" group exhibition, Nyack, NY
2011 Deloney Newkirk Fine Art "Glimpses of Solitude" solo exhibition, Santa Fe, NM
2011 Quidley & Co., group exhibition, Boston, MA
2010 Featured at the Boston International Fine Art Show, Boston, MA
2010 Arcadia Fine Arts "Annual Small Works Show" group exhibition, New York, NY
2010 Deloney Newkirk Fine Art "Visual Haiku" solo exhibition, Santa Fe, NM
2010 Springville Museum of Art Spring Salon, group exhibition, Springville, UT
2009 Deloney Newkirk Fine Art "Contemporary Realism" solo exhibition, Santa Fe, NM
2008 Deloney Newkirk Fine Art "Light and Silence" solo exhibition, Santa Fe, NM
2007 Deloney Newkirk Fine Art "Glorification of the Everyday" solo exhibition, Santa Fe, NM
2006 "A" Gallery Holiday Show, group exhibition, Salt Lake City, UT
2006 "A" Gallery, group exhibition - four artists, Salt Lake City, UT
2005 "A" Gallery Holiday Show, group exhibition, Salt Lake City, UT
2005 Bountiful-Davis Art Center, two-man exhibition, Bountiful, UT
2004 Utah County Gallery, group exhibition, Provo, UT
2004 Barnes and Noble at Sugarhouse Commons, solo exhibition, Salt Lake City, UT
2003 Springville Museum, "18th Annual Religious and Spiritual Show, group, Springville, UT
2003 The 15th and 15th Gallery, solo exhibition, Salt Lake City, UT
1996 Oasis Café gallery, solo exhibition, Salt Lake City, UT
AWARDS
YEAR / AWARD
2018 13th International ARC Salon, Finalist, "Spring Blossoms"
2007 Springville Museum of Art, Spring Salon, Award of Merit, "Forgotten Road"
2003 Utah County Historic Courthouse Gallery's Spring Art Show, Fourth Place
2003 22nd Annual UT County Courthouse Gallery's "Showing Off Utah 2003," Merit Award
PUBLICATIONS
YEAR/PUBLICATION
2025 American Art Collector, July edition, "Close to Home"
2018 "Montgomery Lee Exhibit will Visually Serenade Art Lovers", article in Park Record
2014 "Exhibit Spotlights Three Utah Artists", article in Park Record
2014 "The Boundless Moment", August article, American Art Collector
2014 "The Painter's Vision is Not a Lens", Weekly Alibi, Albuquerque NM weekly journal
2013 "Eric G. Thompson, An Artist Breaking Through" article featured in Fine Art Connoisseur's "Fine Art Today"
2011 Southwest Art Magazine, April article "Inside Edition"
2010 Santa Fean Magazine "Art: Openings, Events, Reviews, People"
2007 American Art Collector, June article "The Simple Life" by editor Joshua Rose
ART FEATURED IN BOOKS/FILMS
About Us
2025 Cover Art for "Un Poco de Suerte" novel by Jane Smiley
2014 Cover Art for "Waiting for a Song," novel by Mariam Kobras
2013 Cover Art for "Song of the Storm," non-fiction novel by Mariam Kobras
2013 Cover Art for "Under the Same Sun," non-fiction novel by Mariam Kobras
2012 Cover Art for "The Distant Shore," non-fiction novel by Mariam Kobras
2012 Movie "Darling Companion" featured work
2006 Movie "Wild Hogs" featured work
2003 Hallmark's Movie of the Week, "Plain Song" featured work
2001 Caroline Film's "Touched By an Angel" featured in 7th season
2000 Caroline Film's "Touched By an Angel" featured in 6th season