A simple color pencil set given to him when he was a student at DuSable High School in Chicago helped Patrick Thompson become the artist he is today.
Thompson, who lives in Tinley Park, recently displayed his vibrant acrylic paintings as part of a veterans exhibit in the Christopher Gallery at Prairie State College in Chicago Heights.
His aunt, also an artist, gave him the color pencil set.
“That was her way of encouraging me,” said Thompson. “I used my pencil set to color my projects, making blueprints to design homes and color them.
His career path didn’t immediately take him toward the arts. Rather, he joined the Air Force, where he served on a post in Great Britain. But art was never far from his mind.
“I took that color pencil set with me overseas,” he said.
Thompson comes from a family of artists and got involved early.
“I was one of those kids who didn’t understand why other kids didn’t want to do it,” said Thompson. “I drew super-heroes, cowboys and horses. … I was in love with horses.”
His dad was a tailor, which offered a look into how creativity was essential in nearly every endeavor.
“He used art in his craft, designing clothes,” said Thompson. “There were always a lot of colors and patterns and things all around our home and the shop.”
Patrick Thompson, of Tinley Park, stands next to his acrylic painting “Grey Matters” as it is displayed in the exhibition The Art of Valor: Created, Remembered, Renewed, an exhibit of veterans’ art work at the Christopher Gallery at Prairie State College in Chicago Heights. (Janice Neumann/Daily Southtown)
But Thompson said his dad wanted him to have a practical skill, so he focused on engineering and architectural drawings while in high school.
“He said, you might be able to get a job in the industry. … I don’t want you to be no starving artist,” recalled Thompson.
Today many of his paintings are bright abstract works, like the ones he displayed at . He also does scenes and sometimes people. He said he tries to convey comfort and beauty.
While he was in Great Britain in the Air Force, he was exposed to abstract expressionism, which was “moving around Europe.”
“I liked what I saw,” said Thompson. “I saw it was acceptable.”
“One of my motivations for doing the abstract work is to do pieces that can give beauty to your life or your space,” he said. “We’re faced with so much controversy and negativity. I feel mandated to contribute beauty to society at large.”
After Thompson’s time in the military he became a Chicago police officer, and says those experiences have factored into his art. He was in the Air Force from 1966 to 1969, working as a military police officer and a Chicago police officer from 1971 to 2007.
He worked in the Youth Division with the Chicago Police Department and was exposed to the challenges faced by families and children, which also is reflected in his art.
After he retired, he taught art at UIC and led programs in the Chicago Public Library system, such as a talk on The Great Migration that incorporated art from that era.
“There were a lot of people with different skills who came from the south and mixed in with them were artists and musicians,” he said.
The Prairie State College Gallery’s exhibition, The Art of Valor: Created, Remembered, Renewed, displayed a handful of other veterans’ artistic work, too, some who have used art as a type of therapy.
Steve Kost, who lives in Palos Park and served in the Navy, uses scrap metal to create his art and deal with traumatic experiences in combat.
Oluwatoyin Olabisi, an artist and therapist who was a brigadier chaplain in the Army, displayed a mixed-media piece, which represented some of what she went through in the military.
“It kind of catalogues my military service and journey with post-traumatic stress disorder,” she said. “There was a lot of confidences and being silent about things.”
Georges Sanon, who coordinates Veteran Services at Prairie State College and served in the Air Force, helped organize the exhibit with Javier Chavira, the art gallery director.
“Art therapy, I believe, is important,” Sanon said about the therapeutic value of many of the art pieces. “I thought this was something that might be able to help other veterans.
Chavira said he hoped to carry on the tradition of a veterans exhibit every other year.
“It’s really important for vets to have a way to express their feelings,” he said. “Having it every few years will give them an opportunity to keep creating.”
Janice Neumann is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
