John Thompson's Central Park Series

John Thompson painting, with granddaughter Noah.

Travel has always been a major inspiration for my personal work. My painting website www.johnthompsonpaintings.com features paintings and drawings of Italy, Ireland, India, Morocco, Pakistan, and most recently, New York's Central Park.

I have been working on the Central Park series for three years. In the fall of 2011, my wife and I rented an apartment across the street from the Conservatory Garden and the Harlem Meer on the corner of 107th Street and Fifth Avenue. Twenty years ago, we moved from New York City to Syracuse, where I took a teaching position at Syracuse University. While our main residence is now Syracuse, we go to New York on weekends (sort of a reverse commute). New York City, once our home, has now become a travel destination and inspiration for a new series of paintings.

The Central Park series consists of oil paintings ranging in size from 12” x 10” to 36” x 48”, plus over eighty small 8 ½” x 5 ½” plein air watercolors that I paint in bound sketchbooks.

I will give an over-view of the project at this time. It will include a small sampling of the project (three oil paintings and six watercolors). I will post updates of the progress of the series in the future.

—John Thompson

Cherry Trees, oil.

Crab Apple Tree, oil.

Lily Pond II, oil.

Bethesda Fountain, watercolor.

Bridge #28, watercolor.

Conservatory Garden, watercolor.

Harlem Meer 2, watercolor.

Harlem Meer, watercolor.

Lily Pond, watercolor.