thomasjo

JO THOMAS

Although she was born in California, Jo has lived all over the country ... the daughter of a military man. But now she's living in the South and loving it. She and her husband are restoring an old house. Having won more than two dozen important awards, she is a gifted and highly accomplished sculptor working in clay. Many people have encouraged her to cast her pieces in bronze but she has steadfastly refused. She believes the live color of the clay complements the subject matter, plus it keeps the pieces affordable for most people. She creates pieces of Gullah people who were brought to the Sea islands of South Carolina and Georgia as slaves hundreds of years ago. Some Gullah communities still exist, but the language is dying out. Jo found old photos of Gullah people taken near St. Helena's Island. Few old photographs of them exist, but a photographer came to the Penn Center (the oldest school for blacks in America) in the late 1800's and then again in the early 1900's. His photographs of Gullah men, women and children became the inspiration for her art. Each piece is individual in every respect. She does not use molds, nor does she ever do the same piece twice. Her sculptures are truly originals.