Western painter Richard D. Thomas was raised in a small town in the San Joaquin Valley of California. He was 30 before he began painting as a hobby while working as a high-tech defense equipment contractor. After his marriage ended and he lost his job due to a plant closing, he began painting full time. Thomas is a self-taught artist who spent years perfecting his skills and showing his work at hotels, shopping malls and convention centers.

The artist eventually found success and his paintings hang in major private collections and have been exhibited at many shows including Masters of the American West at the Autry Museum in Los Angeles and Western Visions at the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, Wyoming.

Today Tho...