Sean Thornton
does not like writing about himself. Instead I, his daughter, will attempt to describe him to you.
Sean comes off as a pretty normal guy, which you would never expect if you only saw his paintings. He wears cargo shorts and polo shirts; he likes to mow the lawn. He wakes up every morning at seven, takes the dogs out to fetch, grabs a coffee from Casey’s, and then diligently sets to work painting strange, macabre, and oddly funny scenes from his imagination.
Sean admires outsider and self-taught artists, but he got an MFA from the University of Houston and it shows. His oil paintings are very traditional in their physical construction, with layers of careful glazes building up to a luminous finish. He is a consummately professional freak.
Aside from giving each piece a title, he does not like to write about his paintings. If you asked, he might pretend they are meaningless. However, well-versed viewers will recognize that they are often full of ironic allusions to art history. He wants you to figure it out. If you happen to interpret a painting’s meaning correctly, he will say nothing, lips pursed, trying to suppress a smile.
