Carry Your Own Joy: The Abstract Paintings and Life of Hari E. Thomas, a San Francisco Artist

By Asha Carolyn Young

This book is about art, friendship, and an exceptional person who inspired joy in others and who was a great abstract painter.

Beloved for his free spirit, humor and incredible counseling skills, Hari E. Thomas (1938-2011) was a gifted and prolific abstract painter who left a legacy of colorful, mixed media works, mostly on paper. B

• Language: English
• Publisher: Flowering Light Books
• Release date: Dec 1, 2015
• ISBN: 9780692569191

Asha Carolyn Young

Asha Carolyn Young is a painter, writer and publisher who was very close friends with Hari E. Thomas for over 20 years. When Thomas passed away in 2011, Young became steward of his artwork and established his website: http://ashari-galleria.fineartamerica.com. She graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles and Berkeley (B.A. History, M.A. Cultural Anthropology, respectively) and received the following awards: Robert Lowie Fund Grant, UCB (1984), Graduate Humanities Research Grant, UCB (1983), President's Undergraduate Fellowship for Research, UCLA (1980-1981), and Justin Turner Award for History, UCLA (1981). Born in Chiang Mai, Thailand to American parents, she studied Chinese brush painting at age 15 with a master painter in Vientiane, Laos. Later, in Berkeley, California, she studied Japanese painting with master painter, Kayoko Bird for five years. Additionally, She studied Art at Laney College, Oakland, California. Her own paintings show at http://asha-young.fineartamerica.com. She is author and publisher of two other art-related books.

Book preview

You gotta carry your own joy. ~ Hari

Hari E. Thomas, circa 2004

Carry Your Own Joy

The Abstract Paintings and Life of Hari E. Thomas, A San Francisco Artist

Asha Carolyn Young

Flowering Light Books, Gualala, California

Copyright © 2015 by Carolyn J. Young

Flowering Light Books, Gualala, California

PO Box 353

Gualala, CA 95445

Printed in the United States of America

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any means without the express permission of the author. This includes reprints, excerpts, and photography. For permission for any of the above, please contact the author.

ISBN: 9781631925474

First Printing November 2014

Cover Art: Summertime on the Golden Gate Bridge by Hari E. Thomas, mixed media on paper

Back Cover Art: Rainbow Avenue and Art Show by Hari E. Thomas, mixed media on paper

Back Cover and Frontispiece portrait photos of Hari E. Thomas: Daniel Furon

Cover and Interior Design: Blake More

Inquiries may be addressed to:

Asha Carolyn Young

[e-mail]

http://asha-young.fineartamerica.com

For Brian Thomas,

Hari’s beloved son, who tenderly cared for him to the end

For African American and Native American

Peoples

So they might know of Hari as part of their

Great cultural and spiritual heritage

And for abstract painters everywhere

Wanting a little inspiration

Art allows us to look at one another and be able to understand that special place we all come from and commonly share and eventually will return to. Sympathy becomes the magic key for the artists to enter in communion with the soul of external objects from the without but share from within.

~ Hari E. Thomas¹

---

¹Hari E. Thomas, Discovery Series: Its Purpose and Dialogue. Unpublished paper.

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction: The Abstract Paintings and Life of Hari Thomas

The Painting Plates

Epilogue

Afterword

Appendices

A.Chronology

B.Photos of Hari

C.Discovery Series: Its Purpose and Dialogue by Hari E. Thomas

D.Hari Thomas by Floyd Shepherd

E.Harmony and Love show invitation

F.Program for Hari Thomas’ Memorial Servicee and a Quote from the Buddha

G.About the Author

References

Preface

Slender, athletic and lithe, he moved with the quiet certitude of a tiger – his Chinese horoscope sign. He could hold an audience like a great comedian, acting silly, dramatic and clownish; or he could move along so smoothly that you might not even see him.

Hari (pronounced HAR-rye,) stepped into my life right when I most needed someone like him. It was the week after the Oakland Hills Firestorm of October 1991,² and my neighborhood -- including my studio that had previously been filled with equipment, paintings and newly built canvases -- was now charred rubble and ash. For blocks around, only the small rental house that I shared with my former husband Malcolm Clark and one other home survived the fire’s devastation and stood like lone soldiers on a battlefield. With all our neighbors’ homes gone, we felt deeply grateful to have a soot-filled home with blasted windowpanes, even if my painting studio was gone. Lives were lost.

Hari and I both worked at the Berkeley Adult School. He was an employment counselor, and I taught English-as-a-Second-Language. It was the week after the firestorm, and I was walking down the library stairs clinging to the banister, still tottering in the aftermath of the traumatic event, and Hari happened to walk by. He stopped, came back and called to me, Are you all right? We had met once before. I told him I was o.k. though still shaken from the fire. I was holding a small portfolio of photos close to my chest—photos of paintings I had lost in the fire. What’s that you’ve got? he asked. I showed him. You’re a painter? he exclaimed.

That is how our friendship began, with this stairwell meeting that marked the beginning. I was so lucky to connect with him then, since he approached exactly when I was aching for a confidant, an abstract painting teacher, a painting buddy, a spiritual guide, a wise father, a trustworthy brother, a loyal friend—Something to believe in, someone to believe in, as Curtis Mayfield sings.³ In my early thirties, I was on a rollercoaster ride of self-discovery regarding relationships, paths for income, artistic yearnings and spiritual growth. I still bow my head in thanks that Hari entered my life when he did, giving me opportunity to know him well and to gain his comforting guidance, as we spent hours together talking and looking at art and also talking endlessly on the phone. For over twenty years, we spoke on the phone almost daily, certainly every few days. He was my pillar, as he was for many people. I could call him any time, even in the middle of the night, and he was right there, fully present and listening closely.

After Hari passed on in July of 2011 at age 72, his son Brian agreed that I would be curator of his many, magnificent abstract paintings (well over 400 works, we estimate). A recognized artistic talent from the time he was a child, Hari received excellent art education from childhood through to the Masters level at San Francisco State University; and he painted copiously throughout his life, abundantly producing sketches and paintings on all types and sizes of paper, board and canvas.

I had the honor of having been Hari’s close associate and partner, as he liked to call me. We hung out together often on weekends and sometimes after work, discussing painting and art, as well as a myriad of other subjects. He often drove me around San Francisco and the East Bay to view various art shows. He loved seeing artwork by beginners as well as by highly developed artists; and he often told me that he preferred to always be a student of painting, endlessly learning and never deeming himself to be a master. After seeing the shows, we would talk and talk about the paintings, and then, inspired, we would both dash off to our own home studios to paint.

But it was Hari’s own paintings that fascinated me most. I soon discovered that his use of color, his line quality so full of strength, his complex compositions, and this indescribable infinite quality was as if he could paint on forever on one piece. Yes, I soon learned that Hari’s paintings were my greatest source of inspiration for my own abstract painting. In short, he quickly emerged as my painting teacher, and I was drawn to study his paintings, which I did with relish, often gazing at them for hours. Hari’s paintings exude lightness and brightness, spiritual qualities for me, and I always admired this expression in his works. I also marveled over his mastery when placing some colors beside others—often a great myriad of colors—in perfectly harmonious ways that delight and please the eye.

I spent over 20 years peering into and gazing on Hari’s paintings as he created them. I would visit him in his studio apartment and there would be about 50 paintings, a few hanging on the walls, and most of them stashed in stacks on the floor and leaning up against the walls—all of them jumping out at me. We would sit, talk and laugh about all kinds of topics and of people we both knew, and then we would talk about the paintings. Hari always approached paintings as though they were sacred. First he would be very quiet, with only the fragrance of incense and maybe some marijuana circling round the room. Then he would start in, describing his approach to a painting, telling me what the painting was trying to tell him, and so on; and he would be laughing with joy over the energy and the light that flashed like gemstones and leapt out of his paintings. He always believed he was merely a channel through which God, the Divine, or the Higher Intelligence (however you want to name It) might express Itself, to his endless delight.

We talked away and looked at each other’s paintings by visiting each other’s studios about once a week, and as we did the years rolled by. I am left remembering his presence, his humor, his high intelligence, and his voice. All who knew and cherished Hari agree that he was genuinely filled with humor. He was open-minded and capable of talking about just about anything; he was well informed. His voice had a great range, from very gentle to loud and boisterous. Listening to Curtis Mayfield talking before and after he sings—especially his gospel music,⁴ which Hari very much enjoyed – I am reminded of Hari’s voice, the way he sometimes spoke in a certain melodic, preacher-like way that was very comforting.

As partners we also showed our abstract paintings together now and again. Hari always insisted on showing paintings in this duet manner, never solo. When I knew him, he was highly vigilant about preventing his ego from getting too excited about fame and fortune; consequently, he was a recluse and hermit about showing his paintings. He would not approach galleries. However, I enticed him a few times to show some of his paintings along with some of mine; and when we did so, we were thoroughly satisfied and joyous to see our pieces hanging together, all nice and framed, on big white walls. We never sold a thing, but we had a marvelous time, and I believe we inspired some people who saw the shows.

This book presents but a mere sample of Hari’s many beautiful abstract paintings, and I believe they will pull you in and make you smile. Also presented here is an overview of Hari’s life and times, with descriptions of him and his art by his son Brian and some of his closest friends. Hari was an inclusive person, always aiming to open the circle and connect people. As a result, many of his dear friends know one another; and Brian knows each and every one. Those who knew Hari will probably recognize him in his paintings, and they will have fun exploring him as a painter. For others this book will introduce a monster painter who was an angel of a guy.

As his friend Ron Shaw put it at his memorial service, Hari was a Universal Person who respected the creed and color of all his fellow humans and deeply cared for people, animals and nature. He was an intense reader, scholar, counselor and teacher who shared his knowledge widely and constantly. In his paintings