Become a member today!

Zan Thompson has always loved art especially watercolor art even though he struggled with the medium himself in his early years. Perhaps his saving grace is the fact he was born into a family of watercolor artists which has greatly influenced his passion and his persistence for watercolor painting. Zan grew up playing and experimenting with art in his parents’ Atlanta studios.

Zan studied art in high school and at college before switching to the University of Georgia and switching majors to landscape architecture and later urban planning. Mr. Thompson worked as a landscape architect for more than forty years, twenty-five of which he ran his own firm. He says it was that necessity to communicate through graphic skills and sketching the urban scene almost daily that provided him a comfortable familiarity of communication through renderings that eventually lead him back to watercolor painting.

His former professional career plays a role in many of the subjects he paints. Subjects include flowers and trees but of even greater attraction, Zan likes to paint landscapes, urban scenes and architectural subjects but what really lures him in is the seemingly mundane subjects many ignore like alleys, industrial sites, concrete plants and old worn-out buildings. He says it is usually the light and shadow of the subject that first draws him to paint, but other elements of design may draw him as well. Mr. Thompson has another lifelong interest, fly-fishing, and it too is reflected in many pieces of his art. He paints flies both fresh water and saltwater and loves to paint his friends fly fishing on scenic trout streams.

Today, Zan paints strictly in watercolor, is a signature member of the Watercolor Society of North Carolina and teaches several classes but his big three are watercolor and design, watercolor equipment, and Plein-air painting which is painting on location. He loves to teach art from drawing to painting but especially watercolor painting. He likes to share with his students the little tricks that helped him conquer the difficult medium of watercolor.