Limited Palette

An exhibition by James Thomas

Welsh-born James Thomas, a longtime resident of Bornholm, is perhaps best known for his career in music, having written and produced music for international artists including CHER and Beth Hart. But painting has been a constant part of his life—a first love that began in childhood and now once again takes center stage in his artistic practice.

James Thomas’ artistic talent was recognized at an early age. In 1976, when he was just eleven years old, one of his works was accepted into the Royal Academy of Arts’ Summer Exhibition in London. At fourteen, he gained admission to higher education in art and began studying at Dyfed College of Art and Design in Wales. He was later accepted into St Martin’s School of Art in London, but chose to leave his studies to pursue a career in music.

Limited Palette, presented at Svanekegården, marks James Thomas’ first solo exhibition. Created in 2026, the works reveal a new direction in his painting as he moves toward a more expressive and intuitive visual language.

The title Limited Palette reflects both James Thomas’ approach to color and his close relationship with Bornholm’s landscape. His love of the local beach at Sose has been a particular source of inspiration, where the shades of the sand meet the intense depth of Prussian blue. This limited range of colors becomes a starting point, allowing gesture, texture, and emotion to come to the fore at the expense of purely representational imagery.

The result is a series of works that exist between landscape and abstraction, where the place is not merely observed but felt just as deeply.

Welsh-born and longtime Bornholm resident James Thomas is perhaps best known for his career in music, having written and produced for international artists including CHER and Beth Hart. Yet painting has been a constant presence throughout his life—a first love that began in childhood and has now returned to the center of his creative practice.

James Thomas’s artistic talent was recognized at an early age. In 1976, at just eleven years old, he had a work accepted into the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition in London. At fourteen, he gained university entrance and went on to study at Dyfed College of Art and Design in Wales. He was subsequently accepted into St Martin’s School of Art in London, but chose to leave his studies and pursue a career in music.

Limited Palette, presented at Svanekegården, marks James Thomas’s first solo exhibition. Created in 2026, the works signal a new direction in his painting, moving toward a more expressive and instinctive visual language.

The title Limited Palette reflects both James Thomas’s approach to color and his close relationship with the Bornholm landscape. In particular, it draws from his affection for the local beach at Sose, where the tones of the sand meet the intense depth of Prussian blue. These colors become a point of departure—allowing gesture, texture, and emotion to take precedence over representation.

The result is a body of work that sits between landscape and abstraction, where place is felt as much as it is observed.