With an intuitive approach to his work, Thoms developed a vibrant and poetic dream world that combined Klee, Miro, and Kandinsky's influences while still being wholly his own.

He gained more recognition in later years for his clever and original abstract paintings, collages, and prints after retiring from his teaching job.

Thoms' assured and bright color sense may have come from his Colourist ancestors. He approached his paintings with a mix of great visual sophistication and verve and an almost childlike directness.

Colin Thoms, 1912-1997

A painter and teacher, born in Edinburgh, Thoms had an early interest in painting through his friendship with the Scottish Colourist S J Peploe and family, studying under him at Edinburgh College of Art with William Gillies and D M Sutherland. More studies followed at Slade School of Fine Art and at several schools in Paris, having gained a travelling scholarship from Edinburgh College of Art. Back in Scotland, he taught in various schools, before and after his war service, post importantly at the Gray’s School of Art, Aberdeen. He was also a prominent member of Society of Scottish Artists, becoming its president in 1949 and exhibited regularly with the Royal Scottish Academy. Thoms’ great breakthrough in his practice stemmed from his seeing a retrospective of work by the surrealist Joan Miró, after which he brought further colour, abstraction and wit into his painting. His first one-man show at Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh, in 1966 was titled “the Dreamworld of Re-Born Thoms”.