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Michelle Rideout paints with her father, Tommy Thompson, at Radnor Lake in Nashville.

Michelle Rideout Now Has Her Own Web Site

We encourage all of our friends and collectors to visit our daughter's web site to see her oils and pastels. Michelle has been painting en plein air for the past several years and prefers to paint landscapes.  Michelle has studied under some of Tennessee's premier painters including Jason Saunders, Dawn Whitelaw, Roger Dale Brown, Jeremy Doss, Pat Thompson, Carolyn Wright, and others.  She also participated in a plein air oil workshop with Colorado artist, Jeanne Mackenzie.  Prior to moving on to painting, Michelle was an illustrator for Village Prints, where she designed and produced composite architectural-style drawings of numerous towns across twelve Southern states.  Michelle belongs to the Chestnut Group, plein air painters for the land of Nashville, TN.  She holds a B.S. degree in graphic design from the University of North Alabama. 

Tommy Thompson painted "Swinging Over the Harpeth" after watching some teenagers swinging over the Harpeth River on a rope swing off Old Natchez Trace Road west of Franklin, TN. This activity is a great summer pastime in the South.

Contact the artist if you are interested in purchasing a less-expensive giclee.

"Pleasant Meadow" is another of Tommy Thompson's memory paintings. Painter Kevin Macpherson in his book, "Landscape Painting: Inside and Out," says that artists should occasionally try painting from memory. On page 99 of his book, Macpherson instructs a painter to "look at a reference photo for 20 seconds, then put it away. Paint your first impression of the picture. Do not overanalyze; trust yourself. Drawing from memory ask yourself what color dominates and what value scale best represents your impression. Paint the entire painting without ever looking back at the reference." This talented painter and teacher knows that this challenge will push an artist to focus on the big picture because the painter will have only a general impression in mind to work from. Normally the longer a painter works on a scene, the easier it is to get lost in the finishing details and lose sight of the idea behind the painting and its overall quality.

Tommy Thompson is skilled in drawing and painting from his memory and the memory of other people. He enjoys this type of painting.

Tommy Thompson painted "Place of Peace" depicting a small church near his home in Florence, AL. This little church is the original Mars Hill Church of Christ.

Tommy Thompson painted the oil original, "Meandering Waters," from memory. This scene is typical of many scenes that the artist has encountered on his travels throughout America's countryside.

Tommy Thompson and his wife Marie enjoy riding through the countryside near their farm to locate scenes where they can capture on canvas the perfect light of early morning. This little scene capture their attention near the little community of Cloverdale.

"Smooth Flow" can be purchased at Gallery One in Nashville, TN. This painting is on hold for the exhibition, "A River" to benefit the Harpeth River Watershed Association.

Tommy Thompson painted "Smooth Flow" after visiting Williamson County, TN. He enjoys exploring this beautiful area to locate new painting sites. He was captivated by the light and shadows on this scene and the beautiful reflections in the water.

The painting, "Meeting of the Waters," was part of an exhibition called "A River" that benefited the Harpeth River Watershed Association, which was conducted by Gallery One in Nashville, TN.  

Tommy Thompson painted "Meeting of the Waters" on the Harpeth River while painting en plein air with his daughter, Michelle Rideout, and his wife Marie. The "Meeting of the Waters" refers to the location of the convergence of the Big Harpeth and West Harpeth Rivers. The name also refers to an attractive antebellum plantation home called "Meeting of the Waters." The home was built in the 1800s by Thomas Harden Perkins, a Revolutionary War officer, Tennessee pioneer, planter, and ironmaster. The house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

"Harpeth at Fulton Greer Park" can be purchased at Gallery One in Nashville, TN. This original was painted for a special exhibition called "A River," benefiting the Harpeth River Watershed Association.

Tommy Thompson painted "Harpeth at Fulton Greer Park" in Franklin, TN. The Fulton Greer Park is located off Hillsboro Road in Franklin. The painter likes to paint at this park because it affords a close-up view of the Harpeth River from the vantage point of a canoe launch. The painter was fortunate in that the light was absolutely perfect and offered beautiful reflections of the autumn colors in the waters of the Harpeth.

"Harpeth at Carnton" can be purchased at Gallery One in Nashville, TN. This painting is part of a special exhibition called "A River," benefiting the Harpeth River Watershed Association.

Tommy Thompson painted "Harpeth at Carnton" from a location within a few feet of the waterfall on the Harpeth that is near Carnton Plantation. In fact, the painter situated his easel so close to the river that his wife thought he was going to slide into the Harpeth, but happily he did not.

Carnton was forever changed by the events of the Civil War. The home to John and Carrie McGavock became the largest Confederate field hospital and in several rooms heavy bloodstains still mar the floors. In 1866, the McGavocks donated two acres near their home as a final resting place for 1,481 Southern soldiers. Robert Hicks immortalized these events in his New York Times bestseller, The Widow of the South.

Tommy Thompson painted "Happy Dog" from memory. This painting was created for display at the Brentwood Academy Fine Art Exhibition. The little painting shows the feelings between man and his best friend.