Marcus takes to the skies and lives his metaphor. Literally.

Transcending all metaphor and leaving his paintbrush behind, Marcus C. Thomas the artist will launch into the great blue yonder over the Shenandoah valley tomorrow morning at 11am.

It is a rare occurrence when an artist takes the metaphors through which he has made reality shine, and reverses the equation, leaping into reality through the living of his favorite metaphor. But leave it to Marcus to do just that.

The Fourth Flight

For 25 years, he has painted the magic and mystery of flight represented in all manifestations: fierce birds of prey, delicate songbirds, ethereal hummingbirds, and the ingenious inventions my early pioneers of the art of flight. The Fourth Flight, pictured here, depicts the Wright Brothers at the Outer Banks, launching their handmade creation into the sea winds. This trial, the fourth, was the successful one that once and for all proved that human beings - featherless and equipped with wings only in the imagination - were capable of flight. The top photo shows the sailplane that will carry Marcus tomorrow; a non-motorized enclosed glider. In reality, and in Marcus' art, flight has come a long way on those same wings of imagination.

Tomorrow morning, he will coast the thermals, shared with his favorite raptors, in a two-seater sailplane, piloted by Matt Broughton, a lawyer from Roanoke and a good friend who has known Marcus since high school. The flight will be a leap into the ever-enticing unknown, a celebration of the completion of Flight of the Mind, and a chance for Marcus to confirm his own lofty visions and soaring adventures of imagination from a bird's eye angle.

Read the press release on his sailplane flight from New Castle airport here, and send him soaring blessings and the luckiest skies for tomorrow! May the wind bless your wings, Marcus.
See a gallery of photos from the flight itself here. 

*Flight of the Mind* Becomes Reality: A Book is Born

Anne, Marcus and Leslee toast as we finish the final proofing.
Our eyes are tired, but all the i's are dotted and the t's crossed.
Special thanks to our readers, whose eyes were a gift.

It is official! The book, Flight of the Mind: A Painter's Journey through Paralysis, is complete and on its way to the presses where it will be printed in full-bleed color, on paper specifically chosen for its weight and quality, and encased in an embossed, cloth-bound hard-cover.  Then, dear reader, Flight of the Mind will find its way into your hands, and you will no longer have to settle for this computer screen to experience the world and work of Marcus Thomas.

The existence of this book and other books like it - books that are carefully created, and crafted with painstaking attention to detail - are a testament to the intrinsic value of the art of book-making. Beautiful books are an experience in themselves - to the eyes, the mind, the imagination. This experience can be enjoyed in the busiest metropolis, in the most remote corner of the backcountry, anywhere, again and again. A good book offers an experience that can be shared, passed down through generations, shared from hand to hand, neighbor to neighbor, pored over together at the kitchen table or the school library. And even once the book itself has aged to tatters, a particularly fine book lives on in the minds, eyes and hands of those who loved it, who remember turning its pages and experiencing the world it invited them into every time they opened the cover.  

After more than a year of good, hard labor, to see Flight of the Mind come to into the world, clothed in paper and ink is akin to the birth of a long-awaited beloved child. So we invite you to celebrate with us! Raise a glass to Flight of the Mind. And join us on this blog as we announce the pre-ordering details in the coming days, so that you can move beyond this blog, and hold our hard-won and well-loved work in your hands.

Why Marcus' Life Is Really Big News

Opening shot from Dellinger's story.

Derek Dellinger met Marcus and Anne about three years ago in Florida. He immediately saw the makings of a great story, heroic and inspiring enough to be broadcast and shared with people everywhere. At the time he worked for a news station in Florida, so he pitched the story of the Thomas' creative odyssey. But the station turned the story down. The housing market was crashing, the economy had tanked, unemployment was rampant, and there didn't seem to be much time and space for a story about a man and a woman who defied tremendous odds and accomplished herculean tasks to make art.

We all know that most of the news of our time and place is bad. Horrific, in fact. Right before I began to write this, I read the latest headlines. I had to look away in sick despair, and it's a good thing I did, because in that instant, I caught sight of a goldfinch lighting on the birch tree outside my window. The news is bad, but we don't have to confine ourselves to that reality; bad news is not the whole story. Marcus and Anne know this truth. Marcus' life flies in the face of bad news and as such, becomes really big news.

Mr. Dellinger knows this truth too.

Painting a frigate bird - a still from the story.

When the Florida station turned down his story, he didn't give up. When he moved to Greenville, South Carolina and began work as a correspondent at FOX Carolina, he looked up Marcus and Anne with the idea of pitching the story again. This time, the story took hold, came before the right eyes and hearts, and it aired last week.

We want to thank Derek Dellinger for knowing a good story when he meets it and for telling this story in such a fine, intelligent and sensitive way. Here it is for all to see and share (click the link below). Tell your friends; there is good news.

Paralyzed painter inspires others with art, success - FOX Carolina 21