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. 

Biltmore Wine Unveiling

Time seems to be speeding up a bit as we anticipate the arrival of the book, begin to take our first orders, and prepare for the Mars Hill College Homecoming reading. Intoxicated by the season and the winds of change, we are giddy. Or could that headlong rush be the wine. . .?

This past Saturday, Marcus and Anne celebrated the unveiling of the Biltmore Christmas wine, a beautiful bottle emblazoned with Marcus' painting, Biltmore Winter. The lovely winter-blue vision sets the perfect scene for the wine, a semi-sweet blend of Gerwurztamier, Riesling and Muscat. The wine will soon be officially available at the Estate. The full-sized painting is included, with the blessings and permission of the Biltmore Company, in the book, Flight of the Mind. The gathering at Lake James was festive and included Dini Pickering, vice-chair of the Biltmore Board of Directors and granddaughter of George Vanderbilt, who we are sure would have recognized the magic in Marcus' scene. 

We can't think of a better way to spend a winter evening than sipping a glass of wine and getting lost in Marcus' vision of winter wonder.

Marcus and Anne toast with Dini and Chuck Pickering.

But those clean crisp snows are still a few months away, and there are many adventures in store for fall. . . This Saturday, we hope Marcus takes a bottle or two with him as he takes to the skies, literally. Stay tuned for a detailed account of his airborne odyssey on the thermals and over the mountain landscape inhabited by the birds he paints so well. . ..

Flights Made to Order

The time has come! We are proudly accepting orders for Flight of the Mind, the 25-year retrospective and true labor of love for Anne and Marcus Thomas.

Currently, we are tracking the progress of the book, still in the care of our publisher, as it leaves the presses, receives all the finishing touches - a little gold leaf here, an embossed image there - finally to be bundled up and released into the wide world. We expect the first printing to land on our doorstep in the first week of December. All orders will be fulfilled immediately at that time, soaring straight and true to light underneath your Christmas Tree.

We know, too well, how uncertain, time, life, and the weather can be, so the arrival date is not 100% guaranteed. But there's also a chance we are being conservative with our arrival estimate. We can promise to stay in touch as the shipment of the first printing approaches. Please visit our Ordering FAQ page for detailed information on the process.

From now until October 15th, you will receive a 15% preferred customer discount. Gold and Platinum Editions include wonderful supplements to Marcus' story, such as a classy slipcover, a DVD showcasing everyday rituals and a cast of characters from life and art, and original signed prints - hummingbirds to lift the roof of your mind to heights of inspiration.

On Saturday, October 13th at 11am, we will be offering a special reading and preview of the book and DVD at Mars Hill College Homecoming.  All weekend, Marcus will be exhibiting his work in the Montague Building on the college campus. On Saturday morning, Leslee Johnson, author, will give a reading of selections accompanied by slides of the book itself. We're excited to share this glimpse of our work and love and look forward to seeing as many of our faithful readers, in so many ways our beloved community far and wide for whom we built this book, as possible.

*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

Flight of the Mind: The Multimedia Experience

Bob and Marcus in the recording studio.

Happy Independence Day to all. I am realizing this holiday was more fun when I was a child, a little more innocent and a lot more impressionable. These days, the fireworks I like best are of the mental, spiritual and creative sort.

Here in our camp, independence and freedom are treasures never to be taken lightly! Because of Marcus and Anne's determination to live independently after the accident, they embraced the creativity of the artist's life and have some metaphorical fireworks of their own to show for it. Marcus' personal quest for freedom led him straight to the realm of imagination realized in color and paint. And that's certainly something to celebrate.

Leslee reading the text.

We also have some fireworks up our sleeves (sounds dangerous!) of the multimedia variety, and this experience is sure to elicit 'oohs' and 'aahs.' As part of the offerings that come with the book, Flight of the Mind: A Painter's Journey through Paralysis, we've been working on a Flight of the Mind DVD, full of additional material and exclusive interviews with the artist, and an audio-book recording of the narrative text. Both of these broaden our reach and make a full experience of the work available to all.

We've recently completed the audiobook, recorded at ProComm studios in Fletcher, NC, by Bob Peck. Bob is also the mastermind behind the DVD portion of the project, and you can read about some of our early shoots here. Founder of Asheville Multimedia, Bob does good work bringing ideas to life with all the audiovisual arts at his disposal. Today's excerpt is courtesy of Bob and Asheville Multimedia, the first bit (a little teaser!) of the book, read by me, the author.

Happy Anniversary, How Time Flies!

The month of June, which is fleeting and nearly past us, marks the one-year anniversary of the collaboration between Marcus, Anne and myself as writer of the narrative text of Flight of the Mind. It has been a magical year of lovely conversation and exciting creative work. A passage from the chapter, "Timing" reads as a nice anthem for this occasion and the promise of things to come:

The art of timing is subtle. But we all know when we've been blessed by virtue of being at the right place at the right time, with the right person. Timing, maybe even ore than mere time, is also inter-relational and gives birth to moments that have the quality of eternity - moments that can last forever.  . . . "You start with small ideas. You sell calendars door to door and work your way up to writing a book," Anne's vision for the future is as vivid as one of Marcus' painting. "We want people to understand that against all odds, great achievements can be made.

It is also the anniversary of the book's signature image, emblem and prevailing metaphor: How Time Flies with its rowdy raven and the artist's eye gazing out from the stolen pocketwatch. One year ago this month, the first sketches took shape, emerging out of the blue depths of Marcus' imagination.

We've also been blogging about our thoughts, dreams and progress on the book for a full year now, and on the anniversary of a retrospective, it's good to look back. The blog is representative of some of our best work and conversations, and it served as a testing space for many sections of the book. From reflection on the nature of time, to the nature of art, from poetry, to philosophy, to the labor of love all good work requires, we've had the time of our lives on this adventure!