Avril Thomas (b. 1956), artist, was born in Malaysia and went to boarding school in Scotland and Australia. Although she has always enjoyed drawing, she didn't consider it a career until she was asked to teach an adult drawing class in Queensland. After moving to South Australia, she studied at the Adelaide Central School of Art, and has since been represented in solo and group exhibitions. Her main focus is portraiture in tonal realist style, created in charcoal, graphite, pastel and oil. After her portrait of South Australian MP and Minister for Foreign Affairs Alexander Downer was a finalist in the 2005 Archibald Prize, Thomas was commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery to undertake a portrait of former South Australian Governor Marjorie Jackson-Nelson. A nurse by profession, Thomas has built up a successful portrait practice, and also paints floral and figurative works.
