The American Southwest heavily influences Josephine Thomason’s life and artistic work. Her mother gave birth to her in a home birth in the living room of the house in Tucson, Arizona, that Josephine now lives in with her family. After her mother got a job working as a midwife on the Navajo Reservation in northern Arizona, Josephine spent the remainder of her school years there.
Growing up on the Navajo Reservation gave Josephine a deep appreciation for nature and spirituality. Walking to school, she would talk to the land around her, sharing her worries with the earth. This connection to spirit and nature continues to define her creative process today.
Seeking to help heal the earth, as a young adult, Josephine spent many years focused on natural building, water harvesting, and permaculture design. After a particularly difficult experience with people repeatedly destroying a healing garden she was working on, she realized, “You cannot heal the earth without healing her people.” This led her to learn many healing modalities, including Shamanic practice, massage therapy, and astrology, all of which influenced her artistic work.
Josephine is a multi-media, visionary artist offering visual reconnection with multi-dimensional beings. Painting as a healing practice, she focuses on subjects she holds dear, honoring the world around her, both seen and unseen.
Josephine designed and built the strawbale hexagonal studio she works out of in her backyard, and collaborates with her husband, artist Joe Marshall, at The Heart of the Sun Gallery, a family-owned and operated studio and art gallery, located in the heart of historic Fourth Avenue in Tucson, AZ.
The ecosystem of her life includes her 2 kids, husband, 2 dogs, 5 cats, 8 chickens, and an abundant garden. Her art blooms out of all of that.
Currently, she is working on a series of paintings honoring the spiritual teachings of night-blooming botanicals and their connection to the cosmos.
Joseph Marshall is a lifelong artist with an insatiable curiosity and passion for creation. Born and raised in Rhode Island, as a child, one of Joseph's favorite pastimes was reading the encyclopedia. This instilled in him a profound desire to understand the workings of the universe. This intellectual curiosity, coupled with his love for drawing, laid the foundation for his artistic journey.
A proud punk, he made art and zines with his friends at Quimby's queer store. He had his first solo art show in 1985. He has been a core part of the art scene wherever he lives.
Joseph creates art that expresses his love of how the universe functions. He blends scientific study of the natural world into his art making in a bold graphic style. Using wood as his primary material, cutting and burning to communicate his passion that the world is a beautiful place full of purpose and wonder.
He has illustrated several books, including Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond, Volume 1 and 2 by Brad Lancaster, and Create an Oasis with Greywater: Integrated Design for Water Conservation, Reuse, by Art Ludwig
He works in his studio gallery on historic 4th Ave in Tucson, AZ, which affords him a foundation and freedom to explore, experiment, and have a place to showcase his and his family's artwork. It also allows him to interact directly with the Tucson art community and art and nature lovers from around the globe. Joseph Marshall lives in Tucson, Arizona, with my family and many animals.
