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Powerful Painting
by Maril Crabtree
  Originally published in Missouri Life

Bonnie Tolson’s brown eyes sparkle when she reflects on how she first knew she would be an artist.  “I was six years old and noticed that my drawings of Tweety Bird and Sylvester weren’t as good as the ones my four older brothers drew.  That was the day,” she says, “ when I decided I’d learn to draw very, very well.”

Her childhood determination led to a lifelong affair with art, an 18-year career as an art teacher and guidance counselor in Kansas City area schools, and new levels of achievement with her own artistic efforts in the past two years.

One of Bonnie’s mentors was her high school art teacher, who pulled students’ discarded drawings from the waste can and challenged them to transform what they thought was “trash” into something of worth.  Along with art techniques, he taught them that “nothing goes to waste, and everything can be made into something else.”

“I learned to look at the whole world as something that could be made into an object of beauty and value,” says Bonnie.  “Whether I was teaching, counseling, writing poetry or creating my own art, I learned that we all have value – no matter how many times we may think we’ve failed.” 

Bonnie has taken that philosophy to heart since her departure from full-time teaching.  She transforms blank canvases into mixed media collages ranging from African goddesses to Native American imagery to Warhol-like flags superimposed with a flurry of faces.  At a recent exhibit of her work, a still life of three chairs shared wall space with a colorful geometric abstract and a silhouette of an African American woman rising out of a cotton field.   

Bonnie’s mastery of media includes oils, acrylics, watercolor, chalk, paper, cardboard and cloth relief, wood, and printmaking.  She constantly seeks new techniques, materials, and themes, with rewarding results.  In the last year, she has given two successful exhibits of her work in the River Market area of Kansas City, Missouri.

“I like to work quickly.  When the ideas come, I plunge in to explore that area and give it everything I have,” she says. 

Dr. John Waldron, an art patron who owns several of her paintings, agrees.  “Her works have a thought-provoking, meditative quality,” he says.  “She’s always looking for answers to what life is about.”  

Her latest work is with “power sticks,” pieces of found wood painted with bright colors and symbols.  Research into native South and Central American shamanism led to a discovery of the spiritual significance of certain lengths of wood, as well as shapes and symbols.

Much of Bonnie’s art evolved from her life journey, which she terms her “transformational trek.”  Equally at home with poetry, music, and art, she has recently made her debut as an R&B singer on a CD titled “Switched.”  She also had a book of poetry published in 1992 and free-lanced for the Mahogany line of Hallmark greeting cards.

“I love experimenting with my talents,” she says, “but I always return to art.  It allows me a full range of expression.”

And yes, all four of her brothers agree that she draws very, very well.