The Storyteller in Paint Born in San Francisco in 1952, Thom Ross approaches a canvas with the intent of uncovering the human beneath the myth. He describes himself as a storyteller who paints, a distinction that shows in how he handles his subjects. He does not look for the polished, heroic versions of history often found in textbooks. Instead, he seeks the flaws and the quiet, complicated realities of the people who lived through them. His work is a slow look at the American West, focusing on the individuals who shaped its history through their specific, often messy, actions. His focus shif…