Estate Find 

Oil On Canvas By G.T.Pickett 

Evil Looking Genie Ready to Grant wishes...Very Fun and Creepy. 

Possible part of a studio Movie design The Night Sky of Baghdad 

GTP did work in Hollywood making and painting Scenes for back drops.

This is a very Unusual Art work for GT Picket since most of his work is Desert landscapes   We think this is set design for the film  1001 Arabian nights 

Vey Bright, wonderful colors Merriment and Mirth  LARGE Painting 

Measures 24 inches x 36 inches 

G. T. Pickett (Gerald Thaddeus Pickett), or as family and friends knew him "Jerry", was born out of time, probably by about 100 years too late. He was most comfortable in the woods or beside a stream. He once said he thought he would have been happier as a sort-of mountain man. “Modern life” was often a source of tension and unease for him and driving on the expressways of a strange city left him, and his passengers, exhausted and mentally drained.

His date of birth was 1902, 1903, or recently reported as 1904. (His wife, Mable Booth Pickett was born in 1906, the year of the San Francisco earthquake and fire, so that is an anchor point.) It is believed that Jerry was three years older than Mabel which could easily move the date into either 1903 or 1904. It is for certain that Jerry was born on February 2, Ground Hog Day – another anchor point.

Jerry's youth was spent in the woods and lakes and countryside of the west central Indiana mixed farmlands. With considerable reluctance he also spent some time in school, the same school presumed to be the same one in which his father, Paul Pickett, taught. He drew and sketched, in class, in church and in the outdoors. That was where he found himself and where he excelled. After graduation from high school, he spent several semesters at John Herron Art School in Indianapolis. He then studied for some time at the Chicago Art Institute – in spite of his deep dislike for the big city. He was there during, or soon after, prohibition and recalled seeing bullet holes in walls, left-overs from gang wars.

At some time in the mid-Twenties, he headed west. His goal was to go to Alaska, but after a long trip he found himself in Seattle. Without enough money for the ship, he headed across the Northwest and worked in a logging camp in Washington state for awhile. This experience gave him stories that he would regale any audience with for the remainder of his life.

The depression affected him deeply. He spent some time working on a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) crew and traveled “riding the rails.” Using his natural talent and education he earned pocket money by painting small sketches of homes and selling them to the owners. During the depression he sold his art for 25 cents and was glad for the money. During this decade he became a highly competent cabinet maker. Indiana had small manufacturing plants where the enclosures for the phenomenally successful radios were produced. It was his first experience with the press of speed as a counter to quality in production. This skill and the tension would be important aspects of the rest of his life. He also worked as a draftsman in an Architectural firm, believed to be in Chicago, Illinois, but hated the office environment and smoked too much while working there.

At some time during this period he met Mabel Booth at a church in Marion Indiana. And that began a romance that would lead to a move to Arizona. Mabel’s sister’s husband had tuberculous, and most of the family moved with her. Mabel and Jerry were married in August 1935. As soon as they could they bought a small house. The payments were $25.00 per month and Jerry earned $25.00 each week. So the recovery wasn’t going really well. Work was available in the growing economy of Phoenix, but he deeply missed the woods and free-running waters of his youth. He replaced that yearning with scenery of the desert and mountains and reservoirs that made the dry country habitable.

Jerry became active in the Union movement and was frequently the shop steward and representative to the Carpenters and Joiners Union. He worked at Southwestern Sash and Door for many years in a high production rate shop. He also made shuffle boards, the kind that you can still find in bars. In 1936 Ronald "Ron" Booth Pickett was born to Mable and Jerry and in 1938 Teddy "Ted" Lee Pickett came along.

Jerry continued to be active at oil painting producing some of his most memorable work capturing the stark beautiful scenery of his new environment. However, his art wasn’t limited to painting, he also made a lot of wood carvings and glass etchings.

In the early fifties, the oppressive heat and the changes in the economy led to a family move to southern California in West Covina, one of the rambling distant suburbs of Los Angeles. Construction was rampant and jobs were readily available. His skills and interests led to his most fulfilling jobs, working in the moving picture industry. He reveled in this setting where quick building and innovative approaches (for movie sets) to illusion were the most highly valued abilities. His favorite one was working on the “Ten Commandments”, which starred Charlton Heston. He often spoke of working on the latex frogs and of how they made the Red Sea "part".

At some point, the long commute and the difficult traffic wore on him; even more than the thrill and excitement of constant change energized him. A heart attack in his early sixties caused him to rethink his occupation and he returned to art. For several years he painted during the week and sold his work at “Art Shows” that would move from one mall parking lot to another throughout the L.A. region. He was prolific with his art and his work can been found all across the United States. He earned more in his first year with his paintings than he ever did with carpentry.

Jerry continued to fish in the ocean and the local lakes and hunt in the mountains and desert. Every long weekend and every vacation he would pack-up and go camping somewhere. In these latter years trips back "home" to Indiana were much anticipated by his family there, especially one little niece who would write and beg him and Mable to make the trip back home to Indiana where he enjoyed the Indiana outdoors and local fishing but could hardly endure the pollen and humidity.