About Us

John Thompson, co-owner and founder of JT PAINT & DESIGN, has over 30 years of experience in the paint industry. In 1989 he started working part time at Sherwin-Williams while attending college. After college he was offered a full-time position with the company in Dallas TX. He and his wife Kim made the move from Bartlesville to Dallas where he quickly worked his way through several management positions in the company. His final years with Sherwin-Williams he managed a fast-paced, high-volume store in Plano, TX where he won the highest honors from the Fortune 500 company. In 1997 John started his own painting company. After working in the paint industry for almost a decade he decided he could do paint contracting a better way. He started Renaissance Painting to be a new approach to a painting company. This was not a “Billy Bob” and helper type company. This was a highly service-oriented company with systems in place to efficiently paint homes with the highest quality and customer service. Renaissance Painting was a success. In 2006 John and Kim decided to move back to Bartlesville to be close to family. It was hard to walk away from repeat, happy and established customers but, they wanted their son, who has autism, to spend time with grandparents. John started a new company, JT PAINT & DESIGN, with the same proven systems and customer service. John and Kim were thrilled with Green Country customers and the quality of the employees in Oklahoma who have become friends and family.  Over the years JT PAINT & DESIGN has become synonymous with quality and service.

Co-Owner, J.R. Smithee, has over 22 years in the painting and coatings industry.  J.R. graduated high school in 1999 from Collinsville, OK. After high school he attended college, played baseball, and started his career in the paint and coatings industry as a part-time employee at the local Sherwin Williams store. Upon graduating college, he was offered a position with Sherwin-Williams as a manager trainee and worked his way up to store manager.  As a store manager he managed several successful stores around northeast Oklahoma as well as trained and promoted countless of his employees to higher positions. In 2005, J.R. married the love of his life, Gena, and they have two children, Wyatt and Gentry. J.R. spent his last few years with Sherwin-Williams as an outside sales representative.  Covering most of northeast Oklahoma with one of the largest volume territories in the state, specializing in interior painting Owasso, OK. During those years, John Thompson, was one of his customers.  This is where they developed a friendship and business relationship.  In 2020, J.R. decided to leave Sherwin-Williams and partner with John. Since joining JT PAINT & DESIGN, J.R. has been able to bring his ideas, processes, and relationships to company in order to help them continue to grow and stay focused on providing high quality results with a customer experience that is unmatched.  The business has continued to grow with the addition of interior painting Owasso, OK.