Jim originally moved to New Mexico to work as a scientist. However, New Mexico's brilliant light and dramatic skies along with exposure to Santa Fe's thriving art community reawakened an interest in painting which had lain dormant for three decades. This was in part due to the discovery that plein-air painting (landscape painting on location) was practiced by contemporary painters. Jim had lived in a small southern Kentucky town as a child and was given free run of the countryside. Ever since, he has held a love of the outdoor experience. With the discovery of painting, he found a vocation he loves and which allows him to spend time out in the fresh air.

Institutional art training was impractical for Jim, so he sought out and attended classes and workshops offered by professional artists near Santa Fe, New Mexico. After several years of study he had the good fortune to become friends with and take guidance from a group of Santa Fe landscape painters. These painters taught that nature is the ultimate source of inspiration and is best studied and experienced directly. Jim has adopted this philosophy and accepted that learning to paint the landscape is a life long endeavor. While the primary method of study is the act of painting directly from nature, he loves viewing outstanding paintings and finds the study of these invaluable. To that end, he frequently visits museum and gallery exhibits and has a large collects art books and exhibition catalogues. The paintings of the California impressionist painters have been a particularly strong influence.

While Jim believes strongly in direct study from nature, he also paints in the studio from the location paintings, from photographs, from memory, and even from the imagination. Painting on location adds an emotional immediacy to the painting as well as providing insight into the subtle nuances of lighting that would be unavailable in photographs. The location paintings are finished paintings but frequently inspire studio compositions. The studio offers the opportunity to paint on a larger scale and to further develop the painting concept. He has paints mostly in northern New Mexico, but often takes extended painting trips to other locales. While knowing that the painter must understand and feel strongly about a subject, he believes the challenge of painting new subjects forces him to grow and to avoid a tired repetition of subjects.

Jim feels fortunate to be able to travel, and spend time outdoors doing what he loves, i.e. painting, while earning a living. He lives in Santa Fe New Mexico with his wife Jeanette and enjoys the ready company and friendship of some of the country's finest traditional landscape painters. Jim is a signature member of Oil Painters of America.

The paintings shown on this site are representative of recent work. All are for sale and others may be seen at either Jim's studio or his current galleries.