James Earl

My desire to express myself through drawing and painting started at a very early age when I would spend a good amount of time depicting the places and objects that excited me during trips with my parents. My father, who also enjoyed drawing, spent a good deal of time with me teaching me many basic fundamentals of draftsmanship.

Growing up in Detroit I developed a deep interest in automobiles which led me to pursue a program of studies in industrial design and fine arts at Wayne State University in Detroit. After spending a Summer in the student design program at General Motors Styling and graduating from university. I spent two years at Ford Motor Styling and five more years at two other major industrial design firms, working on a variety of projects, before moving to New England with my wife and daughter.

After moving to the Boston area, two and a half years were spent at New England School of Art as an instructor in conceptual interior design and architectural illustration. During this period I developed an architectural illustration and small interior design business where since 1973 I have created architectural illustrations for a wide variety of projects Worldwide as well as schematic architectural design and interior design for a variety of projects. Currently, after a rewarding career in illustration and design, nearly all of the creative endeavors are spent creating watercolors of a variety of subjects.

Several of my drawings and watercolors have been included in juried shows of art societies on Boston’s South Shore, regional and North American shows of the New England Watercolor Society, Zullo Gallery Art Center and a national juried show of watercolors at the Richeson Gallery in Wisconsin. Work has been also been represented by galleries on the Boston’s South Shore, Provincetown, Southwest Harbor – Maine, and Portsmouth New Hampshire In 2003 I was one of three jurors from the automotive field for the prestigious American Fine Art Society show at the “Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.”

Memberships include the South Shore Art Center as a Gallery Artist, North River Art Society. Duxbury Art Association, New England Watercolor Society –signature member, and the American Watercolor Society, all of which I submit work for jurying on a regular basis.

Artist Statement
Environments have always had a significant affect and impact on my sensibilities, inspiring me to convey my impressions through painting and drawing instead of words. Line, color, light, the flow of relationship have continued to be an unavoidable internal dialog and part of life. Painting for me is a way of understanding a landscape or object and the subtle nuances of color and light that I see in these subjects. Painting is a form of language by which I can record and enjoy an experience, a place or a fascinating object.

The preliminary sketches and photographs become a thought sorting process. The graphic choices of a work in process become a challenge of communication, of impact, of a special connection to the subject matter. A painting to me represents a walk through time and space.

Over time I’ve used several different mediums and have become attached to the way the watercolor medium works out my thoughts and experiences in either a spontaneous or more studied approach.