Jim Petty
Artworks-Watercolors / Original and Giclee Prints Figures,Urban Landscape, Still Life, Landscape
BAILEY Colorado

    I began my interest in art as a youngster growing up in Minnesota. Following high school, I entered Mankato State University and then Mankato Tech. I joined a large company in Minnesota as a designer of scholastic products. In 1981, I began building a design career in Atlanta, Georgia with a firm that developed support projects for advertising. While vacationing in New Mexico, I knew that I would one day live and paint there. For almost five years, I lived in Northern New Mexico between Santa Fe and Taos on the San Juan Reservation which was an ongoing spiritual adventure.

    Painting in watercolor has been my blood since I was a student and saw a book showing Andrew Wyeth's work. I couldn't help but be shaped by those early images of quiet, reflective settings and people. I wanted to capture places deep in the soul that allow the view to go through the process of introspection. Making paintings that depict people and places in a realistic way always fascinated me. Taking a blank, white surface and filling it with a realistic image that evokes a feeling in the viewer is my goal. A strong mood is always present in my paintings. I want to leave the viewer with the impression of a story being told, whether a figure is in the painting or you have the sense that someone has just been there.

    My paintings reflect my surroundings. I paint images that range from the cowboys of the southwest to the urban landscape in small or large metro settings. Whether I'm painting a still life or plain air landscape, to reference materials I've photographed I'm just responding to what I see. I don't want to be tied to just one subject. I strive to improve my paintings as time goes on.

 

    Thank you and I hope you enjoy my work.

                                                    

                                                        Jim Petty