Jim’s body of work, from photography through various approaches to painting, always draws attention to ironies, inconsistencies, and curiosities, born of his belief in the evolution of the American experience and in ever-present Change. His perspective on art is revealed by his progressive mindset of minimalism, that is, bringing forward the most notable form, or emotion through rigidity of composition, color and form, while reducing the amount of visual and mental chaos to its purest form. Overall, the labels that apply most to his work are American Realism, Precisionism, and Hard Edge Painting. He consistently reduced compositions to simple shapes and underlying geometrical structures, with clear outlines, minimal detail, and smooth handling of surfaces. He sought to simplify the complex— “reduce noise,” and to bring attention to important detail—“add value.” His finely calculated renderings reflected elements unique to the latter half of the twentieth-century modern American life in local settings, especially related to industrialization, agriculture and recreation, wherein he explored the conflict between tradition and progress.

A man of tenacious moral character and judgement, he referred to “maintaining integrity.” He was intrigued by the spoken word and the subtle nuances of precise language. When Jim was asked, Why make art? he quickly responded that he didn’t know how to do anything else, and then elaborated on that answer as follows: “Semantics aside, I refer to art (lowercase a) as the crafts of drawing, painting, sculpture, design, etc., whereas Art (upper case A) indicates knowing where we have been, staying current with where we are, and moving on from there.”

Jim was influenced in his development as an artist by a group of American artists who moved away from cubism in search of a more authentic style in order to define what was real. Among the artists who influenced him were Charlie Sheeler, Charles Demuth, George Ault, Miles Spencer and Rals...