Jim McVicker

JIM McVICKER

 

At the age of 21, upon seeing nineteenth century French landscape paintings, I had an awakening to art. The beauty and sensitivity I saw in those works changed my perception of the world.

 

I started studying art history, painted copies of French impressionist landscapes and enrolled in life drawing and painting classes at Chaffey Community College. In 1975, I decided to become a full-time painter. I was 24 years old.

 

I moved from Ontario, California, where I was raised, to the northern part of the state. After a year I settled in Eureka, California. I was drawn there by the beauty and the art community. I met and worked with several very accomplished artists, painting landscapes every day on location, or painting in the studio always working directly from the still-life set up or models. I learned from direct observation of nature, by looking at and studying great art from the past and working alongside artists more developed than myself.

 

In 1984, I met my wife and fellow artist, Terry. We live a wonderful quiet life in California. We have studios on our property and I continue to paint daily, following my passion for painting from life, trying to capture the light, atmosphere, space, and the mysterious beauty all around us.

* This statement has been provided directly by the artist in association to their 16^th International ARC Salon entries. This content has not been edited for typos or grammatical errors and has not been vetted for accuracy.