James Ayers has long been drawn to art. As a child one of his favorite pastimes was sketching or replicating cartoons. Fast forward to college where James found himself studying indigenous cultures for a degree project – a passion ignited.
James has come to be known for his intricate paintings of historic American Indian culture. Drawing on his traditional training in oil painting and deep research he conducts for each piece, James brings a level of depth to his portraits that speaks to the sincerity of the character being painted.
“Painting portraiture is something I just always did,” he said. “It just was really natural. It is a part of the human experience that we are all having together.”
To get his paintings culturally and physically accurate he does extensive research on his subjects. “I come at it from more of an anthropologist or archeologist viewpoint,” James said. “The historical research that I do embellishes the work.”
“The profile for me is an incredibly strong position of the face,” he said. “If I could spend all my time just painting the face of each figure that I am painting I would be completely happy.”
See what James is most excited about this year at the Celebration of Fine Art: