James Green Artist Statement
I have always enjoyed experimenting with differing media, technique, and approaches to painting, through the use of oil paint, acrylic paint and now water based dyes on raw canvas. My recent works focuses on two quite distinct styles that of abstract acrylic painting, and abstract and semi abstract dyes on raw canvas.
Dyes on Raw Canvas
This medium I enjoy using to create both modern impressionistic landscapes and abstracts. Dyes in their application have an uncontrolled quality in how they blend, lay over one another, and their saturation and intensity. These paintings embrace the serendipitous harmony that arises when colors collide and merge in unforeseen ways. With every piece I convey the wonder that color can inspire.
Acrylics
The dot motif, revered for its cultural significance in indigenous Australian Art, serves as the foundation of this artistic expression. I have placed this ancient method of painting into a modern abstract approach. The dots on a black void can be considered pixels, signifying the intersection of our digital age with the timeless beauty of indigenous artistry. I refer to these paintings as the transition series.
A separate group of acrylics I refer to as energy pieces. These express a sense of motion, force or matter through space. I use a heavy gesso base, with laying of acrylics which at times produces a gem like effect of radiating particles.
James Green Artist Biography
James Green is a mixed media artist who concentrates in abstract acrylic painting and water dyes on raw canvas. The later works are either abstracts or semi-impressionistic landscapes.
James interest in art came at an early age, encouraged in grammar school to create in painting and drawing. In junior high and high school he started producing pen and ink drawings. During his summers at the New Jersey shore James was an avid sailboat racer. Artistically, this translated into numerous racing and boating pen and ink sketches which he showed and sold at the local yacht club.
In College while majoring in economics, he continued his interest in art by taking art history and painting courses. The later introduced him the use of color through oils and acrylics. James found that he was particularly drawn to experimentation and these early paintings evidenced broad range of styles and an artistic maturity. The summer between his junior and senior year Jim took an art course in Salzburg, Austria, and on a side trip to Vienna he met his future first wife, an Australian.
After College James was encouraged by his parents to become a “professional”. Recognizing certain economic necessities and that he was not suited for certain professions, such as medicine or accounting, he went into law. The pressure of law school, his marriage and 2 children shortly thereafter, put his artistic inclinations on the shelf. Then, as a young trial attorney, there was no time to pursue his passion for art.
James and family moved to Denver and after a corporate stint he opened a law practice with several partners. As that practice flourished and his children became more independent, James again returned to his artistic impulses through both pen and Ink studies and oil and acrylic painting. Upon retirement in 2014 Jim devoted full attention to his art.
For over 50 years he has made numerous trips to Australia to visit family. This experience has formed the basis for his current artistic endeavors. In 2014 on a side trip to Tasmania he visited the renown MONA (Museum of Old and New Art) where he was enthralled by a massive vibrant painting composed of dyes on raw canvas. On returning to Denver, he experimented in his basement with water dyes. This eventually evolved into his current dyes on raw canvas some of which are pure abstracts and others that have an element of impressionistic landscape.
His abstract acrylics came about in similar fashion. During James’ trips to Sydney Australia, he and his daughter, (who is an established and internationally recognized multimedia artist), visited galleries and museums featuring aboriginal art. After James visit in 2019 he decided to employ aboriginal techniques in a modern framework. This developed into his present transition series.
Artist Resume
Member Art Gym, Denver Colorado
Member Denver Art Museum
B.A. Degree – Northwestern University, major economics, minor Art
Art Classes – Salzburg Art Academy, Salzburg, Austria
Drawing and Design – Sydney Australia
Plein Air – Doug Dawson
Color Theory/Plein Air – Sandra Kaplan
Showings
10/2015 Gallery U – Westfield, NJ
11/2018 Art Gym, Denver, CO
7/2019 Vacant Spaces, Art Gym, Denver, CO
8/2023 – 11/2023 Dancing Grains, Boulder, CO
Works held in private collections
US – California, Connecticut, Colorado, Florida, New Mexico, New Jersey
International – Canada, Mexico, New Zealand