About James

As a young man James was always outside observing the surroundings. Born and raised in Paarl, South Africa, James grew up among vineyards and landscapes. He attended the prestigious Paarl Boys’ High School and went on to get a degree in agriculture and horticulture from Elsenburg College Stellenbosch, which deepened his love for nature. 

In 1991, a visit to the United States changed the course of his life when he met his wife, Sarah, a Yale-educated art history major. Through her influence, he discovered a lasting passion for art, even as his career path led him from horticulture to finance.

In 1992, back in South Africa, James pursued his farming career as a rose farmer and became the CEO of a nationwide horticultural company. As a promising rugby player at school, James also coached local farm workers to play rugby in his spare time and established a rugby league for them. They taught him to speak Xhosa, an indigenous South African language.

Five years later, the USA beckoned again and, back in Tucson, James became the top salesman for Farm Bureau. He also held positions as a financial advisor and stockbroker for Merrill Lynch, Piper Jaffray, and ICMA. In his spare time, he had always dabbled in painting but never really had enough time.

For years, painting quietly accompanied James through a serious back operation, which left him bedridden for years. It was during this difficult time that Sarah encouraged him to pursue his true passion as a self-taught artist.

Today, James employs palette-knife techniques to capture the vitality of landscapes, seascapes, and still lifes from Tucson to South Africa. Through bold color and impressionist texture, he conveys not just what he sees, but what he feels. His work has been featured in art magazines, exhibited in galleries, collected in the United States and South Africa, and sold worldwide.