“As an artist, I enjoy painting people in ways that suggest the stories in their lives. I usually provide some context for the viewer but try not to offer defining information about the people I paint and draw. There is always a degree of ambiguity in my figurative work and that is very intentional. My goal is to have the viewer enter into the image and form a personal narrative. Indeed, the essential meaning of my work arises between the painting and the viewer, and the narrative I have in my head as I work is largely irrelevant once the artwork is finished. I enjoy painting on Masonite and plywood panels. I have recently begun using various techniques to alter the surface in ways that enhance the image.”

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James Tucker was born in Connecticut but has spent most of his life in the South. A graduate of the University of Georgia, he attended art school there and also studied at The Atlanta College of Art and at Callanwolde Art Center in Decatur, GA. An active artist since 1976, he works in a variety of media, primarily oil, acrylic, gouache, and pen and ink. James lives with his wife Deborah on the Cumberland Plateau near South Pittsburg, TN.