About

Born in California in 1988 and raised in Maryland, James attended public school in Frederick County where he adored his elementary art teacher, Charlie Shobe, a Vietnam Veteran and wanted to be just like him. James expressed his individuality, humor and values largely through drawing. His early fascination with surrealism, science fiction, biology and anthropology led him to win several awards in Middle and High school. With the help of another art teacher from Frederick Community College, Cynthia Baush, James applied to and was accepted at Maryland Institute College of art where he studied illustration, digital art, animation and sculpture. From there he moved to Michigan and later California where he completed his Masters of Fine Art at ArtCenter College of Design in 2015. It was an ArtCenter James began creating immersive installations and fabricating textures, pursuing a formal language of hope rendered as a state of constant transformation. For over a decade James has exhibited primarily his 2D visual art across the country, as well as in London the Seoul. Suffering from immense grief at losing loved ones in 2020, James found himself following in his late-hero’s footsteps, serving as an elementary art teacher, dedicating his life to introducing children to art.

Wendell Poindexter awarding James 2nd prize at Frederick Community College’s Fall juried arts show twenty years earlier (2006)

James and his peers at ArtCenter College of Design, MFA Studio Art Program 2014

James arranging Crash Site in sunny Palm Springs, CA 2021

James showing his entry for the 2023 FCPS Faculty Art show at the Delaplaine Arts Center.