James Carter on "Flight"

"My focus on painting birds dates back to when I was a boy and watching my grandfather, an accomplished wildlife painter. They became my first subject matter. Unlike your typical wildlife painter, I bring my birds to an interior world and pose them with inanimate props such as cameras, books and boxes. They therefore become both a metaphor and the subject of the piece. As shadows are an important part of the piece I use both airbrush and traditional wash painting to give my work that dimensional aspect. In the over-all look of my work I am focused on line and balance in the piece. I want the viewer to see not just a bird but a player in the subject's story." - James Carter

In addition to studying at the Silvermine College of Art in New Canaan, Connecticut and the Maryland Institute of Art, James Carter considered becoming an architect. He found that working with line and form, however, was more important to him than creating buildings. His architectural training is evident in his clearly structured compositions, as well as in the use of architectural details in his work, including mantels and doorways, graph-like grids and crosshatchings as seen through surveyors' instruments.

Both collections (Wellfleet and Orleans) are shown on our website.