James Whitbeck was born in 1973 in the Western Massachusetts town of Greenfield, situated on the western bank of the beautiful Connecticut River. Encouraged to be creative while growing up, eventually led to the love of the brush.
This encouragement,coupled with the desire to know his roots, brought him and his wife, Gale, to the shores of the Netherlands, where James was to fully understand the land from which his family came in the middle 1600's.
The richness and character, from that land and this, find their way into James' paintings, whether it be a sun lit Still-Life with a well worn Turkish rug and a glass of wine, or the dusky interior of a family barn sheltering a still cow.
"Old objects interest me," says James, " the years of wear bring out such a character and quality, it's very exciting to capture that on my panels."
Self taught, James has spent many hours observing the different areas of 17th Century Dutch and Flemish art, most notably Gerard ter Borch, Gerrit Dow, Pieter de Hooch, Johannes Vermeer and the exquisite Still-Life of Pieter Claesz. Over time, he has gradually found a way of combining that Old World flavor with the Modern
" To use techniques of the earlier painters, but make your work relevant to 21st Century eyes...that's my goal" Whitbeck adds.
James now lives in Montague Massachusetts with his wife Gale and three children. He maintains an active studio there, overlooking the Connecticut River.
