James Shay

Art Brokerage: James Shay American Artist: Born in South Dakota in the heart of Midwest farmland, Jim moved with his family to Yuma, Arizona at age thirteen, when his father purchased a Phillips 66 gas station outside of town. While fixing flats, pumping gas, and playing tennis, he dreamed of the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright and the paintings of Mark Rothko. He received his Bachelor Degree in Architecture from Arizona State University in 1971. In addition he has studied with Jay DeFeo, Hassel Smith, Jack Jefferson and David Hannah at the San Francisco Art Institute. The paintings of James Shay bridge the gap between abstraction and landscape. Shay employs evocative, simple shapes and textured layers of strong color capturing the sensuous nature of rolling, oak-studded hills of the western landscape. His signature palette owes itself to a mastery of casein and tempera, giving the paintings a satisfying fresco-like matte finish. Shay has enjoyed continuous representation in art galleries in the central and western US. His work is included in numerous public and private collections. Listings wanted.