Jim Gola - Fine Artist
Woodland, WA - United States
The design of custom residences has been my primary mode of earning a living for the past 40 years.
Many professional designers are involved in other forms of artistic pursuits. I am no exception.
These pursuits have traveled alongside the one that has put the bread and butter on my table.
I have exercised a continuous involvement with most forms of graphic art during my career, in particular, that of my first love, oil painting.
I am an avid admirer of the late great American landscape artist George Inness and still life artist Michael William Harnett who almost exclusively practiced the art of Trompe le Oil painting.
For the past forty years I have digested much of each of their work, I have studied the original paintings to explore their actual painting surfaces, techniques of paint handling and their use of strong color. I find it ironic that George Inness had no time for his contemporary Michael William Harnett. Although the subject matter they painted was varied, I personally see similarities in their
work. I hope a little of each has rubbed off on me.