ABOUT
PURPLE MOON STUDIO
The images on my site are inspired by my own sketches and photographs and were painted with acrylics on canvas or watercolor on 300 lb paper. Subjects that interest me most have compelling compositions, dramatic lighting, and strong colors. The cost of originals varies based on size and complexity. I provide prints of these images (on paper or on canvas) at a lower price than originals. There are two standard sizes for prints, small and large, and a custom size option where you can specify the height or width that you require; and I will contact you with the appropriate aspect ratio and a price quote for your print.
Commissioned work is accepted. I will be happy to meet with you and discuss a custom painting just for you.
Explore The Collection
About Jim
Childhood:- My earliest memories related to art are of sketching pictures of cars on ruled notebook paper. That type of paper was the only thing available to me at that time and it never really occurred to me to seek out plain white paper with no lines. We were kinda poor. But, I was nuts about cars and I liked to sketch hot rods that were jacked-up in the front (or back), with mag wheels, exposed headers, and blown (supercharged) engines. I’d work on these sketches after my homework was done and I just couldn’t wait to get on the bus the next morning and show my friends. I think that is where I got the bug for art because I loved to see their reactions to the drawings. My first commissions were from some of these friends who would pay me a quarter just for drawing them a car!
Grade School:- My mom was a maid and cleaned several houses in the town where I grew up, Ontario, New York. One of the homeowners happened to be very prominent in that community. Ray Vande Vate was in marketing at Bauch & Lomb, was the town justice, and an artist. He and his wife Cornelia were also my Sunday school teachers. They discovered I liked to draw; and they would task me with illustrating the Sunday school lesson on a single flip chart page while they taught the class. It was a very challenging experience for me because there were so many things it taught me to consider: content/concept, composition, and most importantly, a deadline. I really would sweat while doing those illustrations because it required a lot of concentration. And I always worried that the class and Mr & Mrs Vande Vate would not like them. But, fortunately they did! And many years later, it touched my heart when they told me they had kept every drawing. In junior high (7 th grade) I was very fortunate to have Mr. Larry Ruth as my art teacher. He encouraged me a lot, he shared so much wisdom, and I always loved his sense of humor and the attention he gave me in class. It was also around this time that the Vande Vates gave me the first set of oil paints and brushes I owned.
High School:-
I continued drawing with a lot of encouragement from my new art teacher, Mrs. Brown, but I was going in many directions as I also loved sports (soccer, track, basketball, tennis) and played on the school teams. I remember deciding at one point that I needed to quit the soccer team because I wanted to dedicate more time to my art. I had recently received an award of Scholastic Art Blue Ribbon Finalist in the annual scholastic competition. When I told the soccer coach that I wanted to focus more time on art and needed to leave the team, he told me that was a dumb idea and if I did I would always be a quitter. I quit anyway; and boy was he wrong. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my English teacher, Barbara Mitrano. She was a great influence during that time, an incredible supporter of my art, and encouraged me to illustrate 2 student booklets containing poetry written by students. We have remained close friends to this day.
College:-
College was a bit scary as a next phase because people would tell me some day I’d be famous for my art. But, in my mind I knew there were few people that made a living from drawing/painting. I was also worried about being a small fish in a very big pond, competing with students far more talented than me. However, it was very important to my family that I go to college, so I gave it my best. I chose Rochester Institute of Technology (College of Fine & Applied Arts) over the University of Cincinnati. I really enjoyed the structure of their bachelor’s program – the first two years were foundation courses (drawing, painting, art history, sculpture, 2 &3-dimensional design, color theory, etc.) and the second two were focused on a major, e.g. medical illustration, print making, communications design, industrial design). I chose Industrial Design because when I was younger I had always loved to take apart my toys and make new things/gadgets with them. This major gave students tools they’d need to develop products like cars, refrigerators, sneakers, furniture – any product that can be manufactured. It focused on materials and processes, model making, rendering, design presentation & critique, mechanical drawing. During this time, I also took many other elective classes like figure drawing and painting. I especially enjoyed the support and advice from a great instructor/artist, Robert Heischman. I would occasionally get a request for a painting and if I painted “for fun” or commission I would squeeze it in during the Christmas break. Little did I know that would be the season/time of year I would paint for many years to come.
Post-College:-
I decided to stay local after graduation and chose Xerox corporation over Eastman Kodak. I had worked at both companies in my summers as high school student and in college. Both had strong Industrial Design departments, but I saw Xerox as more progressive. Kodak employed me as a film-slitter’s helper for 3 summers while in college. Xerox employed me (while in high-school) as flip-chart maker for new employee training, illustrator for a monthly newsletter, and gave me the task of creating a scale model of the entire Webster, N.Y. site as an orientation tool for new employees. After graduation from RIT I began my career at Xerox and learned a great deal about the specifics of industrial design for copiers, printers, and their accessories. I also traveled many places (on business) including five times to Japan. It was an amazing experience as I transitioned from Industrial Designer into a new field, Graphical User Interface Design, which put me within the realm of history Xerox created around the invention of the PC and their involvement with major players: Apple & Microsoft. I am a holder of 7 U.S. patents from this experience.
My Professional experience spanned:
- Industrial Design Technical Specialist / Project Manager (Xerox corp.)
- Graphical User Interface Designer (Xerox corp., Eastman Kodak, Welch Allyn, Inc.)
- User Experience Design Team Manager (Welch Allyn, Inc., Paychex, Inc.)
- User Experience Design Team Operations Manager (Paychex, Inc.)
My Professional experience spanned:
- Industrial Design Technical Specialist / Project Manager (Xerox corp.)
- Graphical User Interface Designer (Xerox corp., Eastman Kodak, Welch Allyn, Inc.)
- User Experience Design Team Manager (Welch Allyn, Inc., Paychex, Inc.)
- User Experience Design Team Operations Manager (Paychex, Inc.)