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Brief Biography of Jim Schaefer

Jim Schaefer was born and reared in the Germantown section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He attended public schools and went to college locally at the University of Pennsylvania where he majored in architecture with a strong emphasis on studio art and art history. He stayed at Penn for graduate study in painting where he was strongly influenced by teachers Neil Welliver, Rackstraw Downes and Yvonne Jacquette among others. He is currently employed as an instrumentation technician and technical support specialist at Princo Instruments, Inc., Southampton, PA.

About the Artist
Guest Artists
....Jude Burkhauser
Essays, Links
....Neil Welliver

Artist's Statement

As a child, I spent long summers at the Jersey shore. I always felt an intuitive connection with the windswept beaches, the tumultuous surf, the green-grass marsh lands and the star-lit summer skies of the shore. When I began formal art studies at Penn, I quickly gravitated towards this subject matter which I could not just see, but feel. As years went on I added underwater scenes based on diving and snorkeling experiences.

My work deals purely with imagery. I rely on direct observation, combined with painterly impulse and intuition, to create my pictures. I strive to discover a metaphorical vocabulary of strokes, forms and colors to represent natural subject matter, as opposed to a more literal rendition. My brushstroke tends to be fluid and painterly, sometimes gestural. As I get older I strive for greater simplicity in composition and greater specificity in imagery.




Brief Resume of Jim Schaefer

SOLO EXHIBITS

GROUP & JURIED EXHIBITS EDUCATION