Canadian Painter of Landscapes and Everyday Scenes
James Windley
About Me…
When people find out that I am both an Artist and a Mechanical Engineer they often comment about how opposed these two fields are. Are they really? Both could be described as gathering an understanding of how the world works and using that knowledge to create something new. As an engineer, drawing is an important part of my work, for communication and for record keeping. In fact, it is one of the few university programs that requires you take a drawing class.
Creating a good painting, just like any engineering problem, is an exercise of making a complicated thing simple, so that the final solution seems obvious and easy.
I’m originally from the South-East corner of New Brunswick on the coast of the Bay of Fundy. My childhood home is a short drive from Fundy National Park and even closer to The Hopewell Rocks. I went to University in Halifax, NS then lived in Charlottetown, PEI before moving to Moose Jaw, SK in 2006.
Growing up and working in some tourism hot spots, I am familiar with the routine of the tourist arriving at the million dollar view and scrambling to somehow stuff that feeling of awe into their camera to take home. I’ve seen it thousands of times. I’ve done it myself hundreds of times. The first time I actually saw it work was in a painting. That’s when I realized my camera was for reference images and it was time to learn how to paint.
Through painting, I found myself become more sensitive to color, light, and beauty. Soon, I discovered that sense of awe could be found all around me, in everyday scenes. My goal is to show the viewer what I see with my ‘artist eyes’. It is a way of examining and sharing my experience with the world.
My preference is to paint outdoors ‘en plein air’. When the weather or my schedule make this difficult (or I wimp out, it happens), I work in the studio from my reference photos and field studies. I typically paint in acrylic on wood or hardboard panels. My typical subjects are landscapes and urban, industrial, or agricultural scenes. At times, I am interested in animal portraits and still life work.
Latest Blog Posts
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How To: Custom Glass Palette
I’ve been using a tool cart as my taboret for a few years now. If you are looking for a portable work surface that has storage for your studio, it is certainly worth a look. They have large castor wheels and sturdy metal drawers of varying depths that are nearly ideal for holding all of…
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Studio Update – Nov 2022
Recently, an Ikea Hemnes desk retired from its day job in the house to make room for something new. It was heading to the garage for storage anyway, so I decided to offer it an exciting new career in the arts. To make room, I refined the layout I created in February, correcting some minor…
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Acrylic | Field Studies | Gouache | Ink | Studio | Studio Work | Trip Report
October Update: Road Trips, Metric Century, Acreage Tractor Series, and Studio Upgrades
Looking back, October was a busy month. At the beginning of the Month, we took the camper to Prince Albert, SK for a dog agility trial. We camped at the trial site, where there were about 20-30 chevy II variants (chevy 100, chevy nova, acadian invader, etc) wrecks sitting in the field next to our…
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Trip Report: Rosebud Fall Paint-Out 2022
Sept 16-18, 2022 This was my second time going to the annual Fall Paint-Out in Rosebud, AB. This year, there was also an FCA-Calgary workshop happing in Rosebud at the same time, which meant there were about 70 Artists in town for the two events. I arrived on Friday afternoon with a plan to paint…
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Trip Report: Short Cycling Tour (Banff, Lake Louise, Canmore)
My wife and I tackled our first cycling tour together this September. We decided on three days of cycling with rest days in between each ride day. The three stages of the tour were: 1) Banff to Canmore and back to Banff, 2) Banff to Lake Louise, and 3) Lake Louise to Banff. Due to…
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On The Easel: Light at Two Jack Lake
Work in progress: A fun painting of Two Jack Lake in Banff National Park. This place is especially-special to me, because I got married right here,… well about 20’ to the left. This will likely be in the upcoming #mastriusartshow along with the work of 100 other #mastriusartist ‘s. Visit @mastrius.artshow to find out more…
Latest News
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2022: New Years Eve Post
A quick end of year post. I made 73 paintings and illustrations this year. In 2022, I started working in gouache, oil, watercolor, and ink. That doesn’t mean that I’m abandoning acrylic, by any means, but it has been exciting challenge. I’ve also made an effort to start working in series more. So, I did…
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Acrylic | News | Studio Work
Mastrius Artshow – Only 1 Week Away
Opening night for the Mastrius 100 Days of Summer is ONE WEEK away! The show will have paintings from over 100 Mastrius Members and 10 Master Artists and is online from Friday, August 26 to Wednesday, August 31. Visit the Mastrius Art Show Website to SUBSCRIBE to the show newsletter (at the link in our…
