About James
Baltimore City
James Fitzsimmons lives and works in Baltimore, Maryland. He attended the Maryland Institute, College of Art, where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, and the City University of New York, Brooklyn College, where he received a Master of Fine Arts degree. He also attended the Skowhegan School of Painting as a winner of the Brooklyn College Charles G. Shaw Painting Award and the Skowhegan School of Painting Governor's Scholarship. Mr. Fitzsimmons has had his work exhibited throughout the… more
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Still Life
I am predominately a studio painter. I feel most comfortable there. Being a perceptual painter and a collector of objects it is only natural that my main subject as a painter should be still life.
My love of objects goes back to my childhood when the simplest of things would keep me looking and wondering for hours. There could be any number of reasons for the attraction, some of which would be size, shape, color, surface and texture, and if the form had moving parts all the better. The interest in the object has only gotten more intense with time. Now I find myself spending hours arranging these objects in some way in order to satisfy a need for harmony, design and solidarity. The fact that many of the things I use have a history that I do not know is not lost on me. Almost all come from a different place and time. This only increases the attraction. The construction of the still life has a certain ritualistic quality to it. This lends itself well to the reverential aspect that builds as the painting develops. One of my goals is to translate this to the viewer along with all of the formal needs in painting.
My other desires are to ensure an understanding of my place in a tradition that was born in the Renaissance, which includes a holistic reverence for nature and the mystery of life. I want to speak to my time as a modern artist steeped in the tradition of painting. I have a desire to create the world as it might be and to understand the underlying need for doing so and to be sympathetic to the desire to express this need with paint in the twenty first century.
My love of objects goes back to my childhood when the simplest of things would keep me looking and wondering for hours. There could be any number of reasons for the attraction, some of which would be size, shape, color, surface and texture, and if the form had moving parts all the better. The interest in the object has only gotten more intense with time. Now I find myself spending hours arranging these objects in some way in order to satisfy a need for harmony, design and solidarity. The fact that many of the things I use have a history that I do not know is not lost on me. Almost all come from a different place and time. This only increases the attraction. The construction of the still life has a certain ritualistic quality to it. This lends itself well to the reverential aspect that builds as the painting develops. One of my goals is to translate this to the viewer along with all of the formal needs in painting.
My other desires are to ensure an understanding of my place in a tradition that was born in the Renaissance, which includes a holistic reverence for nature and the mystery of life. I want to speak to my time as a modern artist steeped in the tradition of painting. I have a desire to create the world as it might be and to understand the underlying need for doing so and to be sympathetic to the desire to express this need with paint in the twenty first century.
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Red,White and BlueStill life painting in oil on canvas with mannikin ,glove molds, blenko glass, funnels and bayonet
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Atomizer and FunnelOIl on board 30x32
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Scull with funnel and milk canOil on board 30x40
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Funnels with landscapeoil on board 20"x30"
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Miriam's Still lifeOil on canvas 30"x36"
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Stripes, small versionSmall version of a painting with striped material and pumpkins
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Pale Pumpkin #2Oil on Canvas 30"x36"
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Avenue H Still lifeOil on Canvas 60"x96"
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Stripes and PumpkinsStill life painting with striped material and pumpkins
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Harvest TimeStill life painting
Pumpkins
This is an exploration in color and shape. My first response was to the color and then to the variety of shapes and sizes.
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Pumpkins with Green Pitcher no.248x60 oil on board
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Pale pumpkin no#1Oil on board 20x26. The first of two paintings of the same flesh colored pumpkin.
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Pale Pumpkin 2This is the second and larger of two paintings done of this pumpkin. The flesh like color of its skin was special. 30x36
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Pumpkins with Green Pitcher no. 136x41 oil on board
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Pumpkin StackOil on board 32x48
Earlier Still life Paintings and Drawings
Earlier still life paintings. Most are oil on canvas
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Water HeaterCharcoal on paper 19x25
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Skowhegen Still LifeAcrylic and oil on canvas 72"x84"
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Red Hand, Blue CupOil on canvas 20x24
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Brass VaseOil on linen 48"x48"
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Milk CanOil on canvas 12"x24"
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Miriam's Still LifeOil on canvas 30"x38"
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Ave H still lifeOil on canvas 64"x96" This was my first large still life painting.
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Brown Bottle with OrangesOil on canvas 36"x50"
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Meteor CollectorCharcoal on paper 19x25