Jim Simpson will be Artist-in-Residence at the Red Barn Studio Museum from November 4^th through the 13^th. Jim says, “My art starts with the act of soaking up thousands of pieces of color, pattern or unique form. This storehouse of inspirational fragments are reflected in my work later. I am driven to create new scenes and new images. If I paint a bird, it’s ‘my bird,’ not a specific species of bird. An eye for the unique and picturesque merges with a love for worn and battered things. The work is never constricted by excessive preplanning. I liken it to picking up a handful of colors, a brush, and jumping off a cliff…anxious to see what’s at the end of the fall.                                                                                        This commitment to letting the image evolve on the surface, working up layers, destroying parts, letting other parts gleam through from underneath, aggressively scrubbing paint onto the surface, carving into previous layers, all contribute to a richer image. Every layer or vibrating broken line adding character and nuance.”

Jim is an artist with a BFA in Design from Wichita State. He studied under Wilma Wethington, Patric Rowley and Jim Gross. His works have been included in numerous shows including Wichita Arts Council juried shows, Kansas Watercolor 7-State Exhibitions, National All-Media and Abstract Exhibits at MarkArts.