James Peery
James Peery considers himself a “self-taught” artist even though he graduated from
an Art School in Provence years ago. “I learned more in the museums and living in
France itself, more than I did at school. It did, however, teach me the art of discipline;
of painting every day. For that, I am grateful.” He works 8 to 5 as an artist, much the
same hours he had in the business world before becoming a full-time artist.
Peery and his family bought a house and lived in France for many years before his
children’s needs required them to settle in Michigan, but he still goes back to France
yearly on painting expeditions. He has had many “one-man shows,” and his work
is in several galleries. He is proud that many collectors have more than ten of his works and keep buying more.
“My main gift, if I have one, is a humbleness towards my art and the art of the past.
This includes a sense of doubt and a visual sense that is “pre-verbal,” in which I paint by instinct and will make my paintings come into being. This allows me to change as an
artist but remain true to my style, which Matisse defined as “style is an inability to do anything else.” Without the ego attached, art becomes a journey, a responsibility, and even a burden to the artist. The next painting carries the artist’s fourth. There is
always a faith in the next painting.”
Peery has a unique faith, not in himself, but in a faith of what is being created in his
work. De Kooning said that he worked out of doubt, and Stanley Spencer wrote, “Love
is the essential power in creating art, and love is not a talent.” According to
Peery, “faith could be substituted for love, and what I am referring to is not a faith in
oneself, but a faith in what is being created. It is also a unique sensitivity to the art
of the past, and all that is in nature.”
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