James Langley is a figurative painter working in oil, watercolor, and mixed media. Bathers along the Ohio at Sewickley Crossing depicts figures beneath Sewickley Bridge, a steel truss bridge built in 1911. Using a palette knife and hog-hair bristle brushes, Langley emphasizes mood over surface detail. Spanish Revival Church at Dusk, Ojai, California was inspired by a visit to Thomas Aquinas College, Santa Paula, California, not far from where the church was depicted in the painting. Langley recalls the experience: “The dry heat in the hazy evening with the perfume of sage, eucalyptus, and pine filling the air evoked the memory of many long hikes alone with my books in these foothills of the Los Padres National Forest… I saw this church laid out like a city under the sheltering pines with its copper dome pushing upward and gleaming against the golden sky.”
Raised in a Roman Catholic family of twelve, Langley earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the New York Academy of Art. He taught for over fifteen years at the Savannah College of Art and Design, Georgia, before establishing his home studio in Beaufort, South Carolina.
Website
https://www.jameslangley.com/
