For several decades after receiving my BFA, I gathered visual experiences as a pilot. Later, as a cartographer, I used maps to tell visual stories. In 2016 I was excited to return to putting those experiences on canvas and paper as a painter.
My artwork reflects spending a good part of my life exploring the ocean of air above us and studying the earth’s surface while aloft. The intersection of these two worlds at the horizon is of particular interest to me. Although the exact nature of the subject matter is not always apparent, the feeling of a large scale look at the land and sky is the essential part of what I am trying to do. From aloft, the vastness of the atmospheric ocean makes human activity seem insignificant. I have always found sanctuary there and I would like to put a little of that down on canvas.
I have been involved in flying for almost as long as I have felt compelled to create art. For me, the two activities are inextricably related. I am fortunate to have had a variety of aviation experience, first as a Naval Aviator and later as a glider pilot. But the machine was simply the means to obtain the view out the window as the appearance of human impact on the land faded with increasing altitude.
Recent Exhibitions
2019 Late For The Sky, Juried one person show. Arthouse on R, Sacramento, CA
2019 Both Sides Now, Juried one person show, Merced College, Merced CA
2018 Weather, Juried Three Person Exhibition, Partners Gallery, Fort Bragg CA
Jim Darke’s sensuous paintings capture the subtlety of the atmosphere during different types of weather. As a former Navy pilot and self-taught cartographer, he is able to meticulously paint, either with digital media or acrylic paint, the beauty and grandeur of nature’s awe inspiring eco-system. Kate Eilertsen, Curator and Juror
2018 Coast to Coast, Juried Exhibition, Marin Society of Artists, San Rafael, CA
2018 Time Honored, Juried Exhibition, Chico Art Center, Chico, CA
2018 Bold Expressions, Juried Exhibition, Northern California Arts Inc., Sacramento, CA
2018 Stockton Art League, Juried Exhibition, The Haggin Museum, Stockton, CA
2018 Abstraction, Juried Exhibition, Pacific Art League, San Jose, CA
2018 Road Maps,Juried Exhibition, Gallery Route One, Point Reyes, CA
2017 Focal Point, Juried Exhibition, Maryland Federation of Art, Annapolis, MD
2017 Blue, Juried Exhibition, Sebastopol Center for the Arts, Sebastopol, CA
2016 Juried Exhibition, Northern California Artists, Sacramento, CA