Community of Artists

Introducing: James Kucheman

Maine has breathtaking scenery that has long drawn the paint brushes and interpretations of artists from near and far to capture its splendor. When he first started taking art classes at age eight, artist James Kucheman never looked back. His work encapsulates the pride of coastal working towns and pristine waters with fluid brush strokes that glide across the canvas.

Kucheman’s work, now on display at our Freeport, Maine showroom, showcases work inspired by visits to Vinalhaven and Mount Desert Island. Each piece showcases the retired college art instructor’s unique and personal interpretations of the iconic villages and landscapes from the place he’s called home since 1980.

View of Fort Gorges from Bug Light Park 18 x 24 acrylic on canvas

 What drew you to this style of painting? 

I’ve always been drawn to landscapes and worked in an Impressionist style. Although I’ve done a few in oil paints, I prefer to work in acrylics. I find that I can flow with my process more easily with acrylics because they dry more quickly. Working with oils requires patience and adhering to layering sequences that I prefer not to deal with. My general approach is what I call “painterly .” This is loose, visible brushstrokes with deliberate, loose handling of forms and color.

How has your art transformed over the years? 

Shortly after I completed my formal training, I wanted to demonstrate that I had mastered my craft. Initially, I worked in a tighter, photorealistic style and was successful at it. At that time, realism was having a boom of interest in the contemporary art scene.

Photorealistic painting can be a demanding and sometimes tedious style to work within. As time went on, I discovered that I enjoyed the spontaneity of using looser brushwork and the captured energy effect it brought to the surface of the painting, as well as the experience of looking at it. My current style incorporates looser brushwork.

It feels good to know it is the mark of experience and greater confidence rather than a shorthand formula that doesn’t ring true to my subject matter. The brushwork must reflect what I see and know about color, contrast, and light. The difference between putting down something randomly versus something descriptive and factual can be hard to pin down.

If being a realist is the goal, it is essential to keep looking and not just make brush strokes as “filler” without careful regard to the rest of the painting and the subject. When panting light effects such as a landscape bathed in the “glare” of strong light, the brush strokes might actually look random to represent the reality of that shimmering intensity.

That’s where the magic happens. A painting can seem like it is glowing with light when the right amount of contrast and the right colors come together on the canvas. The most accomplished Impressionist painters mastered that balance as they immersed themselves in their work.

How do you know when your work is completed?

I have a saying that “a good painting paints itself.” By that, I mean that all the pieces fall into place. Sometimes it can be challenging to say the process is finished because I often have an ongoing impulse to continue to tinker with a painting. That may not mean the end result is a bad painting, but it can mean that the process was more of a struggle and a little bit painful when I had to decide a portion of the work had not fallen into place the way I wanted. In a situation like that, I may go back in and repaint a sky or a foreground because I think it will improve the finished version of the composition. 

“I hope people will find that it is worth spending time looking at my work, and they will find it is meditative. Perhaps thinking about it may give them nostalgic feelings of times and places they have known, and they will feel connected to something good and meaningful.”

—James Kucheman

James’ work will be displayed in our Freeport Showroom through February 15, 2023.

To see more available work, please visit his website.