Jim Robertson: Local Artist Profile

                                                                                                     By: Sherida

You won’t find his art in any gallery and you won’t see it hanging in your favorite coffee shop.  He has never participated in the Capitola Art and Wine Festival either.  Jim Robertson is too humble for that, and like many fine artists, he is overly-critical of his work.  When you walk into his Aptos home of twenty-five years however, it’s almost like walking into a private art gallery.  Paintings of all sizes and mediums decorate the walls, and initially you might think they are photographs; his art is about as realistic as it gets.

By day Jim works as a mechanical engineer for Fox Racing Shox, but once a week for the past two decades, he has packed up his art supplies and headed to an art class where he can focus on his painting and nothing else.  His other hobbies include riding his KTM Adventure motorcycle, (he won first place in the ALCAN 5000 in 2006), and he enjoys fishing with his granddaughter.

Jim sat down with me and answered a few questions, because this inquiring mind wanted to know.

                                              "Mavericks"                                                                             "Goleta Coast"

SCW: How long have you lived in the Santa Cruz area?  What were a couple of your first jobs here? 

JR: I’ve lived here for forty years, more or less.  My first job here was designing signs at Pettibone Signs in Scotts Valley.  After that I decided to go to engineering school at Cabrillo and San Jose State University.  I also did some sign painting for Surfside Signs.

SCW: What mediums do you prefer, and do you have any other art forms you enjoy besides painting?

JR: I alternate between oil and watercolors.  I’d like to do more cartoon drawing and sculpture if I had more time.  I welded a lot of metal sculptures a while back before I got into painting. 

SCW: You seem to keep your gift to yourself; where might people see some of your work?

JR: Besides the websites, I designed the Team Tola wave logo for Capitola Junior Guards in 1990 when I was the President of the Junior Guards parent’s club.  As a fundraiser we sold stuff with that logo, and it’s still very popular.   

SCW: Do you have a favorite painting?  How long does each painting take you on average?

JR: Yeah, I like the ‘Point Sur Lighthouse’ painting, and the ‘Mavericks’ painting came out pretty nice.  I painted it from a photograph that Frank Quirarte took.  The ‘Winter Waves at Capitola’ is also one of my favorites.  I took the photograph during a really big storm in ‘02.  I like to paint things that have a story behind it, for example the ‘Catherina G.’ My mother used to talk to Victor Ghio.  We had a boat next to his on the dock.  Paintings like that are meaningful to me.  Each painting takes about thirty to forty hours. 

SCW: Can people buy prints of your work?  Where would they find them?

JR: Yes.  Prints are available at Fine Art America.com.  The quality is top notch.  I’ve ordered a few and have been really happy with them.

SCW: Well, thanks for taking the time to talk with us, Jim.  We hope to see your paintings around town in the near future!

                                                                                          "Point sur Lighthouse"

                                                    "Marilyn"                                                          photo of Jim Robertson