James Mattison is a self-taught fine artist focusing on contemporary impressions of people and his surroundings, both in his New England home and beyond. Born in Portland, Maine, James drew before he did much else and was named Most Artistic in high school. He grew up inside a working creative household: his mother a graphic designer and painter, his grandmother a painter, his grandfather a graphic designer, with the family sign shop on the home property. James earned a degree in Digital Arts and Marketing from Stetson University in Florida in 2018, started his career as a graphic designer in Florida, then moved across the country to Portland, Oregon. He returned to Maine in 2020 and was given the opportunity to co-manage the George Anderson Gallery at 340 Fore Street in Portland, where mentorship with George Anderson loosened his hand and helped him find his own visual language. James paints in oil on canvas and panel, working from his own photographs in the studio. In his portraits, often not anyone in particular, he asks viewers to read body language and emotion. He paints landscapes with a sunny disposition and a sense of gratitude, including the inland country and working harbors he most often returns to. "I'm trying to find those pockets of Maine that are still Maine, but not always represented," James says of his subject. For him, painting is a means to express himself and to start a conversation with a sense of honesty and a feeling of togetherness through times of remoteness. Learn more about James Mattison on Radio Maine.