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James
Seward was born in Alabama, and raised in Tennessee. He
spent summers with his grandparents in the wild
back-country of Alabama. When he was six, his grandfather
bought him his first set of oil paints, and as a young
child he often painted his grandparents by lamp-light, to
their great astonishment. “From the time I was five
years old, I was continually painting and drawing in that
great environment,” the artist remembers with fondness.
After
military service, Seward spent a year studying art under
Howard Boyd Johnson at Watkins Institute in Nashville. In
1947, he enrolled at the Art Institute of Chicago, where
he met his wife, Lyn. A year later they were married.
After
graduation, Seward apprenticed at two Chicago commercial
art studios, but in 1954, the family moved to Cleveland,
Ohio. After a year with an agency, he joined Union Gospel
Press for the next six years. Since that time, Seward has
been self-employed as a freelance illustrator and painter
and has created works for most of the large protestant
denominations including Standard Publishing in Cincinnati,
the Methodists and Baptists in Nashville, the Concordia
Lutherans in St. Louis, and the Nazarene Publishing House.
Although
the artist had attended church since childhood, after
leaving for the Navy in 1944, he dropped his church
attendance. In 1953, two former friends with whom he’d
lost contact felt moved to pray for his salvation. In
Cleveland, James and his family had moved near from a very
devout Christian. Out of friendship they attended church
with him, and in 1954 Jim and Lyn gave their lives to
Christ.
Currently
Jim is an ordained minister for the “Christ-Life
Fellowship” headquartered in Dallas, Texas. He has
spoken around the United States as well as in South
Africa. He writes articles, makes teaching tapes and works
on religious books. His religious paintings express his
passion for Christ.
Seward
has completed over 22 illustrations for a Doubleday book
entitled, Ancient
Greece. In 1987 and 1989, he was one of 100 artists
from around the country picked for the National Arts in
the Parks Competition. James E. Seward has been
commissioned for portraitures by many organizations. His
paintings grace the walls of such companies as the General
Motors Corporation, the Wells Fargo Bank, The McDonald
Investment Company, and the Will Rogers Museum in
Oklahoma.
“I
try not only to inform, but to move and delight with my
artwork…I want the viewer to have an emotional reaction
to each painting. That’s what makes it a work of art
rather than just an illustration.”
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James E. Seward |
