Artist Profile: Jim Elias – Muscatine County Arts Council

My art career was planted at the University of South Dakota where I studied fine art photography and graphic design. From there I embarked on my first career in advertising. Twenty-five years later, I became a Business Professor.

Having been challenged to ‘paint him a picture’, I began painting professionally in 2016 while still teaching. Later that year, I founded Sunrise Galleries. In 2017, our gallery curated and placed over 300 pieces of art in the brand-new Merrill Hotel. In 2018, we opened a second retail gallery location and in 2021, launched our online gallery, sunrisegalleries.com.

As a painter, I have completed dozens of commissions and have produced hundreds of paintings ranging from representational to abstract pieces.

Mediums: acrylic, watercolor

Jim Elias Sample Art 4 Jim Elias Sample Art 1 Jim Elias Sample Art 3 Jim Elias Sample Art 5

Who is my artistic inspiration? Well, I consider art, in every form imaginable, to be our Devine charge. After all, the first five words of the Bible are: “In the beginning, God created …”

I am curious. I’m a painter inspired by the constant barrage of information and stimuli I experience every
day. My work explores the relationship of movement, color and emotion. I primarily work with acrylic on
canvas, board, and paper as well as watercolor. I create in a variety of styles producing
representational, nature, and abstract paintings using bold colors, strong strokes, often coupled with
layers of thin color washes.

The term “mind vortex” is used to describe the feeling of being overwhelmed by the constant barrage of
information and stimuli we experience daily.

Often that’s what’s going on in my mind when I paint.

Some of these works for simply straight-forward. Others are complex abstracts representing the
manifestations of the things I see through those vortices in my mind.

For me, painting is an incredible, on-going journey; a journey where the ever-changing landscape is
shaped by everything swirling and whirling about in my mind. I create abstracts and representational art
with color and shapes to push your imagination to see God’s greatness.

Is this your profile? Want to provide an update? Contact us at artistprofile@muscatineartscouncil.org.