Jim Clements Artist Biography

P.O. Box 402

El Dorado, Kansas 67042

Ph: 316.655.1248

Website: www.jimclementsart.com 

E-mail: [email protected]

Jim Clements is an oil painter who considers himself blessed to be a working artist. “To me, painting represents ultimate freedom - so it’s just natural that the wide open spaces, rich history and independent people of the American West translate so well to canvas. My desire is to honor the spirit of the West in each painting I do.”
Working in newspaper illustration and advertising over two decades kept his drawing skills honed, as well as in his free time continuously painting. “Observations of life, as well as painting from life, are critical to artistic advancement”, he explains. He also gratefully acknowledges the advice, instruction and encouragement of many of today’s best known oil painters throughout the years, who have been such an integral part of his own professional growth. 

Jim’s work has won many awards over the years and has been featured in numerous publications including the El Dorado Times, the Wichita Eagle, USA Today, Florida Today, Art Calendar magazine, American Art Collector, Southwest Art, Bridle and Bit, Rodeo Attitude, Derby Now magazine, the  Topeka Capital-Journal and Better Horses magazine.

The National Day of the Cowboy Organization based in Fort Worth, TX, selected Jim’s painting titled 'Simple Things' as the image for its prestigious Cowboy Keeper Award, given annually to individuals or organizations that have made a substantial contribution to the preservation of the West.

Jim was nominated by Margaret Stockdale, from Krambach, NS, Australia, for the international "Tony" Award. The Tony has been awarded to artists in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Sweden and Australia.   

In her nomination, she stated, “The artist whose work I greatly admire lives in Kansas, so the Tony will be heading out across the Pacific again. I am a great fan of American Western art so I could not pass up the opportunity to promote an artist who specializes in that genre. … I love your work, Jim, the values it promotes, your fresh technique and your love of humanity and your country really comes through in your paintings.”

Over the years, his work also has been selected for exhibition in many national shows including: the National Cowboy Symposium & Celebration, Lubbock, TX; the Annual Stampede Western Invitational Art Exhibit, Greeley, CO; the Annual American Plains Artists Juried Exhibit, held in various galleries throughout the West; Kansas Academy of Oil Painters exhibits; the National Small Oil Painting Exhibition, Wichita, KS; American Royal Western Art Show, Kansas City, MO; Birger Sandzen Memorial Gallery, Lindsborg, KS; Art on the Llano Estacado, Lubbock. TX; Windows to the West, Estes Park, CO and Spirit of the West Festival, Sioux Falls, SD.

His paintings are in the permanent collection of The Coutts Memorial Art Museum in El Dorado, KS. He was also the solo artist at a show in the Woolaroc Museum in Bartlesville, OK. 

After New York television producer Robert Rose saw them, several of his American Indian paintings were featured on an episode of Raw Travel, which is aired world-wide. Another TV host and Producer,  Jim West of Chicago, purchased a painting and then later did a feature article in his magazine on Jim’s paintings.

Jim counts actors Barry Corbin (Lonesome Dove, Urban Cowboy, Conagher) and Robert Fuller (Laramie, Wagon Train, Emergency!) among his collectors. His work has also been praised by popular singer Michael Martin Murphy (Wildfire, What’s Forever For, Long Line of Love) as “A true master painter of the American West”.

He has worked with actors, both famous and not-so-famous, as well as cowboy and Native American friends of his over the years to create his paintings of the American West.

Jim’s home and studio are located on the prairie in the Flint Hills region of south central Kansas.