Jim Salem is an internationally recognized painter of the natural world. The subjects of his paintings are largely concentrated on his native Pennsylvania, as well as the Florida Keys and Maine; he summers in Maine and winters in Florida.

Born in rural western Pennsylvania in 1948, Jim studied painting at the Pennsylvania State University as well as the celebrated Slade School in London. He received his BA from Penn State in 1970.

There was never any question that Jim would be a painter. While still in college, Jim won the prestigious Three Rivers Arts Festival in Pittsburgh and had his work purchased for the permanent collection of Pittsburgh Plate Glass. He had a long list of commissions while still at school, and after graduation began selling at arts festivals and galleries throughout the northeast. This wide exposure quickly led to new commissions, gallery shows, and recognition as a world-class painter.

Jim has a distinguished body of work ranging from non-representational to realism. All of his paintings are clearly based on his love of nature. He very early gravitated to the land, plants and birds where he grew up. After he began to winter in Key West, he expanded his incredible sympathy with the natural world to include the exotic ecology, flora and bird life of the Keys. Then in 2002, he began spending his summers on the Maine coast, widening his focus to now include the unique ..... of New England.

Jim achieves his subtle jewel tones by using "color on color," and layering his acrylics. His painting has an amazing, luminous quality that adds atmosphere and depth to his work. "I paint to express the emotions evoked within me in an attempt to record the relationship of man to earth, sky to land, plant to bird," he says. He frequently paints on-site and feels that much in his paintings should be a "record of nature"; however he uses a mesmerizing combination of detail, realism and fantasy to evoke the emotions of that reality.

John Dawes, the curator of Jim's "Pennsylvania, The Unspoiled Landscape," at the University Museum in Indiana, PA in 1994, commented, " As a landscape painter, Jim Salem has not finished surprising and casting his spell on us." The same remains true today.

Salem has had over 30 one-man shows, 15 invitational group shows and 17 juried shows. --- His last major museum show in Pennsylvania was at the Pennsylvania State Museum in Harrisburg, in 1997. Mr. Salem is represented by galleries in both Florida and the Northeast and is widely seen in both private and corporate collections worldwide including Disney, Hilton Hotels, Astec Corporation and Pittsburgh Plate Glass. Click here to see list of shows.

Jim also enjoys teaching, having conducted over a dozen seminars all across the country.

He supports the arts and young artists and is a former member of the Board of The Key West Museum Of Art And History and The Anne McKee Artist Fund.