Coming Full Circle: Back to Painting with Three Colors and White
Painter, publisher, package designer, adman, creative director, teacher and back to painter: Jim Schroeder鈥檚 life has been a tour of the visual arts. Or perhaps that鈥檚 tour de force聽given that Jim 鈥� a magna cum laude graduate (1963) in Illustration with a minor in Graphic Design 鈥� has, at one time or another, created works in just about every medium that matters.
If you鈥檝e flown anywhere on the planet, it鈥檚 likely that Jim鈥檚 handiwork was resting in the seat pocket in front of you. He was a founder and designer of Flightime Publications and East/West Network, Inc., which became the premier publisher of inflight聽magazines. He even established a high-end men鈥檚 cosmetic company, D茅j脿 Vu, which gained shelf space in major department stores across the country — all part of his work in corporate identity, high-end automotive packaging, and marketing.
While Jim more recently has been advising on art direction, illustration, graphic design and business at the college and university levels 鈥� largely through his teaching at Flagstaff鈥檚 Coconino Community College, in his adopted home state of Arizona 鈥� he has again embraced fine art drawing and painting, his lifelong passions. Even amid the trends and technological shifts that have defined his rich and varied career, he says the essence of commercial art and design remains remarkably stable.
鈥淰isual problem-solving hasn鈥檛 changed much over the years,鈥� he says. 鈥淥nce a direction has been established, final execution can be done on a computer. You still need to know how to 鈥榮pec鈥� type correctly, and if you鈥檝e got a PC and you don鈥檛 know what you are doing, you can put garbage in, and get garbage out.鈥� 聽That鈥檚 in part why he has chosen to return to his hands-on roots.
鈥淚鈥檝e come full circle back to painting,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檓 now painting and teaching and enjoying every minute of it. I consider it 鈥榬eseeding the field,鈥� giving back to students and the community the knowledge I鈥檝e gained through the years that I’ve worked in the professional design field.鈥�
As a painter, Jim owns a distinct aesthetic.鈥淚 prefer oils in most cases,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e more fluid and tend to have a more luscious richness when viewing the final painting.鈥� That鈥檚 no mean feat, considering that he鈥檚 chosen to limit his palette to three colors and white. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a great deal of satisfaction and joy when you can mix so many colors from a limited palette,鈥� he says. 鈥淧aint companies want to sell you paint. Most of those colors you can mix yourself with proper training and selecting the right three to use.鈥�
Having made his name painting and drawing the Southwest, Jim identifies his muse as the region鈥檚 people and the great outdoors itself. 鈥淚t鈥檚 fun to take a leap and do something different for yourself and hopefully, other people may also enjoy what you create,鈥� he says. 鈥淐ommission work is great, but it鈥檚 not for everyone. People are the most difficult and the most critical. 聽Animals never complain.鈥�
For more information, visit