James began making paintings whilst at school and graduated with honours in fine art and music at the University of Chester, followed by an M.A. in the History of Art at Birkbeck College, University of London. He has tutored and lectured at Sir John Soane’s Museum, Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL, North Hertfordshire College as well as running regular live and online courses in painting, drawing and art history.

In 2023 he was presented with the Hitchin Historical Society's Chairman's Award for his outstanding contribution to the Visual Art of the town.

His work is inspired by his knowledge of architecture and historic paintings as well as a love of buildings, landscapes and the effects of light, shade and colour. As an avid sketcher, James begins his creative process with drawings and watercolours made on location. For him the joy of being a painter is having the chance to respond to places and people and share his enthusiasm, knowledge and process to inspire others. He works mainly in oils and watercolours always supplemented by many drawings. He has exhibited widely and his work is in public and private collections in the UK and abroad.

His book, Painting Buildings in Oils, was published in 2020 and he has contributed features in drawing and painitng to several publications over the years.

He is a founding director of the artist support and network group Hitchin Creative, and the founder of the Letchworth Arts Centre (Broadway Gallery) Letchworth.

His work has been selected for the Royal Society of Marine Artists at the Mall Galleries, London, and Capital Art Gallery, Eltham.

Recent exhibtions include:

Back to the Drawing Board (with Carl Laubin), North Hertfordshire Museum, 2022/3
Visions of Greenwich, The Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich, 2019
Hitchin Revisited, British Schools Museum, Hitchin, 2017
The London Paintings, The Gallery at Coin Street, Oxo Tower, London, 2015
People, Places, Perspectives, The Nehru Centre, India High Commission, London, 2009