Jim Keffer is a self-taught artist. His work is born from a lifetime of observing places in the landscape and places of the heart. He started painting when he was 47 years old and states, “my past journeys are connected to my future travels and I have an infinite source of places, thoughts, and things to paint in my style which I call modern primitive. ” Painting for him comes from a primal place. “I believe folk art to be my primal truth, so my painting journey has been a pare away modern life and try to be in that primal place - to be in that moment that is new, which is a time of color before there was paint, a time of imagery before there was painting.” Also drawing inspiration form Matisse who said, “a painting is a moment in the life of the artist not a moment of nature.” As his painting journey has progressed, Keffer has come to own this as his truth.

 

From his studio near Guthrie, Oklahoma, Keffer, now 67 years old, continues painting and observing with his wife, Laurie, a dog and numerous cats. He calls his studio “Rhythms” and says he will retire when the brush falls from his hand.