James
Seward was born in Alabama, and raised in Tennessee. He spent summers
with his grandparents in the wild back-country of Alabama. When he
was six, his grandfather bought him his first set of oil paints,
and as a young child he often painted his grandparents by lamp-light,
to their great astonishment. “From the time I was five years
old, I was continually painting and drawing in that great environment,” the
artist remembers with fondness.
After
military service, Seward spent a year studying art under Howard
Boyd Johnson at Watkins Institute in Nashville. In 1947, he enrolled
at the Art Institute of Chicago, where he met his wife, Lyn.
A year later they were married.
After
graduation, Seward apprenticed at two Chicago commercial art
studios, but in 1954, the family moved to Cleveland, Ohio. After
a year with an agency, he joined Union Gospel Press for the next
six years. Since that time, Seward has been self-employed as
a freelance illustrator and painter and has created works for
most of the large protestant denominations including Standard
Publishing in Cincinnati, the Methodists and Baptists in Nashville,
the Concordia Lutherans in St. Louis, and the Nazarene Publishing
House.
Although
the artist had attended church since childhood, after leaving
for the Navy in 1944, he dropped his church attendance. In 1953,
two former friends with whom he’d lost contact felt moved
to pray for his salvation. In Cleveland, James and his family
had moved near from a very devout Christian. Out of friendship
they attended church with him, and in 1954 Jim and Lyn gave their
lives to Christ.
Currently
Jim is an ordained minister for the “Christ-Life Fellowship” headquartered
in Dallas, Texas. He has spoken around the United States as well
as in South Africa. He writes articles, makes teaching tapes
and works on religious books. His religious paintings express
his passion for Christ.
Seward
has completed over 22 illustrations for a Doubleday book entitled,
Ancient Greece. In 1987 and 1989, he was one of 100 artists from
around the country picked for the National Arts in the Parks
Competition. James E. Seward has been commissioned for portraitures
by many organizations. His paintings grace the walls of such
companies as the General Motors Corporation, the Wells Fargo
Bank, The McDonald Investment Company, and the Will Rogers Museum
in Oklahoma. |
