Jim Molloy is a Long Island based artist who will be exhibiting his work at Manhasset High School’s Gallery of Fine Art starting this January. His work includes many still lifes and landscapes of Long Island and Maine, especially the areas of Camden and Boothbay Harbor.

1. Did you always want to be an artist?
I’ve always been interested in the art field, architecture, so, yes, I have.

2. Did you start painting as a hobby?
Pretty much, I enjoyed it, kept going with it, and now I’m here.

3. How has your background in technical illustration influenced your fine art career?
It hasn’t. Illustration is definitely not the same thing. Painting is more about composition, color, that kind of thing. I did a lot of technical illustration on the computer.

4. How did you realize that you wanted to move more towards fine art?
I guess it was just about expression. Fine art was a better way to express myself.

5. How did you learn how to paint?
I basically just read a lot of books. I looked at the works of other artists, contemporary influence, and that’s how. I’m basically self-taught.

6. What medium do you use for your paintings and why?
I use oil on panel or canvas. I just like the way oil paint is luminous, it has this luminous quality that it gives to the work. That’s definitely why.

7. How do you use color in your art?
I try to use colors that are complementary to each other. Basically, my pallet is a very simple pallet. I try to use colors that are complementary to each other and sometimes other tones. That’s how I really think.

8. How do you decide what to paint?
I think I like to use something that has an interesting side that I’ll be able to render.

9. Do you paint outside a lot?
Sometimes. Most of the time I do studio work rather than plein air.

10. How does painting outside change the way you approach the painting?
It’s very quick. For me, it’s like a sketch. I really try to see colors a little more on the natural spectrum, rather than in photographs. Sometimes photographs don’t give you as accurate a color scheme as you would get when you’re outside.

11. Do you paint many landscapes and why do you like to paint them?
Yes, mostly landscapes. Coastal scenes, sometimes there are structures in them, like a house or something like that. Everybody likes a landscape. I guess it’s just that there’s a lot to them, though they can be challenging sometimes.

12. How does your art influence your life?
It gives me a cool way of looking at things. It gives me an opportunity to look at things and enjoy them. For me, that’s why I keep doing it. It’s a way of giving people an escape during the day.

13. What advice do you have for young people who want to pursue a future in fine art?
Just do a lot of it. It doesn’t have to be realism all the time, it could be abstract. Just create, and keep at it.

“For The Birds”

Be sure to come see the opening for Mr. Molloy’s exhibit on January 31st at 7 P.M.