Education
After college in 1989, Jim became an illustrator/designer for A Beka Book® publications. Much of his time was spent designing textbooks and creating illustrations for those textbooks. Meanwhile, he taught digital publishing, design, drawing and illustration part time on the college level. His desire, however, was to continue his education in classical painting and after 5 years of juggling a mixed career of teaching and graphic design/illustration, he decided to go back to school to earn his Master of Fine Arts in the reputable "Master’s with the Masters" program at Marywood University in Scranton, PA. During the pursuit of this terminal degree, Jim had the opportunity to visit many of the New York illustrators and designers and had the opportunity to study with such notable painters as Peter Fiore, former president of the Society of Illustrators, Gerry Contrares, Fred Brenner and designers like Steven Brower of Push Pin Studios and past editor of the famous Print magazine. His studies culminated in 1996 with a one-man show including over 80 designs, illustrations, gallery paintings and fine portraits.
In 2000, Jim had the opportunity to meet and collaborate with an American master portrait painter, Joe Bowler. Bowler’s paintings have graced the covers of magazines such as Time and the Saturday Evening Post and he has painted portraits of such notables as President Eisenhower, Roger Staubach and Jackie Kennedy-Onassis. Jim benefited greatly from Joe's guidance during this time and credits Mr. Bowler with infusing a new vibrancy into his color palette and solidity to his compositional work. As a result of his interaction with Mr. Bowler, Jim was tasked in 2003 with producing a 3 DVD set on the life of Mr. Bowler entitled "Joe Bowler: American Master Portrait Artist", a product that can still be purchased through Joe Bowler's website today.
Professional Career
After his 13 years as illustrator and designer for A Beka Book®, Jim went on to make other connections as a designer and fine artist. In 2003, he started Hutchinson Portraits & Illustration® and under this name continued to hone his painting skills with fine art, portrait and illustration commissions having had work published by Dayspring Cards® and Fort Worth Magazine®. As a member of the FAITH Artists a society of painters located in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, Jim has had the opportunity to display his work in such notable DFW venues as the Arlington Museum of Art, the Granville Arts Center and the Fort Worth Community Art Center. Presently, he has multiple works for sale at the Willowbrush Gallery® in Tulsa, OK. In addition to this, he continues to practice his design skills, having created numerous logo/identity designs for several small businesses. In addition, Jim has conducted portrait painting and illustration workshops in various North Texas art centers. He has also served as head judge and M.C. in multiple art competitions.
Professor of Art & Design
As an educator, Jim has taught either full-time or as an adjunct professor for over 25 years. He has served at two different universities as the chair of both a visual arts department and a communication department and has served as an academic dean for 7 of those years. Teaching graphic design, advertising, painting and illustration on the undergraduate and graduate levels has always been a joy for Jim. He has a love for art history, the history of Graphic Design and the history of American Illustration and has taught all three in both graduate and undergraduate classes since 1994. He feels that it contributes greatly to his work and he has a great interest in how Advertising Design affects trends in our culture.