After that it became a game. Every time we visited the island we would drop by Jim's gallery to look at the prices on his latest work. The next summer we went back to see him and the originals were $750. That year Nelson came back with his friend Roger Firestone and they became Jim's patrons and the prices spiraled up each year; $1,500, $3,000, $5000 and up and up. We were able to laugh with Jim about our $300 painting and he also wished he still had it to sell now. Eventually we bought some $300 prints which today hang proudly in our Cape Cod home.

After I retired to Cape Cod in 1998 I began to write freelance articles for Cape Cod Magazine and decided to ask Jim if I could interview him for an article. Well sure!, always eager for publicity and ready to tell stories about his past Jim readily agreed, and as a bonus I could also interview his gallery mate Kerry Hallem, an expatriate Brit, who had just written his own memoir; Getting to Nantucket.

The two of them were a younger version of the Sunshine Boys, throwing zingers back and forth although it was apparent that they greatly admired each other. Interviewing them was a snap and I gathered more material than I could use for the magazine.

Jim had never read Kerry's book and would say Why should I read his book? He didn't include me in it. It was a natural opening for me to suggest that Jim should write his own book so that Kerry could refuse to read it; and of course I could help him. By this time at the turn of the century Jim had a fascinating story to tell. Nelson and Roger gave him his early lift but he had a tremendous following of collectors that included Tom Brokaw of NBC News, Princess Diana and Luther Hodges of the National Bank of Washington to name just a few.

James Cromartie's major accomplishment was introducing the style of Hard-Edge Realism into the art world at a time when modern abstract art was in vogue. This style of painting is done in acrylic paint on wood panel and depicts all objects in the composition in exquisite detail. The resulting work is both dynamic and serene, in a style reminiscent of those of Edward Hopper and Andrew Wyeth.

After becoming established as a major Nantucket Island artist, Jim began a unique second career as a commissioned painter of major federal historical buildings. Principal among his historical work are The U.S. Capitol and the White House, which were chosen by the U.S. State Department to hang in the U.S. Embassy in Moscow as symbols of democracy. This honor was particularly meaningful because Jim's fourth great grandfather was James Hoban, the architect who designed the White House. He was also commissioned to paint the Smithsonian Institute's Castle, and prints of this painting are presented as gifts by the Smithsonian to visiting dignitaries. This past winter he completed his home run by painting the Supreme Court Building in Washington.

Jim's work has met with overwhelming success in one-man shows across the United States. His paintings and prints are represented in collections in 125 countries around the world.



About the Tiles  by JW Nostrand

After forty plus years there is finally a form of Jim's art work that I can afford!

We heard about ceramic tile art from other artists and galleries that were selling them and contacted Mill Pond Tile Works to make up some samples for us of Jim's work. Tiles are created in a similar fashion to Giclees using special inks that are absorbed into the tile material. The size of the tile restricts the image dimensions and sometimes the picture has to be cropped to fit the 8 X 10 tile size. Although the tiles are hard faced they are designed for display purposes and not for use, as a hot plate or coaster.

Jim Cromartie wasn't convinced that ceramic tiles were the right media for his style of art. However he agreed to an experiment with an initial offering of six popular tiles to be sold exclusively on this website. At first they were not even for sale at his gallery on Nantucket. He also insisted that I run the tile website as he was totally absorbed in reopening his gallery at 7 Easy Street on Nantucket Island and preparing new paintings and sketches for our book, Nantucket Portrait.

The experiment has worked and now Jim sells tiles in his gallery. He finds that they connect with people on a different level than his originals and gicless. They make great gifts. People love them for home decorating and can hang them in places that you wouldn't hang a large expensive painting. We have several in our kitchen now but have yet to try them in the bathroom!