James Montgomery was born in Marin County, California in 1936. He worked at Creativity Explored from 1993 until his death in March 2008.
Montgomery used a variety of media with great proficiency, including pastels, acrylics, watercolors, tempera, pencils, inks, chalk, found objects, and mixed media.
The iconography of Montgomery’s art centered on watches, numbers, sewer covers, and bridges. Watches were especially relevant as James collected them, often wearing eight at one time. His graphically powerful works were often composed of line drawings of repeating watches, covering the picture plane in overlapping layers. Montgomery also utilized his trademark washes of color in portraits, landscapes, and marine scenes.