James Drake Iams has been sailing the Chesapeake Bay and observing boats, riggings and the fickleness of the weather since the mid-1950's. The rivers and tributaries are equally as familiar to him and he has recorded his observations with the knowledge of the sailor and the eye of the painter. Painting and sketching from the cockpit of a boat often results in a regional painting which is not only authentic in detail for those familiar with the scene, but extremely appealing for waterscape lovers outside the Chesapeake Bay area. In short, his painting are regional in subject matter, but have universal appeal.

   The Baltimore harbor caught this artist's eye long before it was revitalized, hence, dry docks, tugs, and shipping vessels often appear in his paintings. The nature of the Bay's region is of equal interest to the artist. Migrating geese and ducks are indicators of our changing seasons in Maryland. James Drake Iams records their migration, capturing them in flight or resting in our rivers and the Bay, giving the observer an extraordinary view of the Chesapeake flyway.

   A member of the American Watercolor Society, the Baltimore Watercolor Society, the Georgia Watercolor Society and the Rehobeth Art League, Mr. Iams has exhibited extensively in Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Washington, DC. He is represented in numerous collections and has several works in reproduction. Some of the first place awards received include the "National Sports in Art" show in New York, the Baltimore Watercolor Society and the Rehobeth Art League. Recently he won third place in an international watercolor show in London, England. Several of his painting are currently touring Japan in a landscape show sponsored by the "Maryland State Arts Council". He collaborated with William L. Thompson in a book "Bayside Impressions." His watercolors accurately and with no small amount of nostalgia depict the Eastern Shore of Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay.

   A graduate of Indiana State University in Pennsylvania, Mr. Iams holds graduate degrees from Pennsylvania University and the Maryland Institute of Art.