Artist’s Statement

Jason Adamik developed a deep fascination with oil painting as a child during visits to art museums in Dallas, Texas. Captivated by the mystery of how oil paintings were created, this early passion led to formal instruction at just eight years old—becoming the youngest student in a weekend painting class held in the back of a local art supply store. With strong encouragement from his parents, this early exposure laid the groundwork for a lifelong engagement with the visual arts.

His creative interests expanded throughout his school years to include astronomy, optics, photography, architecture, and classical music. He later earned two degrees from the University of North Texas: a Bachelor of Music in Classical Guitar Performance and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting and Drawing. His academic training included extensive coursework in studio painting, two- and three-dimensional design, and graphic design and illustration. Exposure to modern art through 20th-century art history classes and trips to the Museum of Modern Art and the Kimbell Museum left a lasting impression on his artistic development.

While working in the semiconductor industry for many years—engaged in advanced electron and optical microscopy at Texas Instruments, Hitachi, and Sandia National Laboratories—he continued to make art for his own personal fulfillment. Today, he is pursuing art full-time with renewed energy and dedication, viewing each day in the studio as a continuation of a lifelong creative journey.

Merging his scientific background with his artistic practice, he began researching and replicating traditional methods of oil paint-making used prior to the 19th century, before the invention of commercial paints and tubes. He now handcrafts his own oil paints from rare and often historical pigments such as vermilion, orpiment, malachite, and lazurite. This meticulous process not only honors centuries-old techniques but also results in uniquely textured, richly colored works. Every painting he creates includes these handmade materials, adding another layer of meaning and authenticity.

In 2016, he fulfilled a long-held dream by relocating to New Mexico, a landscape that had inspired him for decades. The dramatic light, expansive skies, and cultural history of the Southwest continue to shape his artistic vision. Deeply influenced by the Taos Society of Artists, his work echoes their reverence for the land, while expressing his own contemporary sensibilities.

He paints both en plein air and in the studio, often working from photographs or memory, with the goal not of replicating a scene exactly, but of capturing the emotional and atmospheric essence of New Mexico. His paintings invite viewers to experience the spirit of the landscape through color, light, and form.