"After an enviable career as a freelance illustrator, Jim Lamb's phenomenally successful entrance into the world of wildlife art is actually the culmination of interests and influences from his childhood. Born in Montana and raised in Seattle, Lamb made many trips throughout the northwest as a child. His father, also an artist, loved to ""hunt, fish, and hike in mountains, and so I often found myself immersed in rugged western America,"" says Lamb. To keep their son quiet during Sunday church services his parents provided him with a pencil and pad for sketching and would then discuss the boy's drawings when returned home.
Exposure to the Old Masters through trips to art galleries developed a parallel influence upon the young boy. ""To me, their depictions of rural as well as rugged wilderness areas have not been matched by today's painters. Those I most admire, to name only a few, are Church, Inness, Bierstadt, Moran, and Cole, as well as many of the earlier Dutch and Flemish painters. The way they handled light has bee a great source of inspiration to me."" "
