BIOGRAPHY

Ralph Jackson is a self-taught artist who has lived and worked in New York City for over 40 years. After more than a decade of training and early career success as an oboist and classical music composer, he began painting in the mid 1980s, first exploring watercolor, then oil (1990s), and finally acrylic (2000 forward).  

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Having experienced the positives and negatives of an extensive education in classical music, he purposefully chose to pursue painting without training or advice of any sort. It served for many years as his private expression -- a place where he felt totally honest and instinctual and most importantly, free. In 2008 he shared his work with others for the first time and began selling his paintings shortly thereafter. From the beginning of this process he approached painting intuitively and joyfully and still continues to come to painting as “play” rather than “work.”

 

Following a successful 35 year career as a classical music administrator, he became a full-time painter in 2012 and maintains a studio on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.