Burano Canal Houses, Burano Italy

Born in Augusta, Maine, Jacob lived his early childhood in Hallowell, and Victoria, British Columbia. Some of his fondest memories are of swimming in the lakes and granite quarries of Maine, fishing and sailing in the ocean, skating on frozen ponds and exploring the woods. In BC Jacob recalls flying kites at the cliffs at the tip of Vancouver Island and the spring blossoms on the walk to school.
Jacob cites another very influential part of his youth as a two month cross country trip with his parents back and forth from Maine to Seattle. "In the hospitality of a Dodge van, my family found a temporary home in national parks across the US. We subsequently revisited the colors, shapes and amazing scenery of that trip with annual family slide shows of my father’s photographs. Visiting these natural wonders at such a young age opened my eyes to rich earth colors, shapes, natural forces and patterns. Especially memorable were the stratified reds of Bryce, the deep blues of Crater Lake, Hot springs and Geysers in Yellowstone, the lunar landscape of the Badlands and standing next to giant Sequoia and Redwoods. I can't help but think that these exposures influenced my art and what I paint today."
In high school Jacob lived and studied in Rennes France for a year touring ancient French cities; Paris, Rennes, Provence and the Breton landscapes like Carnac and the “Cote Sauvage” and cites this as a formative contrast to the the wilds of the Western US and the woods and coast of Maine.
Jacob went on to study Civil Engineering and Architecture at Lehigh University, in Bethlehem PA, and Urban Planning at Columbia University in New York where, concurrent with Engineering he developed an interest in exploring the fine and shifting boundary that separates the arts from science. While at Lehigh Jacob studied classic drawing with Golden Section artist Myron Barnstone and learned the disciplined science behind art and the beauty of natural proportions. This formal instruction with Barnstone studying the great masters solidified Jacob's command of proportion, perspective and composition. "Barnstone was a true believer in classic drawing instruction and believed that no artist can excel without these fundamentals." After graduating from Lehigh, Jacob went on to complete his professional architecture degree from the Boston Architectural College in 1997 and is now a registered Architect practicing in Boston Massachusetts. Jacob paints exclusively in Watercolor in his studio in Boston's Fort Point District which he has called home since 1998.