Jim Clyde, who lives in Essex, grew up in Hamilton, Massachusetts and is a graduate of the Phillips Exeter Academy. He attended Middlebury College and graduated from Suffolk University in 1969. He has studied basic drawing and life drawing at The Montserrat College of Art, still life painting at the Rockport Art Association and for the past eight years has studied en plein air painting with Gloucester artist, David Curtis. Over the years, he has donated many paintings to charitable organizations such as: "Help for Abused Women and Children", in Salem (HAWC)"; "Pathways for Children" in Gloucester and Channel 2 in Boston. These organizations have auctioned his work to raise funds for their individual needs.

Jim feels a special affinity to Cape Ann. Many of his ancestors were among the earliest settlers of the area and he delights in attempting to record the beauty of the marshland, field and shore on canvass.