32. Jim Updegraff

Jim Updegraff is a practicing lawyer in West Union, Iowa. A native of Ohio, he came to West Union after military service. Updegraff attended the University of Iowa in the early 1960’s and, as an art student, studied under Stuart Edie and James LaShay and in Mauricio Lasansky’s Iowa Print Workshop. However, he had a revelation: he could never earn a living in the art racket. Not wanting to be a teacher, he went to law school. He figured that there would always be enough greed, stupidity, and lust in the world that a lawyer would have work.

In 1998, with the children out of the house, Updegraff took up the craft once more. Since then, Updegraff has pursued painting as a release from the demands of his practice and for his own amusement. His subjects are the landscapes and people of his adopted home in Northeast Iowa, his own experiences as a soldier, lawyer and father, historical events and, as always with amateur artists too cheap to hire a model, his own ugly mug.

Primarily a weekend painter, Updegraff works in an Early 20th Century one-room
schoolhouse located at his home south of West Union. If the lights are on, the studio is open and visitors are welcome.