Artist James Pratt is a world-renowned palette knife artist and is considered one of the "Modern Masters." James was introduced to art at a young age by his father while sitting on his lap and copying his father’s pencil drawings. His life has always revolved around design and creativity. His great-grandfather immigrated to New Zealand from England in 1858 and was a published writer. His art is hanging in the museum of art in Auckland, New Zealand. James paints with a palette knife which he has been using for over fifteen years. He studied how to paint "alla prima" and found the knife as the best tool to encourage a lively and impressionistic treatment, providing an exciting contrast of scale and adding greatly to the impact of the finished painting.