Born to a family of professional musicians James Crompton chose art as his vocation. Upon completion of high school, he attended Florida Southern College. He then pursued his career in art full-time at The Art students League in New York City. He left The Art Students League to serve in the United States Army, and many of his cartoons found their way into the Stars and Stripes. He continued his art education in Europe where he spent two years attending ecoles in La Rochelle, France and Madrid, Spain. Upon returning to the United States, he was admitted to the Art Center School in Los Angeles, one of the most prestigious and competitive centers for the study of art in the United States.

Crompton has participated in juried art exhibits and has won awards too numerous to mention. He has taught at various art schools, art guilds, and his own studio, The Crompton Art Academy. He has conducted seminars for professional artists as well as art students throughout the eastern United States. Highlights of his career include oil paintings commissioned by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs and the University of Florida. Over a period of several years, he participated in the Suwanee River project with the Environmental Artists of Florida. A member of Art in Public Places, he has murals in many South Florida Buildings.

A romanticist and individualist, Crompton has a unique approach to painting and enjoys painting a wide range of subjects. A great strength lies in the care with which Crompton organizes his paintings and his use of color. He first determines the mood and composition of the painting abstractly through the use of strong color. Then, the basic forms are created with bold strokes of paint. The painting is brought to a conclusion through a series of glazes and finer brushwork. Intrigued with the turn of the century life style, Crompton is attracted to the adventure and independence of the Indians and settlers of the American West.

Moved by the beauty and serenity of the North Carolina Mountains, Crompton continues to paint a wide variety of subjects, including of course, the scenery of North Carolina.