Growing up in New York City, Jimmy Devine found a lot of inspiration through different mediums as he took up drawing and photography early on in his life.

“I always wanted to be an artist,” Devine said. “Photography came alongside it.”

From drawing in fifth grade to getting his first camera equipment in high school, Devine found many ways to get his artistic itch scratched in the Big Apple.

He was drawn to sports as well as concerts, getting the opportunity to go to New York Yankees games and drawing inspiration from his favorite team that won two titles during the 1960s.

Finishing out his high school career in Brooklyn, Devine wanted a change of scenery after so much time in the city.

Westward bound

His ambition led him to pursuing college football, and his destination after searching for a home?

Rocky Mountain College in Billings.

“For some reason Montana really appealed to me,” Devine said. “When I got to Montana I felt like there was a different way to live life, enjoy life and not be in the chaos of the city.”

Moving to Billings afforded Devine the opportunity to take part in art programs that were tailored to his ambitions, and allowed him to pursue his creative talents even further.

After graduating from college, Devine got the opportunity to work in different positions which included being the copy art director at KULR8 in Billings.

He continued to work while his wife pursued her master’s degree in education, and agreed to move to wherever she received her next position.

That led him to different areas around Wyoming, which included her teaching in Ten Sleep, Buffalo, Saratoga and most recently Laramie.

An evolving artist

Devine continued to paint and take pictures throughout this time, as photography evolved and became more digital as his career progressed.

“When I paint I am really slow. My technique in painting is laborious,” Devine said. “Photography is my way of creating in a faster way. In my painting everything has to be super controlled. In photography there’s so many spontaneous moments.”

Devine said he recalls when it took time to develop your photos, but doesn’t give in to the time-consuming process of editing a photo over hours on a program nowadays — saying that he’d rather spend the time painting one of his photos rather than editing it in a program.

“I tweak an image here and there for exposure, but I don’t typically use photoshop,” Devine said. “If I’m going to take time to work on something I’ll spend it in the corner with my easel.”

Even with the evolution of technology, Devine said he will still take time to go back and use his high school equipment that he has kept over the years.

He said that as he’s grown older it has become easier to learn different techniques and view how other photographers captured images.

“When I grew up it was hard to see the art that different artists were doing,” Devine said. “It’s a lot easier now. I will look at what other photographers did, see how they did it and try to understand their techniques.”

While continuing his love for painting throughout his life, Devine was working with consistent deadlines from professional baseball teams and colleges, while also expanding to painting rodeo, which came from his inspiration of painting athletes. He did that despite someone telling him that rodeo art doesn’t sell as well as he’d like.

He said that he continued to pursue it as a personal artist rather than a commercial artist, knowing he’d have to move back to a big city such as Denver to climb up the ladder.

A new stage

Devine, now 71, was diagnosed with lymphoma a couple of years ago. And, in addition to his wife retiring after being a principal in Laramie, it’s led to him deciding to take a step back from all of the deadlines that were hounding him at every turn.

“It’s been a long journey … as soon as I got sick I realized there’s other things I can do,” Devine said. “I don’t spend as long painting and then spend the rest of the time with my wife. It seemed like every job I did had deadlines and I was sick of them … There’s other ways to win the day.”

He continues to take inspiration from his childhood, which he said is important in ensuring he remembers what led him to artistry in the first place.

Despite his diagnosis, Devine said he plans to continue painting as long as he can, saying he can’t imagine not doing it — he said there’s an off switch for creativity.

“I’m hoping I can do it until the day I die,” Devine said. “As long as I get to spend time with my wife and family then I’ll be happy.”

He said he plans to continue living to the words of the great Chicago Bears’ running back Gale Sayers.

“God is first, others are second, and I am third.”