James (Jimmy) Martin Hand was born in 1940 in Monroe, Louisiana, but soon moved to Meridian, Mississippi, where he grew up.

Jimmy always had a natural talent for art, following in the footsteps of his grandmother, who was also an artist. Although self-taught, Jimmy honed his craft by working as a staff artist with various advertising agencies, free-lancing, and as Art Director for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife.

Although Jimmy's experience covers a broad field including portraits, pets and landscape painting, his main love is aviation art. When Jimmy was about 6 years old his father took him on a business trip in a DC-3 which forever impressed him with all aspects of aviation. Later, inspired by such aviation artists as Keith Ferris, Robert Taylor and Roy Grinnell, his many aviation paintings and murals over the years attest to the skill of capturing the romance of flight.

Becoming a skilled photographer came naturally in its relation to capturing the different and transitory aspects of his subjects. Jimmy first gathers the historical background from research, talking with the people involved, and photographs, as well as working from models of the subject.

Most of Jimmy's paintings hang in private collections. Others can be seen in various Air National bases in Mississippi and in the Mighty Eighth Air Force Heritage Museum in Savannah, Georgia. He has also donated to the U.S. Air Force Art Collection.

Although Jimmy enters few art competitions, he has won several awards. His preferred medium is oil. He has very few paintings available for sale, since much of his work is by commission. He has several of his paintings available as prints, and giclees.

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