About
James Callaghan

Born in 1971, James Callaghan grew up in Glasgow and had a flare for art and sculpture from a young age.  Despite the opportunity to pursue further study in art, he decided instead to enter the world of work and continued to enjoy drawing and painting as a hobby. Now operating as a professional artist with works in private collections at home and abroad.

As a teenager, he was influenced by the art of H.R. Giger and Salvador Dali as well as popular culture and science fiction.  He took part in exhibitions of young people's art run by Cadbury's.

He met his wife, Emma, and had two children, who are now in their teens.  James began to pursue his art more vigorously when he was invited to take part in the first exhibition for the Archdiocese of Glasgow's annual Lentfest in 2008.  His triptych, depicting the crucified head and hands of Jesus, received a huge reaction from the public and were purchased by a private collector who commissioned two further paintings of the pierced side and feet of Christ. 

In 2012, James took part in another Lentfest exhibition which brought together a large number of artists, including the likes of Jolomo, Peter Howson, Richard Demarco and Sandy Moffat to create a new series of Stations of the Cross and Resurrection.  His painting of 'Veronica wipes the face of Jesus' was featured in the Glasgow Herald newspaper and was sold to a private collector.

His paintings continued to attract attention from private collectors.  His painting of 'The Last Supper' is now housed in a private collection in Spain and other religious paintings, such as 'Wilderness' (2013), 'Under the Hood' (2015) and 'The Scourging at the Pillar' (2019) have also sold to private collectors.

As well as taking inspiration from his faith, James has also created some imaginative post-apocalyptic art that features well-known Glasgow sites.  He has had commissions for landscape and portrait work and will consider all requests.  He remains a dedicated family man and enjoys spending time with his wife and sons.