If you ask Jack, he will tell you that he's a self-taught artist who began painting at the age of twenty-seven or twenty-eight. That was thirty-eight years, and more than 900 paintings ago. The real truth is that he received private lessons at the age of 10, and even though the lessons lasted a scant 4 months, by the time they were over, Jack knew the power and the pull of art. In fact, art was always a part of life in the Kaiser house-hold: his father, Joseph Kaiser, graduated from the Cincinnati Academy of Fine Arts, and worked as a lithographer from the time when the art was practiced with wax and acid on stone until the emergence of scanners. When Joseph retired from his job, he devoted his last twenty years to painting, producing works in a variety of mediums. " He could do it all," says Jack about his Dad.

Jack began to be well known among Chester County artists during the summer of 1973, when he entered as many outdoor shows as possible, sold his first paintings, and had his first one-man show. By the mid-eighties, he had firmly established himself in the Chester County art scene. This show will be his tenth one-man show; he has participated in eight major group shows, innumerable juried shows; and has won many awards. The awards include one First and several Second prizes at the Rittenhouse Square Fine Arts Annual Festival, as well as many other prestigious shows. His art has graced the Chester County Flower Show poster, and catalogue covers for The Chester County Arts Association and The Yellow Springs Arts Festival. His art has been featured in Speaking for Themselves: The Artists of Southeastern Pennsylvania, by Daphne S Landis, and The Four Seasons of Chester County, The Artists, by Red Hamer.

Jack has said of himself, "Being tone deaf, inarticulate and very disorganized, but feeling I possessed an artistic spirit, I had to find my form of communication in art." The translation of the emotional impact that he finds in the world around him into a painting is at the heart of Jack's art. He observes his world with wonderment and awe, and when he locates an image that inspires a deep visceral and emotional response that "lights up his soul," he seeks to share not just the image, but the inspiration and the emotion with us.

Those who have written about Jack's art have said that his subjects capture a particular moment in time, and that he is recognized for his sense of composition and his use of subtle colors, warm light, strong contrast, and luminescent layering of transparent color. In covering Jack's solo show at The Chester County Art Association, "Stepping Outside," art critic John Chambless found "pure magic" in Jack's landscapes. Chambless also noted the exceptional "three dimensional quality" of the watercolors.

Watercolor is a strict, unforgiving taskmistress. Challenges abound in the creation of magic and three-dimensional quality. The medium must convey spontaneity, but the approach is a slow, deliberate, painstaking process, rife with pitfalls. Despite the difficulties, Jack has continued his love affair with watercolors.

He began feeling the urge to extend his artistic repertoire, and so Jack began "throwing paint." He found that abstract painting was spontaneous yet lead to the discovery of a connection between the visual and the emotional. And it was fun. Jack now paints abstracts in watercolor and in acrylic, a medium which he finds somewhat less restrictive than watercolor. He has also extended his realistic paintings to include both watercolor and acrylics.

Three years ago, Jack moved to Philadelphia, and embraced some of the City's sights and scenes - the ones that light up his soul.