As a struggling teen in high school, Jim McShea turned to art as an outlet for his feelings.

“It was something I could be really good at,” he explained. “I found the need to express myself.”

His natural proclivity took him to Temple University’s Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia for his bachelor of fine arts degree and then to Yale University in New Haven, Conn. for his master’s.

McShea’s passion has driven four decades of creating, mainly as a painter, in his signature geometric abstract style. His motivations are numerous.

“I loved doing it. You could be the best you could be; you weren’t hurting anybody. It’s self-expression,” he said.