Jim Gleason grew up in the Pacific Northwest, attending high school in the Seattle Washington area. Shortly after graduation he signed a professional baseball contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates. His career ended after four seasons, due to a injury to his pitching arm. He returned home to Washington and straight into the Washington State Patrol.

Gleason served twenty-six years with the State Patrol, including a Marine Corps leave of absence from 1962 to 1965 for service in Southeast Asia. It was during the Marine Corps tour of duty that he experimented with pen and ink sketching and tried oil painting on velvet. He painted about a dozen velvet paintings and then because of career and family demands, put the brushes away.

Gleason transferred, with his family, to Goldendale, Washington in 1974, and it has been his home ever since. He retired from the Patrol in 1986, ran for the position of Sheriff of Klickitat County, and was elected. He served two terms in that position. A leave of absence in 1987 allowed him to attend the FBI National Academy. January 1995 saw him retire from public service for the last time.

Once retired, and looking for a winter hobby, he picked up the brushes and started refining and developing his skills. He hasn't slowed down since.

Jim is a self taught artist that has never had a class or formal training, his style has been developed by trial and error, working out problems by deductive reasoning learned through years of law enforcement. Most of his work has been oil on canvas, with some pastel renditions. Images range from small 8x10 to large scale 36x48. The first display of art work was at the local library, several pieces were sold, and that marked the beginning of another career.

Jim has been juried into most all of the Pacific Northwest Western Art Shows, his paintings has sold across the USA and to foreign country residents in Japan, England, Norway, Sweden, and France. He has participated in Mural Painting in the City of Murals, Toppenish, Washington.