After graduating from law school in 1983, James Freedman practiced commercial real estate finance law, settling in New York in 2002 after 17 years in Washington, DC. After 26 years he felt compelled to turn his full time and attention to painting, and did so in earnest while on a leave of absence from his firm. Freedman received encouragement and guidance from a couple of established painters and discovered that there was an interest in his work. His first solo show was in Autumn, 2009 in New York.