James Ayers of Flagstaff, Arizona paints Native American figures and portraits to recapture lost cultures. The artist combines historical research, live models and his own personal experiences of traveling and living with indigenous people in North America and Africa in his paintings.

Ayers was adopted by a Greek-American family in Boston when he was three months old. His birth father was African American and his birth mother was of German-Welsh lineage. The young artist did well in art classes and found inspiration on his many trips to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Ayers attended the Rhode Island School of Design and majored in illustration and focused on figurative works and portraits. After college he ventured on trip a thro...