Daily Inspiration: Meet Jim McLoughlin

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jim McLoughlin.

Hi Jim, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I first began to dabble in art at the age of eight, drawing figures from the front pages of the New York Daily News. One of my first subjects was a new presidential candidate named John F. Kennedy.  My parents praised my portrait of him, of his broad smile and shock of hair.  And of course, JFK was Irish American and a new favorite topic of conversation for my parents who themselves had immigrated from Ireland just a dozen years earlier. And so, of course the moment stuck with me.

While growing up in Brooklyn, my art teachers encouraged me to pursue a degree in Fine Arts, but for me as a teenage “working man” in our neighborhood drugstore, more practical considerations prevailed. Instead, after my years as a Queens College student and a New York City taxi driver, I packed up my ’74 Chevy Vega and drove to Los Angeles to earn a master’s degree (MPA – Health Services) at the University of Southern California.

Midway through my forty-year career in healthcare management, now married to Susan and with two daughters, Katie and Julie, I followed my hunch to revive my artwork — moving beyond the doodles that once filled the margins of my notepads at work. I bought some paints and brushes.

Fast forward to my retirement years, seven years and counting, I’ve done a solo art show at the Rancho Santa Margarita Civic Center (2019) and exhibited at the City of Hope Hospital as well as libraries in the Orange County area. In 2020 I was invited to become Board Director to lead a new arts program for the RSM Cares Foundation.  In this latter capacity, I initiate, organize and promote the Visual Arts in the Rancho Santa Margarita community by engaging and showcasing local artists, from high school students to seniors, at our gallery at the RSM Regional Belltower Community Center.
Early on in this effort, I founded the affiliated Art Hub with a handful of local artists and now count about forty active members from within and around the south Orange County community. Apart from my own painting, few of my art endeavors give me greater joy than meeting every month with a couple of dozen fellow artists for mutual sharing of our latest creations and to feel the bonds of friendship around our common passion.

And the kids! If I ever need reassurance about the value of our efforts in RSM Cares, all I have to do is glance at the many photos of the middle school and high school students smiling with their proud families, teachers, and some local city leaders in front of a gallery of their artwork. Those moments will stick with them.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I look back on my early years as a period of adversity: living with our family of seven – plus a cousin — in the Brooklyn projects, starting my first job selling weekly papers at the age of 12.

I think I felt most adrift years later as a college student driving a taxi days and nights for endless miles in all kinds of weather with passengers of unknown character sitting behind me. One of them revealed his character when he pulled a gun on me.  I was the first in my family to pursue a college degree, but it often felt like just a pipe dream.  “Keep at it”, was the best tip I ever received from a passenger.

Now in my mid-70s, I’ve taken on a revised perspective.  It was those early years of adversity that gave me the resilience to deal with setbacks and, after some time to lick my wounds, press ahead.  Early adversity became a gift of sorts, a preparation for achievement. In any case, there were outright gifts in my youth: hardworking, stable parents and the opportunity for me to pursue higher education. And it needs to be added that being born white was no small social advantage.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Nothing I’ve done in life compares to my role as husband and dad, especially during the last twenty-eight years since our second daughter Julie was born with Rett Syndrome, a severe neurological condition that leaves her with profound impairments in cognition, speech and motor skills.  

Please have a look at my portrait of Julie and my narrative about her on my website JimMcLoughlin.com. 

Now my number one goal in life is to live to be a hundred and to be able to care for our Julie — to be able to lift her — well into my late eighties so that she can stay home with us as long as possible.

In my heart of hearts, Julie is the liquid center. As singer John Sebastian once put it,
And love will make you strong
As a team of wild horses.

We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
As an undegrad, I was an English major, and my secret desire is to be a writer as well as a painter.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://JimMcLoughlin.com
• Instagram: http://Instagram.com/jimmcloughlin_art