My name is James Daniel and I was born in Raleigh, North Carolina and lived there until I was nine. My family relocated to Atlanta because my father, at the time a broker with Merrill Lynch, was offered the position as Senior Vice President of EF Hutton. It was a great time to grow up in Atlanta, then quite small comparatively, and I have very fond memories of that time. My mother was busy working volunteer positions at the Junior League and eventually became one of the top sales associates at Southern Homes Magazine. At eighteen, I went off to attend Birmingham-Southern College and my father received an offer to be the CEO of Barnett Securities so my parents moved down to Ponte Vedra Beach outside of Jacksonville. Dad began his new job and my mom decided to enter into the art business so she became a sales representative for the premier portrait group Portraits South, which she later became president of. After college, I traveled internationally pursuing studio art, primarily painting and drawing, and have a thriving art business that includes annual exhibits and portrait commissions. After about ten years in Ponte Vedra my father became ill and the folks decided to return to Raleigh where they could spend more time with their closest friends. As well, I returned from Italy where I had been living for the past three years.

My appreciation for property, land, and homes comes from my Grandfather and Great Grandfather. My maternal Grandpa, a doctor with three degrees as well as a farmer, inherited a land grant of one hundred acres from his parents in the early 1900’s and worked to add an additional five thousand acres, which he accomplished. He believed there was nothing more precious than land and a comfortable home. I spent my summers on that South Carolina farm where my Grandma always cooked up that Southern food for anyone who walked through the door.