Born in Kansas in 1984, Jacob Aguiar recalls spending countless hours drawing what he saw from the window of his childhood home. An avid lover of the outdoors from an early age, Aguiar’s favorite activities as a child involved playing in the fields and woods of rural Kansas. This love of the outdoors is deeply ingrained in his sense of self, and he feels most at ease in nature.  

In 2011, his love of art and nature finally met. Burned out in naturopathic medical school, Aguiar took a yearlong leave of absence to spend time with family and pursue art. He spent that year in the small Northern California town of Sebastopol studying masters of the landscape, and obsessively painting. During that time he traveled throughout the West, training with preeminent pastel landscape artists and painting both outdoors and in the studio. After nearly a decade of splitting his time as a naturopathic doctor and artist, he recently retired from medicine to paint full-time.  

Aguiar is now an internationally recognized pastel artist living in Boxford, Massachusetts with his family. He splits his time between painting inspiring New England landscapes and the landscapes of Wyoming. He has won many awards including Third Place in the 2017 Plein Air Salon for Gentle Stroll and several awards in Pastel Journal’s Pastel 100 competitions. The artist has exhibited in galleries throughout the United States as well as at The Brinton Museum in Wyoming, where he will be a part of a two-person show in 2024. 

He is a Signature Member of the Pastel Society of America and a Master Circle honoree of the International Association of Pastel Societies. His work has been featured in several art magazines, including PleinAir Magazine, Southwest Art, and Pastel Journal.

Aguiar is represented by Turner Fine Art (Jackson Hole, WY), Bryan Memorial Gallery (Jeffersonville, VT), and Powers Gallery (Acton, MA). He recently opened Aguiar Fine Art (Portsmouth, NH).