French artist Jean Francois Detaille discovered his passion for art at an early age. Painting was his father's hobby, and on vacations with his parents in Spain and the South of France Jean Francois would watch the local artists create on-the-spot portraits for tourists. In 1975, after a chance meeting in Figueras, Spain with the flamboyant artist Salvador Dali, Jean Francois realized that the quiet life of the studio artist was not for him.

In 1976, he enrolled in the Royal Academy of Beaux Arts in Belgium (which Brueghel, Rubens and Magritte also attended) to develop his talent more fully. Upon completion, he enrolled in the Academy des Beaux Arts de Paris.

Jean Francois' desire for adventure led him to travel widely. In 1982, he packed his bags and art supplies and traveled around the world on a sailboat, painting thousands of paintings along the way. The Caribbean, Hawaii and Tahiti were his new themes and his boat made a perfect studio.

"I always painted in front of an audience to music. In school I was faster than everybody else", says Jean Francois. In 1997 he was asked to perform in "Madhattan" at the New York New York Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. That engagement resulted in other invitations from producers and event planners in several countries. In 2000, Jean Francois was named the Spotlight Awards Entertainer of the Year for the special/corporate event market.