Stuart was born in Fair Lawn New Jersey in 1952 and currently lives in Boston. He began painting and playing classical music at age five and went on to a long career with top orchestras in Boston, New York, and Hong Kong. In 1994 he transitioned from music to fine art where he received his classical training at The Boston Museum School, The Academy of Realist Art in Seattle and Private Study with Ani Graduate Joel C. Jones.

As a contemporary realist, Stuart likes to paint still life, landscape, and animals. He especially likes to paint comical still life scenes with a mouse interacting with an object. He hopes a viewer will find joy, optimism, humor and playfulness, as well as a sense of classical balance and beauty in his work.

His paintings reveal that music and art are made up of the same ideas. Rhythm, harmony, counterpoint, balance, contrast, scales, chromatism, keys, high and low, dark and bright, loud and soft, colorful and dull, can be found in his compositions.
He paints everyday with his dog and 3 white mice in his studio.