Jim was born in San Francisco a fifth generation Californian. He attended the University of California, Berkeley, and holds advanced degrees in Architecture. He was a Professor of Architecture at U.C. Berkeley and at University College in London for several years. Jim is a licensed architect who retired from his own Architecture and Planning firm in San Diego, California after active practice for 35 years planning and designing hospitals and large commercial structures all over the United States and Mexico.
Jim’s long-time passion has been in woodworking, having been a woodcarver and furniture-maker/designer for many years. He has been a woodturner for over 40 years. He enjoys woodturning because of the inherent beauty of wood and because of the discipline of the lathe. He turns a variety of objects, both faceplate and spindle. Form, proportion and understated decoration are consistent design considerations in his work. Each piece has its own unique history. A concept that has intrigued him is that of creating “transparency” in his turned objects.
His favorite wood is Apricot, but he is constantly exploring the qualities and challenges of working with almost any wood that he can procure. Much of his turning is for cabinet makers, furniture designers, clock makers, weaving companies, kitchen shops and contractors. He tries to balance producing functional pieces with purely decorative pieces. Most of his “show” pieces are of a decorative or sculptural nature incorporating piercing, carving and/or router incising.
Jim is a member of the American Association of Woodturners and the Olympic Peninsula Woodturners Club. Although self-taught, he has attended numerous symposia including AAW national symposiums and the BYU Symposiums in Provo, Utah. He has won many awards and accolades at both the club level and in such shows as the Design in Wood show in Del Mar, California. His pieces have been featured on the cover of Fine Woodworking Magazine and in The American Woodturner.
He has demonstrated at countless club meetings and local symposia in both in Washington and in California. He enjoys teaching and mentoring turners at all levels. One of his memorable times was when he was the “warm-up act” for David Ellsworth at the Olympia Symposium.
When he is not turning, Jim is an active WSU Master Gardener, a member of the City of Poulsbo Tree Board, a very active member of his church and co-caretaker of a large garden with his wife Noel. Papa is grandpa to seven grand-children and dad to five who are all located on the West Coast.