Jim was born in Portland and fell in love with art at an early stage. He followed a BFA and MST with a career in teaching art. His middle school and high school students kept him busy designing art lessons for thirty-four years. During that time, he taught jewelry, printmaking, painting, calligraphy, drawing, and ceramics. The bulk of his classes were focused on ceramics. Naked Raku has been Jim’s passion for the last 15 years. This medium satisfies his need for exacting methods and unexpected results. Failure has provided most of the lessons needed for success. His frustrations have also led him to innovating new techniques and tools to simplify processes and improve results. His body of work has continued to grow and change with each creative spark.