Turned & Sculptural

Jim McPhail

In 1994, Jim McPhail moved to the Carolina Mountains to pursue his life-long desire to work as a professional craft artist. Jim experimented with a variation on the wood-art style often called segmented or laminated turning. He decided to expand on the concept as he moved from hobbyist to professional. He dubbed the technique layered bowls. Over the ensuing years, he has developed many variations on his layered bowl concept. Jim's miniature, layered bowls are from two to five inches in diameter. Each bowl is created from a palette of more than 250 woods from around the world. The color, texture and thickness of the layers are joined with the classic shape of the bowl; the result is an eye-pleasing contrast between complex visual graphics and classic form.

In 2000, Jim was juried into the prestigious Southern Highland Craft Guild, America's second oldest craft guild. In 2004, three of Jim's bowls were juried into Lark Books' collection, 500 Wood Bowls.