James has had an artist's soul since birth, and was an avid collector of natural objects, illustrator and painter in high school. He joined the Marine Corps after high school, and spent several years in Hawai'i and Japan, where he was inspired by the Japanese aesthetic sense. He earned an AA degree, focusing on the ceramic arts, before being invited to apprentice for several major artists and tech summers at Sierra Nevada College. After meeting his future wife in Aspen through mutual friend Paul Soldner, he dashed his plans to move to the cold and snowy midwest and instead came to southern California, so they could be together (they married a year later at Burning Man). After working as the store manager at Laguna Clay for a year, James was invited to be the Gallery Installer at the Scripps College Galleries in Claremont. He also became Paul Soldner's assistant while he is in Claremont.
After five years in Claremont, James moved up to San Luis Obispo for a year, to work and enjoy SLO life. He will be moving in July to Flagstaff, Arizona, to utilize their amazing atmospheric kilns and finish his BFA.
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