Jim Brandon is a wood artist living in Pisgah Forest, western North Carolina. This mountainous area is well known for its wide variety of native hardwoods including maple, walnut, oaks, cherry, and many more. The majority of Jim’s raw material is wood sourced from very local trees that originate from either his property, or within a short drive/hike from his home. He can usually tell the location and a story about each tree that his work comes from. There’s not a burl, log, or root-ball that isn’t being eyed as potential raw material for a new project.
Although Jim is a skilled lathe wood turner, he also tends to incorporate multi-media into his turned projects, including metal, milled wood, concrete, barbed wire and colored dyes. Balance is often intentionally skewed to counter the symmetry of a lathe-turned piece. Soft, smooth, sharp, and harsh effects are often combined for dramatic effect. Every piece Jim produces is intended to be a unique and stand-alone piece of fine art.
As an avid bicyclist, five years ago Jim rode his bike solo across the US on the Trans-am route from Virginia to Oregon. The route took him through the Blue Ridge, and once he completed the ride he was inspired to find the perfect location to “settle for good”. When he and his wife found Brevard and Transylvania County they knew they had found it.
Jim first learned to turn wood as a teenager in middle-school, but only in the past four years has he picked up the skill and honed in into a medium for creating original art. He is a member of the Carolina Mountain Wood Turners Association and has a Bachelor of Arts degree in creative writing from Eckerd Collage in Florida. Jim lives in Transylvania County with his wife, Jeni.
