
















worked as a graphics designer for more
than 30 years in Chicago and
Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In 1994,
Jim and his wife, Pat, moved to the
Carolina Mountains to pursue his life-long
desire to work as a professional craft
artist. In the early 1990s, Jim had
experimented with a variation on the
wood-art style often called segmented or
laminated turning. He decide 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 also decided to limit the size of his
bowls to less than five inches in diameter
to make his them available to a wider
audience. He has shown his work in New
York, Los Angeles and Chicago, as well
as many galleries throughout the
Southern Appalachian range.
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.
In 2005, Jim was invited to demonstrate
at the Utah Woodturning Symposium,
America’s oldest symposium. Later the
same year, he was asked to write the
cover article for the winter edition of the
journal of the American Association of
Woodturners, American Woodturner.
In 2007, Jim and his work were featured
on the popular UNC-TV / PBS series, Our
State.
In 2010, five of Jim’s pieces were part of
North Carolina State University's Gregg
Museum’s exhibition, “With Lathe and
Chisel: North Carolina Wood Turners and
Carvers”.
Jim McPhail . . .
Jim McPhail © 2012
Early layered bowl, seven layers,
four inch diameter, 1993.
Signature layered bowl, fifteen layers,
3-1/2 inch diameter, 2008.
Watching the layers being revealed as
the inside of the bowl is turned.