James Paterson is a lifelong artist and Imagineer — a sculptor of joy who builds his pieces from twisted wire, found objects, and a child's sense of wonder.
Born in northern Saskatchewan and raised in the vibrant streets of Toronto's Kensington Market, Jim grew up surrounded by colour, characters, and the particular kind of make-do creativity fostered in an inner city neighbourhood at full tilt.
Following his Fine Arts degree, and a short career as a school teacher, Jim committed to making art full-time, experimenting with a variety of genres.
Jim has been twisting wire since 2008 when he embraced the technique as an answer to a crisis while working in Europe. The medium may initially appear intimidating but it is also intimate — every line in every sculpture is a line his hand drew.
He calls his pieces Prayer Machines, Mind-Wandering Machines, and Engines of Joy — story-telling sculptures of swirling shapes, moving parts, and splashes of colour. Some kinetic, some still. All meant to invite a long second look.
Jim and his wife Lynn live in Hamilton, Ontario, where he works out of a studio at the Cotton Factory — a converted textile mill turned haven for makers.
Lynn runs the business side: orders, conversations with collectors, the patient daily work of keeping a one-artist studio running.
The world has plenty of serious art. Jim makes the other kind — the kind that catches a stranger off-guard and earns a smile they didn’t plan on.
Every piece in this shop began as a quiet idea in a Hamilton studio, twisted into being by one pair of hands, and is sent out to find its place in the world.
