Jim Wiley
Award Winning Woodcarver Master Craftsman
Jim was born and raised in Taos and is following the tradition of other wood orders in the valley such as Elidio Gonzales and Nicolai Fechin. His designs cover a range of styles, from Northern New Mexico Hispanic to German, Scandinavian, Russian, Irish, and African. Most of the designs are considered Folk Art. He is often consulted by other woodworkers on Territorial style designs and specifications.
Jim started woodworking as a hobby in 1985. He is primarily self-taught, through reading books and hands-on trial and error. He opened his business in 1992, creating fine, hand-carved furniture, signs, doors, other household items, and rustic furniture. His portfolio includes many one-of-a-kind pieces. Jim has shown at Santa Fe Community College, 1992, New Mexico Wood Working Exhibition, held July 11 - August 9, 1992. He was a member of the National Woodcarvers’ Association, 1996 - 2008.
Jim Collaborated with another local woodworker on a carved chest of drawers, which was entered in Taos Fall Arts Festival, Taos Invites Taos. This piece won Best of Furniture.
1999 was a landmark year for Jim. One of his original designs, a blanket chest, was selected for publication by Taunton Press. The book is titled Treasure Chests and was published October 1, 2001. Jim entered the Taos Fall Arts Festival - Taos Open and won Best of Furniture for his “Taos Chest”.
He was invited to show two custom pieces in the Taos Fall Arts Festival, Taos Invites Taos in 2000. One of them, titled “Fair Tale Chest”, won Best of Furniture and Best of Show - Third Place.
A photo and article about another of his creation, a Chip-Carved End Table, was published in the November-December 2000 issue of “Chip Chats”, the magazine of the National Woodcarvers Association.
Jim designed and built a custom wait-station for the historic Taos Inn. It is in use and on display in their dining room.
In June 2001, Taunton Press Chose Jim’s workshop to be photographed and featured in a book about workshops. This book, The Workshop: Celebrating the Place Where Craftmanship Begins, was published in October 2003.
Jim has been invited back to Taos Invites Taos since 2000, and showed each year up through 2013.
In 2002, Jim moved his studio/workshop from Los Cordovas to its current location on Cuchilla Road. For 2003, he showed a trastero, titled “Casa de Crestones”, which was made from recycled pine and fir. The wood was reclaimed from the restoration of a nineteenth-century adobe house in Gardner, Colorado.
Jim’s “Armario de Pino” won Best of Furniture at the Taos Invites Taos show in 2004, and was one of the featured pieces in the video of the awards show. This video, “Rio Grande Nights”, was aired by at least 40 PBS stations in the southwest in 2005.
Jim was designated a Taos Living Master by the Taos Fall Arts Foundation in 2007 and 2008. In 2009, he won first place for furniture in the Taos Fall Arts, Taos Invites Taos show.
Jim does custom woodworking and design, by appointment only, at his studio/workshop. Jim’s work may also be seen at Tres Estrellas Design in Taos.
