James is very active in the urban sketchers community and an invited blogger on www.urbansketchers-midwest.blogspot.com and www.urbansketchers-twincities.blogspot.com. James has designed many award-winning buildings and was most recently a finalist in Ralph Rapson Traveling Study Fellowship. He believes "an artist should draw to create, record, ask questions, or tell a story and never to create a beautiful drawing. Honesty and craft are the true generators of great work and most people are blocked before they start with the worry of worthiness."