A Colorado native, Jim Budish, studied sculpture at the Art Students League of Denver and The Loveland Academy of Fine Arts. He as also participated in International Sculpture Center workshops at the Art Institute of Chicago.

He began his artistic career sculpting representational, figurative works. He studied with and in the tradition of many of the highly regarded sculptors using the lost wax casting process at foundries in Colorado. In the maquette size, he sculpts exclusively in clay. However on life and monumental size works he prefers to sculpt in low density foam with a hot knife, applying clay to the surface after the base form is made. He realized in time however, that it was neither his desire nor ambition to sculpt “photographs” in bronze. Rather, he felt he wanted his own new and unique direction in representing the human form and the forms of a multitude of special animal creatures. His art explores the unique attitude, emotion and personality of each, while attempting to capture the “joie de vivre” that he believes is lurking somewhere inside all of us.

In 2002, 2003 and 2004 Budish’s work was awarded Best of Show, Best of Sculpture or 2nd Place Sculpture on 14 separate occasions at nationally recognized shows. In 2003 “Chauncy”, a rabbit in monumental size, was selected by the Loveland High Plains Arts Council for purchase and permanent installation in the Benson Sculpture Park in Loveland, CO.

The following year, 2004, Jim Budish was the top selling artist at the Sculpture in the Park show in Loveland, CO.Jim Budish’s sculpture can be found in numerous public and private collections throughout the world, a list of which will be provided on request. Public placements of monumental work include: Arizona- Carefree, Fountain Hills, Phoenix, Scottsdale, Sedona and Tucson; California- Bermuda Dunes, Beverly Hills, La Jolla, La Quinta, Mill Valley, Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage, San Francisco, Sausalito, Sonoma, Tiburon and Walnut Creek; Colorado- Edwards, Evergreen, Golden, Littleton, Loveland and Vail; Florida- Naples and Sanibel Island; Kentucky- Louisville; Idaho- Sun Valley; Illinois- Aurora, Chicago, Deerfield, Highland Park and South Elgin; Nebraska- Davey and Lincoln; New Mexico- Santa Fe; New York- New York City and Syracuse; Pennsylvania- Mechanicsburg; Texas- Dallas; Washington- Friday Harbor, San Juan Islands and suburban Seattle. Internationally- Brussels Belgium, Hong Kong and Shanghai PRC, London England, and Zurich Switzerland.