During the week Sputnik was launched, Jimmy Phillips was born the fifth of six children to a Scotch-Irish father and Italian mother in Houston, Texas. Phillips says, “The extent of my art education included my mother, who taught me to draw as a child, and my middle and high school art teachers.” Fifteen years ago, after a 30-year hiatus from making art, Phillips tells us he was cutting down a tree and began doodling with a chainsaw on the fallen trunk. As a recognizable form emerged from the log, he was amazed, and it remains a magical experience for him today. Within the first year of his adventure in sculpture, his works were selected for several juried art shows. On a trip to Galveston, to collect wood from the removal of trees killed by Hurricane Ike’s storm surge, he was introduced to a woman who wanted to carve the dead trees into public sculptures, and he was selected to carve the first pieces at Galveston City Hall. Private commissioned works followed, and the Galveston Tree Sculptures became a huge sensation. His sculptures are scattered throughout Texas including Arlington, Baytown, Beeville, Calvert, College Station, El Lago, Fulshear, Galveston, Greenville, Hallettsville, Houston, Humble, Killeen, Lake Jackson, Missouri City, Montgomery, Nelsonville, Richmond, Santa Fe, Simonton, Spring, Tuleta and Weimar. Phillips’ True North installation “beyond reach” playfully depicts a giraffe, stretching hopefully for the sustenance of a nearby tree. The sculpture’s instantly recognizable and nostalgic composition reminds us of a child’s artistic assembly of popsicle sticks.