Robin and Jim Biographies

Jim and I were married May 12, 1998, but have been together since 1992. We have one 3 year old baby, named Taffy, she is a 7 pound Maltese. Jim has been a mason contractor for over 25 years, and as well as the usual masonry work, he has created some beautiful artwork with stone on fireplaces. He has always worked with his hands. Kayaking and tennis are only a few of the things he loves to do in his spare time, but his biggest joy in life is people. Jim never meets a stranger, he always meets a friend. He grew up bouncing back and forth between the Oregon Coast and Northern California Coast logging camps, as his father was a logger. Jim grew up with a different attitude about trees than his father, he loves them. Somewhere back in Jim's family, there is some Cherokee heritage, which we have the names and are now in the process of tracing. Jim has three children and three grand children.

I grew up in the mountains of Colorado. My parents bought three little log cabins and started building from those. We were 8 miles from town, surrounded by Ponderosa Pine and Aspen trees, with many different kinds of wildlife. I used to spend my time playing in the woods, fishing, and trying to catch rabbits...never caught one either! Along with raising two children (I now have 4 grand children), I have mostly worked in advertising, and some tourism. Somewhere on my Grandmothers side of the family there is some Osage heritage, it's been very difficult to trace this. I have always loved doing crafts, and I now help with our flutes, make dreamcatchers and other things. One of my joys in life is working on my computer. I have several websites of my own, and that has led to 11 clients that I have created and maintain their websites. I love it!

After Jim and I met, our love of the coast prompted us to sell out and moveto the Northern Oregon Coast from McMinnville, Oregon. We travelled toArizona on a trip for a totally different reason, but somewhere in them middle of Arizona we decided to start a Native American Shop. In 1995 we decided that our shop should have flutes, and we went searching. While at a trade show in Phoenix we walked by a booth selling Native American music, and there was a man playing the flute. We stopped, and soon the guy asked Jim if he played. Jim said no, and next thing he knew there was a flute in his hand. This man was John Huling, and he gave Jim his first flute lesson, and talked with us quite a while. He gave us two of his tapes, and off we went. I am sure if John Huling ever hears of this, he will wonder, "Who ARE these people!" A few booths away we came across Odel Borg's booth. It was there that we purchased our first flute, and had another lesson. Our camper was in the parking lot, and that's where we went and hid, and started our playing of the flute. We were drawn to it like nothing before.

I looked and looked at flutes after that, and contacted my son and asked him to please go to his Grandfathers workshop with all the dimensions I had given him, and I asked him to try to make a flute. It didn't work to well. I kept trying, and finally Jim came in on the project. We worked and worked until we had the first flute made by us. That was in 1996. Our flute making journey really started going in 1997. We love creating flutes, and we introduce the flute to people the same way John Huling did for us. He will never know what a wonderful thing he did for us!

We have several flutes from other makers, and we aren't finished yet. Nothing is so exciting as receiving a new flute for our personal collection. We also sell flutes from other makers in our Native American Shop. Our flute journey has brought us into a whole new world of wonderful people, and we feel blessed to be part of this circle. Thank You!

Jim & Robin McDonald
Eagle Song Flutes