Phillips, Jim : Born in 1956 in Newmarket, Ontario, Jim Phillips was raised in Jackson's Point, a small community on the southern shore of Lake Simcoe. Phillips's first efforts as a cartoonist were published in a local newspaper, the weekly Lake Simcoe Advocate when he was a teenager. After high school, Phillips enrolled at Sheridan College in Oakville to study illustration and cartooning, and also attended the Ontario College of Art for a brief period. During this time, he supported himself and paid his tuition by drawing editorial cartoons for the Oakville Journal Record. After completing his studies, Phillips syndicated editorial cartoons through Great Lake Publishing, and his work appeared in numerous newspapers including the Toronto Star, the Kitchener Waterloo Record and the Calgary Albertan. In 1980 Phillips started producing the SUNtoon, a daily strip that appeared on the editorial pages of the Toronto Sun. This small cartoon was also published in the Calgary Sun and the Ottawa Sun during the 1990s and into the 21st century. Phillips created over 8500 SUNtoons before the feature was discontinued in 2004 when the Toronto Sun underwent reorganization. Phillips also drew editorial cartoons for the Toronto Sun and wrote the occasional illustrated column before parting ways with Sun Media Corporation in 2004. Phillips continued producing editorial cartoons for syndication, in addition to creating a series of animated cartoons relating to the 2004 federal election that appeared on the Globe and Mail website and the CTV website. One of the pioneers in the use of CorelDraw for cartooning, Phillips has employed computer technology since the early 1990s, and he has written about this topic, contributing a chapter to Chris Dickman's book, Mastering CorelDraw 4 (Peachpit Press, 2002).
Cartooning has not, however, been Jim Phillips' only source of employment. He has also had a career in advertising working for Loblaws and Bell Canada, as well as establishing an independent firm and creating advertising materials for clients such as Petsmart. As art director for Loblaw International Merchants, Phillips helped in the creation and the production of Dave Nichol's Insider Report. While at Bell Canada, Phillips worked on the Gordon and Frank (The Bell Beavers) series. In January 2007 Jim Phillips took a new position in the marketing department at Lowe's Canada, an American-based home improvement store.
