Brian James was born in South Wales in 1949. He studied painting at St. Martins School of Art & Design (BA Fine Art (Painting) 1969-72) and at the Royal College of Art (MA Fine Art (Painting) 1972-75). He is married to Elizabeth Humphries, a fellow artist, and lives and works in Norfolk, U.K.

In 1980, after completing his studies and a period of painting and travelling, Brian co-founded a fine art furniture company "Imperial Woodworks". To quote James: "I felt a need to move into three dimensional work as an aid to my own painting". The company exhibited regularly in East Anglia, London, New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles and received wide media coverage and numerous awards. Its portfolios are included in the archives of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London and some of the company's artwork was featured in the 20th Century Fox film "Worth Winning".

After creating furniture for 10 years Brian decided to return to painting and has concentrated on this ever since.