Gordon Dunphy was born into an old New Brunswick farm family on the Nashwaak river Valley. He spent the greater part of his life as a highly respected dairy farmer, specializing in animal husbandry. Dunphy never received formal training, but set himself up in a studio in Taymouth, N.B. He soon developed a reputation for creating eloquent turned wood pieces that showed off distinct characteristics of the original material. No one expected him to do anything else until the day in 1981 when he turned from farming to embrace his own art, imagination and poetry in his pursuit of wood turning. He soon received invitations to show his work throughout Canada and Europe, becoming an internationally recognized and renowned master craftsman.