About
From his boyhood home in New Jersey, he could see the skyline of Manhattan. The family spent summers and weekends at a cabin in northern New Jersey near the Appalachian Trail. David often walked alone in the forest where he found solitude and restoration.
It was on an elementary school field trip to the Newark Museum that he was introduced to Albrecht Durer. The museum’s curator of education took the young boy aside and told him who Albrecht Durer was, when and where he worked, and used the word, “graphic,” to describe the image. David responded, “I don’t know what that is, but I’m going to do that someday.”
David started this journey by enrolling in classes at the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Art. First, as a senior in high school, he took a drawing class at night. Then he enrolled as a fulltime student and studied with Gustave Cimiotti, Jr. and Hannes Beckmann. This encouraged him to pursue a B.F.A. at the Maryland Institute College of Art, where he was awarded a Ford Fellowship. The fellowship included a stipend and an individual painting studio located in the graduate student painting building. Here he had contact with the painter-in-residence, Grace Hartigan, and conversations with visiting artists, such as Clifford Still.
At the Institute he studied painting with Joe Shepard, Peter Hooven for etching, and Peter Milton for advanced drawing. Later, he worked for Peter Milton as his printing assistant. This laid the foundation for becoming a Master Printer. So, in a way, the child’s aspiration is fulfilled to be engaged in the graphic medium of printmaking.
David went on to earn an M.F.A. from the University of Oklahoma, aided by a teaching assistantship. He then accepted a full time position at Texas Christian University, where he is currently an Emeritus Professor of Art. He is also recognized as a Master Printer by the Printmaking Research Institute of North Texas.