A steel folding screen with the text of a poem by Charles Baudelaire. The poem, "Correspondances", is from the collection "Fleurs du Mal". There are four hinged panels, each of which is six feet tall by eight and a half feet wide and one inch deep.  There are various configerations these panels can be arranged in.  As a zig-zag the quartet can be over thirty feet long.  My current favorite arrangement is as a pentagon, approximately fifteen feet across, with one side open and the text readable from the inside.    

Collage and drawing have been the basics of my sculpture. Currently drawing has come to play a dominant role. Even after a decade this body of work still feels quite new. At first these pieces were made on my work table. Latter they moved to my shop floor which allowed me to increase their scale.

The images are often drawn from my sketchbooks, some of which are over thirty years old. When I go to a museum, a library or travel I like to have a sketchbook with me. In this way these steel drawings are not new. They are a return to old interests but approached in a new manner.

I am intrigued by grotesque imagery and it's use in the decorative arts. Many of my images originate in wooden furniture, ceramic plates, illuminated manuscripts and various forms of wall coverings. I believe that creativity is often found in nooks and corners.

I like building something large out of an accumulation of smaller parts. The smaller steel drawings are made individually. They are then arranged in various combinations to fit an available surface or to create narratives.

I lived in Oakland, CA for about fifteen years.  The sculptures I built there were large enough for me to climb on. The two largest of these "jungle gyms"  ended up part of the Hermitage collection in Santa Barbara, CA.

A selection of life size and larger pieces made over the past few decades.

The first time I made a face in this manner was in 1986. That was just as I finished my Master's Degree. Play was important in this work. Serious, creative play. For many years after selling faces in this style was a staple of my income.  I still make them with some regularity. It's a good warm up exercise in the morning.

I regularly work in collaboration with Trisha Kyner under the name of Grendel's Mother. This name was chosen out of sympathy with the female monster from the famous medieval tale Beowulf, who is never given a name of her own.

We met more than two decades ago, as instructors at the Crucible, a school devoted to linking arts, industry and community in Berkeley, CA. Trisha taught ceramics while David taught welded sculpture. Our first collaborative project, The Big Red Dog, involved leading a group of our students and volunteers in the fabrication of large paper mache sculptures for a public arts festival. The success of this experience led us to form Grendel's Mother