Exhibitions
David’s work has been shown in a number of mixed shows and at commercial galleries. Listed below are details on these exhibitions.
1995 – Falmouth School of Art & Design, Cornwall (Degree Show).
1995 – Bang Gallery, Falmouth, (Mixed Show).
1996 – Bangor Gallery, Gwynedd, (Mixed Show).
1998 – Cyncoed Faculty of Education & Sport Gallery, Cardiff, (Mixed Show).
2019 – Y Lle Celf at the National Eisteddfod Of Wales, Llanrwst, (Mixed Show).
2019 – Oriel Tŷ Meirion, Dyffryn Ardudwy – Folklore And Fairy Tales Of North Wales (Mixed Show).
2020 – Oriel Tŷ Meirion, Dyffryn Ardudwy – Summer Sale (Mixed Show).
2021 – Oriel Tŷ Meirion, Dyffryn Ardudwy – Old Roads, Ancient Tracks (Mixed Show).
2021 – Royal Academy, London – Summer Exhibition – Shortlisted (D) By The Hanging Committee.
2022 – Royal Cambrian Academy, Conwy – 2022 Open (Mixed Show).
2022 – Pallet – Cardiff – Pallet.006 (Mixed Show).
2022 – Studio 40 – Neath – Opening weekend show (Mixed Show).
2022 – Queen Street Gallery – Neath – Represented in gallery.
2022 – Aberystwyth Arts Centre – Salon Des Réfuses Exhibition (Mixed Show).
2022 – Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize – Longlisted 2 pieces.
2022 – Cowbridge Open Art – Mixed Show.
2022 – Waterside Gallery – Haverfordwest – The Wales Contemporary (Mixed Show).
2022 – Gallery@OXO – London – The Wales Contemporary (Mixed Show).
2022 – Cardiff M.A.D.E. – Cardiff – Winter Show (Mixed Show).
Art Education And Training
1990 – 1991: Howard Gardens Faculty of Art & Design, Cardiff. (Foundation in Art & Design).
1992 – 1995: Falmouth School of Art & Design, Cornwall. (BA[hons] Fine Art).
1998 – 1999: Cyncoed Faculty of Education and Sport, Cardiff. (PGCE Art & Design).
Background
Born in Cardiff in 1972, David studied art full-time first at Howard Gardens in Cardiff then at the Falmouth School Of Art And Design. During his degree studies, David tried a number of different mediums, but concentrated on developing his painting skills.
The artist would be the first to admit he took a chaotic approach to painting in those college years, a number of themes began to emerge. The work incorporated a number of mediums including montage, inks, oils, acrylics, found materials and more, and at times pushed into areas guided more by the college tutors than the areas David found personally satisfying.
Despite the chaos and experimentation of that period, the best of his work always returned to a figurative style based on a number of recurring and personal themes. Using his homeland of Wales as an inspiration, the paintings borrowed from partially remembered stories of childhood, the country’s folklore and ancient tales of giants and strange lands hidden beyond view.
These inspirations were then played through the filter of David’s inner-city working class upbringing, and the freedoms of childhood and an age before health and safety where back lanes, dock-side warehouses and derelict buildings were the playground him and his friends entertained themselves in.
Unsatisfied with the work he found himself doing at the end of his degree, David completely destroyed the bulk of the work he’d done, feeling the hand of the art college too heavily in both the mediums used, the size of the paintings made and the unfocused formal approach taken. In the period following, David worked on a number of paintings which further crystallized the style he wanted to develop and work in.
After a couple of busy painting periods, David slowed his work rate down to concentrate on the matters at hand, paying the bills, raising a family and putting food on the table. There were sporadic works done during the decade following his college career (and a year spent training as an art teacher), all of which both further solidified the sort of work he wanted to make, and were snapped up by people following the placement of work for sale in virtual galleries.
David has placed work in a couple of small exhibitions, but the majority of it has sold privately and by word of mouth. Despite the interest in his work, David found himself taking a side step, developing a career in other creative industries where he worked both in television production and the fledgeling online industries. In 2006 David left the job he’d been doing the previous 8 years to set up his own production company, channelling his creative skills into film and online projects, so out of necessity painting had to be put to one side.
Between 2006 and 2016, David worked on growing his media production businesses – produced two feature films along the way (Devil’s Bridge and The Lighthouse), and helped found a BAFTA winning post-production company Dogs Of Annwn. During this time he also took lots and lots of photos, which in the back of his mind he thought he could one day use as inspiration to once again make paintings.
In late 2015 David decided to take a step back in to the world of painting, slowly and tentatively, and began planning out his latest works. With a number of other projects and commitments winding up in that period, David began to shape the work he wanted to produce, and that’s where this new phase of his output and this website begins.
David’s work has since moved into new realms beside the painted image. The artist began to develop ways of working digitally, alongside his more traditional painting and drawing. For the last decade he has collected a large amount of vernacular photography from the past, included vintage postcards, CDV portraits and family snapshots. These images have formed the basic of his digital pieces, played through the filter of his imagination and catalogue of half-remembered, half-dreamed stories and places.
Fast-forward to 2021 and David started to expand his means of selling work, joining a wave of artists making exclusive pieces to sell as Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) on cryptocurrency blockchains. So far his work is available on Ethereum, Wax and Tezos blockchains, across a range of NFT sites. David is one of the 100 artists taking part in the ground-breaking Cryptoart collaboration by Not Art Club, “The Last Bell”. This is alongside more traditional means of selling such as originals and prints which are available on Etsy.
David has also put a lot of energy into developing an online streaming presence, and can often be found working on his original art live on Twitch and TikTok. The focus there is on the physical process of drawing, as well as chatting to those interested in what he’s doing.