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his relentless search for knowledge and virtuosity in the discipline he chose,
more demanding of himself than any teacher might have been.
Sculpture was never absent from his mind. Sculpture demands space,
financial support, or links to the commercial world to be born. David
continued the pursuit of new concepts, and his “Sculptural Designs” vary
from small pen and ink drawings to ink and watercolours, the range being
anything from the bust of a curly haired student, to horse and rider to
abstract compositions to what he called his “Elgin Marble Revisited.” The
fact that he spent time earning a living made it mandatory and urgent to
jot down the plethora of images, be they murals or statues that erupted
in his mind.
Ever since the very important seminal years where David profusely used
the ink and watercolour medium on 22X30 inches Arches paper, many
symbols and themes have been important: geometric forms, body curves,
trees, waves, spirals, and so on, have appeared, never to be completely
abandoned, in fact, those watercolours were the blue prints used for most
of his paintings. The years 1979 thru 1992 saw over a thousand such works.
When I hear the words Action Painting in reference to the New York School
or Hampton Artists, I often think that David was not an Action painter, but
and Action Draughtsman. He would hire a model, place her on his drafting
table or elsewhere, and spread down many pieces of paper, then with his
ink bottle, outline designs, bold tones, then brushes to create images,
sometimes moving the paper to get drips, thick and thin. The model would
leave and he would have the 10 or 12 pieces to finish, mopping up some of
the ink surplus with a brush, putting the ink in the bottle. He would then let
them dry thoroughly. A few days later he would add watercolour, leaving
others black & white. A particular series done with Wendy ended up being
the source for Carnecubes. Carne refers to the flesh, the womanly curves.
Wendy ways funny… and pregnant. The cube was one of those small photo
plastic cubes. So, he played with the juxtaposition of geometrics, angles
and life at its fullest. There was alternance of austerity and playfulness
along his itinerary.
The works on paper constitute a whole world of their own, and range
from compositions ideas jotted on mini-pads to the 30 foot long ink and
watercolour titled “Return to the Brittany Calvaries”.
David’s works on paper of which there are literally thousands… cover a broad
range of subjects and techniques, the variations in moods achieved through
choices of media and colors, as well as the contrasts between those where
pastels evoke peaceful moments, and those where sharp-edged designs tell
a story, illustrate the myth of a biblical figure or reference, evoke the peace
of youthful romance, or simply document the many facets of life, nature,
history, as well as the many years when his fascination with abstractions
led him into a long period of innovative designs. It would take a 500 page
book to even begin to depict the diversity and range of the themes David
explored and conquered.
Michele Newman, the artist’s wife