I was playing with wood in my Grandfather's shop as early as I can remember, and my first paid job was "sweeper" at Peters' Wooden Toy Factory. After 2 years at the University of Colorado, and 3 years in the United States Army, I enrolled at Colorado State University, receiving a B.S. with honors in Wildlife Biology and a M.S. in Watershed Science. These degrees didn't keep me out of the woods. I was employed in industrial, commercial, and residential construction before starting my own cabinet and furniture shop in 1980. Chair making and repair led me to the lathe; obsession followed. In 1994 I co-founded the Rocky Mountain Woodturners, in Fort Collins, Colorado, and served as president for the first three years. I continue to support the club as program director. I am also a member of the Front Range Woodeturners in Denver, Colorado, the American Association of Woodturners (AAW), the Woodturning Center, the Collectors of Wood Art, and the International Wood Collectors Society. I am a part-time faculty member of Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and the John C Cambell Folk School, Brasstown, North Carolina.

My signature work is the "basket illusion." Using rare non-figured woods, I turn, burn, and dye to create the visual and tactile impression of a woven form. A subset of this work is the bodydrum, a decorative functional instrument. "The Corn Mother Series" combines the basket illusion and detailed carving.

I have been involved in numerous exhibitions over the past thirteen year history of the basket illusion series ( resume), including the prestigious BYU exhibition “Beneath the Bark-Twenty Five Years of Woodturning” and have been juried into the best national art/craft shows, including: “The Smithsonian”, “The Philadelphia Museum of Art”, “The American Craft Exposition” and the “Washington Craft Show”. I am represented by del Mano Gallery at both the New York and Chicago SOFA shows (Sculptural Objects & Functional Art). I have also been invited to participate in national “basket” shows where I invariably evoke the question…“what is a basket?”

I have been invited to teach this work at the AAW national symposium, the Utah Woodturning Symposium, several regional symposia and local clubs all over the US, Canada, and England, giving back some of knowledge I have gained from artists that initiated the surge in wood art today.

My work is in many private collections and museums. I am represented by Fine Art Galleries throughout the United States.

To view more of David's work & his schedule visit his website at http://www.davidnittmann.com