David A Mallory

Handcrafted woodturning by David A. Mallory features a masterful technique of refining raw wood’s grain, texture and color to evoke nature’s innate beauty transformed into distinctive pieces of fine art.

 

Biography:

Woodturner David A. Mallory believes “the beauty is already in the wood”; the wood has so much beauty and character that it alone is a masterpiece.  Mallory began woodworking as a teenager, observing his father building projects in their garage.  While in high school, a local pottery teacher provided Mallory with his foundation and appreciation for combining art with form and function.  Mallory’s early woodworking projects were “flat”, building tables, cabinets and antique furniture reproductions.  A shift from “flat” to “curved” emerged when he was reproducing a copy of his mother’s unique fold top desk, which required experimenting with turned spindles.  This particularly challenging project sparked his journey into wood turning

Inspired by the beauty of raw wood, Mallory dove into a self-taught world of woodturning in 2007.  One particular technique known as segmented woodturning or polychromatic turning, grabbed his interest.  The process involves piecing a variety of domestic and exotic hard woods together to compose the initial workpiece.  Each raw segmented workpiece is made up of many individual wood segments cut from one plank of wood, mitered to a particular angle, then glued together to form rings.  These rings are then stacked one upon the other to form a rough shape of finished product.  The roughly shaped stack of rings is then placed on a wood lathe and turned at a variety of speeds and cutting tools are used to remove wood until a final shape is achieved.  Sanding brings the piece to its final pre-finished state.  An assortment of sealers, embellishments, carvings, airbrushing, ceramic and metal effects are incorporated to complete the process.  The intricate process of segmented woodturning allows Mallory to create a myriad of shapes, which he accentuates by contrasting carefully chosen hard woods, evoking the innate beauty of the featured wood.

Born and raised in Daytona Beach, David grew up in a large and active family.  His parents passed along a love for camping and the great outdoors from which he gains immense inspiration to envision and create his art.  Trail riding, fishing, and spending time with family and friends provide a continual recharge to expand his creativity to develop new and more intricate woodwork.  Mallory also owns and manages a successful healthcare practice in Daytona Beach.

Mallory continues to expand his love of woodturning by experimenting with new and advanced methods, designing impressive and unique pieces of fine art.  He participates in several regional art shows annually where he has been acknowledged by judges and patrons, winning numerous awards and prizes, including the Award of Distinction at the 2020 One Daytona Art Festival.