Biography

David Jones received his Bachelor of Fine Arts/Crafts degree at the University of Pennsylvania in Kutztown and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Jewelry and Metalsmithing at the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, studying under Stanley Lechtzin. Since 1988, he has been studying and teaching at the Penland School of Crafts and will be teaching a workshop there in the summer of 2015 and Spring 2017 Concentration. Jones has participated in many exhibitions throughout the United States and other countries—he had a one person show, "American Folk" in Asheville, North Carolina in 2000; was included in an International Traveling Show in Sweden, San Francisco and Los Angeles from 1999 into early 2000; showed in "ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS" at the Velvet da Vinci Gallery in San Francisco in 2001; "Once and Again" at the OXOXO Gallery in Baltimore, Maryland in 2001, S.O.F.A. in New York City with Gallery 500 in 2001; and the invitational show: "THE DE PATTA PROJECT," in 2012 at Velvet da Vinci Gallery in San Francisco. In 2012, he was Professor of Jewelry and Metals in Cortona, Italy through the University of Georgia studies abroad program. He works on private commissions and, occasionally, creates architectural lighting with BAMO Inc., an architectural firm based in San Francisco.

Artist Statement

I consider myself a three dimensional animator. My goal is to use the finest material both new and old to create functional and non-functional curiosities. I look to the work of old drawing from the Arts and Crafts movement, Folk Art, Modernism and the beginnings of the American Studio Movement and its contemporaries all around the globe. The finished pieces look as though they may be old but are curiously 21st Century. I search in unobvious places for materials such as antler, recycled copper (including existing patina), scraps of various woods (exotic and not so), European Laminate, plus anything else in which I notice a certain “richness” – to include in my work. Recycled materials are more or less a constant. I also use traditional, commercially available materials such as sterling, fine silver, copper, brass, bronze, and high carat gold, among others.