ABOUT THE ARTIST
David Womack was born in 1983 at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland; however, his parents soon relocated to the Florida panhandle and the small coastal town of Gulf Breeze. The close proximity to the sugar white sands and turquoise waves of Pensacola Beach instilled a deep respect for Mother Nature and allowed him to develop a love for the water through fishing and surfing. His father and two older brothers introduced him to fishing at a young age, igniting his curiosity and interest in the diverse marine life just below the surface. Around the same time, David was also introduced to surfing through two of his best friends and their father. He was instantly hooked and developed an appreciation for the power and beauty of the energy created when water meets land.
After high school, David moved to Jacksonville, Florida with a group of his closest friends, in search of the next big wave and to further explore his interests and aspirations. With a family history of artists and creative minds, it was no surprise when he too discovered his interest in visual arts and a passion for creating things with his hands. He enrolled himself in as many art classes as he could at Florida Community College at Jacksonville (FCCJ), studying everything from print-making to water colors. In the process, he determined that his interests and talents lied mostly with pottery and painting.
David initially enjoyed pottery because it allowed him to work directly with his hands to create unique and visually-appealing vessels and objects from a single lump of clay. It was not until he started studying under Professor Steven Haywood at FCCJ that his passion for ceramics elevated to another level. Although their time together was short, Professor Haywood introduced David to an alternative firing technique known as raku that altered his future studies and ceramic artwork. A few years later, he enrolled in an independent study program at Pensacola State College (PSC) that allowed him to create and develop his own curriculum in pottery. PSC’s ceramic studio offered a kiln designed specifically for raku firing and provided David with the perfect setting to experiment with different advanced methods and develop a very unique style. He was quickly recognized for his talents and mastery of techniques, resulting in several awards and requests to share his methods with both students and professors.
Although his pottery skills were developed in a more formal setting, his passion for painting grew more organically. After his very first painting course at FCCJ, David determined that besides a few fundamental techniques, successful painting originates from somewhere deep within and cannot simply be taught. He opted to not take another formal painting course and instead used the next 12 years to develop his own techniques and style through different experiences and creative experiments while focusing his subject matter on his love for the water, light, and all marine life.
While David has worked many different jobs over the years, from a delivery driver in the food industry to carpentry and air conditioning installation, he has always made time for his art and the activities that inspire him most. His passions for surfing, fishing, and the outdoors have continued to guide his artwork and are evident in his most recent surf and angler series paintings and raku pottery that utilizes the natural beauty of local foliage, horse hair, and select ingredients, resulting in truly unique, one-of-a-kind pieces.