Currently works and resides in Portland, Oregon

“Although supported and surrounded by nature, the trends and forces of our culture and society have separated us from the natural order. This perceived separation is the root of my work.

My work is created mostly in lampworked glass, allowing me to range from delicate to massive. The contradictions of glass; enduring and ephemeral, micro and macro, comfort and fear, weak and strong, mirror much of what intrigues me about nature.

My newest work addresses image and perception. Disturbing the image invites scrutiny and investigation. Extracting something from an image and making it tangible, I use my craft to signify something better.” -David Willis

Education

2005-2009 Continuing Education in Art History, University of Oregon
1988-1992 University of California at Berkeley, BA
Interdepartmental Field Studies, minor in Conservation and
Resources Studies

Professional Experience

2014 (upcoming)Instructor, Flameworking, Pilchuck Glass School
2013 (upcoming)Instructor, Flameworking, The Studio at the Corning
Museum of Glass
2012 (upcoming)Instructor, Flameworking, Penland School of Craft
2011 Instructor, Flameworking: Make What You Like, Pilchuck Glass
School, Session 3
2010 Instructor, Flameworking: From Beads to Botanicals, Niijima
International Glass Art Festival, Niijima, Japan
2009 Instructor, Flameworking, University of Oregon
2008 Instructor, Flameworking, University of Oregon
2007 Adjunct Faculty Member, Flameworking, Chemeketa Community
College, Salem, Or.
2007 Instructor, Flameworking, University of Oregon
2006 Visiting Artist demonstration, Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood,
Wa.
2006 Instructor, Sculptural Flameworking, University of Oregon
Instructor, Fine Goblet Making, Eugene Glass School
Instructor, Flameworking, University of Oregon
2005 Flameworking Shop Coordinator, Pilchuck Glass School
Instructor, Flameworking, University of Oregon
Invited Demonstrator, Glass Art Society, annual conference,
Adelaide, Australia
Instructor, Advanced Flameworking, Eugene Glass School
2004 Teaching Assistant for Roger Parramore, Pilchuck Glass School
Flameworking Shop Coordinator, Pilchuck Glass School
2003 Nominated for Saxe Award, Pilchuck Glass School
Instructor, Fine Goblet Making, Eugene Glass School
Flameworking Shop Coordinator, Pilchuck Glass School
2002 Instructor, Goblet Making, Eugene Glass School
Studio Assistant in Flameworking, Penland School of Craft
Teaching Assistant for Roger Parramore and Boyd Sugiki, Pilchuck
Glass School
Flameworking Shop Coordinator, Pilchuck Glass School
Teaching Assistant for Roger Parramore, Pratt Fine Arts Center,
Seattle, Wa.
2001 Flameworking Shop Coordinator. Pilchuck Glass School
2000 Teaching Assistant for Roger Parramore, Pilchuck Glass School
1999 Teaching Assistant for Roger Parramore, Bullseye Glass, Portland,
Or.
Student with Roger Parramore, Pilchuck Glass School
Student with Roger Parramore, The Studio, Corning Museum of
Glass, Corning, N.Y.
1998 Student with Tina Aufiero, glass casting, Pilchuck Glass School
1997 Student with Jocelyn Prince, glassblowing, hot casting, coldworking,
Pilchuck Glass School
1994 Began flameworking apprenticeship with Bob Snodgrass, Eugene,Or.


Selected Exhibitions

2012 Group Show, 50 x 50, Muskegon Museum of Art, Muskegon, MI
Visiting Artist in Residence, Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA
2010 REAL: Realism in Diverse Media, Imago Galleries, Palm Desert, CA
2010 Niijima International Glass Art Festival
2009 Pilchuck on Display: An Exhibition of International Glass Art,
Westin Hotel, Seattle, Wa.
2007 Group Show, NewArt Northwest, Jordan Schnitzer Museum of
Art, University of Oregon
Group Show, MetaMedia, Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art
2003 Group Show, National Glass Invitational, Chemeketa Community
College, Salem, Or.
2002 Group Show, Vetri International Glass, Seattle, Wa.