David Flavelle came from a family with no artisic ability.  His mother said patience and stick-to-it-ive-ness would work just fine in anything he would do.

David believes he has used more wire in more projects in his life than he can remember; and then, one day, an idea came to him -- why not use just one strand of wire . . . a gauge of wire that was medium hard, nice to look at, and without using solder (the plumbers friend) to hold it together.  Of course, David chose copper:  it's inexpensive, easy to work, and prettier without solder.  

David starts with thumbnail sketches and finishes with a line drawing.  Next is a mapping segment . . . this shows him where the pattern will start and end.  It's like walking through a maze.  He said that he empties his head of anything that has nothing to do with what he's doing.  He thinks only of that moment and what it expects of him, his complete attention.  Sometimes, David thinks there's no way this image will ever work; but he keeps working, because he knows from experience that eventually it will work.  So he will spend as many hours as needed to get it right.

The most wire Dave has used so far in a sculpture has been 65 feet.  Commissioned works have taken up to nine months to complete, depending on the size and complexity of the design.  Working with only a pair of needle-nose pliers, side cutters, and a finer gauge wire to tie the unruly pattern together, he is off and running.  David's pieces do not conform to the traditional ideas of scultpure in that they are not 3-dimensional, but seem to be.  Depth perception is not an illusion but a carefully designed effect that gives his work definition.  This captures the viewers attention to the beauty and mystery of this process.

Like David has said before, he's been using wire for many years but only the past nine or so years in this form of sculpture.  He considers working in wire to be as hard to mold as stone.  When it breaks, it becomes stock and unsalable.  One must just bear with it and start over, hoping that the next time your knowledge will help you through to the end, God willing!