David Marr is an artist in the broadest sense. He was born in San Diego and left in 1987 when he was awarded a scholarship to the Berklee School of Music. His career as a jazz musician spanned 40 years, traveling the world playing the string bass alongside several jazz legends.

While in France, he gravitated to the museums to look at furniture and was captivated by the turn-of-the-Century European pieces in the Art Deco and Art Nouveau styles. He vowed that if he ever settled down in one place, he would have a shop.

After living and gigging in New York City for four years, he relocated to Chicago in 1995 where he bought an old fixer-up home. He set up a woodworking shop in the basement. Over the next years his interest and skills in woodworking grew resulting in the gradual transition to becoming a full-time furniture maker. The common thread is that both jazz and furniture building involve extreme creativity and improvisation.

David’s furniture is all hand built without the use of computers or
CNC machines. He doesn’t even draw the piece first. “I get an idea in my head, and I go down to the shop and start building. As the piece develops, I will make design decisions. I like incorporating little details, such as 1/16′ inlays on the edges. It is really time consuming, but it sets the pieces apart.”

David returned to San Diego in 2005 and built a state-of-the-art shop. He uses only the finest materials and gravitates towards exotic woods. Most of his work involves veneer over substrates. Each piece is one of a kind. He doesn’t copy or make reproductions. That’s not to say that he doesn’t have influences. He counts Ruhlmann as one of his strongest influences.

He has now been a furniture builder for twenty-six years and shown his work in several San Diego galleries and garnered many awards. He is very pleased to be showing his work at the Sparks Gallery.
David combines artistic vision with superior talent, advanced skill, and extensive experience. The result is uniquely beautiful functional pieces of art that will last for generations.