David Donaldson: Look at Me – Once a Tree

Artist Statement

David Donaldson is a retired middle school band director. He claims this career helped foster the most important quality for self-taught woodworker—patience amid a plethora of mistakes. Working with wood from tree to art form.

The Story

My sister gave her daughter an unfurnished doll house for Christmas back in the 70s. I found some plans for making doll house furniture using balsa wood cut with an X-acto knife. They were crude but it got me started. Before I knew it, I was in the tool department looking at all the tools that Dremel makes. I moved up to more sophisticated furniture using hardwood.

I moved to Alaska in 75 and worked for a builder for a summer.  One of my early goofs was cutting the cord on the boss’s prize circular saw. Despite my early mistakes, that job convinced me that I wanted to build my own house. So, in 1982 my wife and I began to design and build our own home with the help of books and many friends. All while teaching school during the day.

27 years later we needed to move to Pittsburgh to give health care to my wife’s family. While there I made friends with Max Peterson, a professional woodworker. With his encouragement I started building furniture and my first of three cedar strip canoes.

But wait – there’s more…

Towards the end of my teaching career, I decided to try making conductor batons, my most famous baton is in the hands of John Williams I have a conducting baton business now – DonaldsonBatons.com. The segmented turning I’m doing now is just a result of reading and practicing. I have a long way to go, but I’m having fun. We moved back to Alaska in 2013, and I have devoted much of my time to exploring just about every facet of woodworking. I guess you could say I’m addicted.

My wife wants to get me a T-shirt that says:
Sawdust- man glitter.

Artistic Influences and Acknowledgments

As a woodworker, David is indebted to intarsia artists Judy Gale Roberts, Kathy Wise, and Meleah Gabbart; his woodturning teacher, Bob Congdon; and books on segmented turning by Mel Tibbetts and Ray Allen. The designs for the trivets are by Charles Hand. The scroll saw baskets were designed by Monroe Dutcher.