David Struempler says he’ll never retire. When he’s eighty, he’ll still be in his shop, working with his hands and making sawdust. He can’t imagine doing anything else. Born to Bavarian and Czechoslovakian heritage in eastern Nebraska. Raised among relatives who had homesteaded and always honored the art of handwork, David also took to creating with his hands. After completing a degree in art at Colorado State University and working in such crafts as metalsmithing, printmaking and photography, David turned to wood to express his ideas.
Alone in his workshop, with sawdust in his hair, David spends his days steadily moving through the stages of building furniture and the process of creating art. He says, “Finishing a piece is often bittersweet. The state of mind and challenge I experience during the process is what I love about creating my furniture. When a piece is done, the journey is over. On the other hand, seeing the reaction of the client when I deliver their furniture is truly one of the great joys of doing this work.” By seeing the grain, color and figure of a board as the art of a tree, David then finds unique ways to highlight nature’s art in his pieces. Much of David’s work features images in marquetry. By using the natural color of various species of trees in thin veneers, he creates an image in a solid wood background. Every creation is a unique blend of exotic and native woods, carefully selected for their figure and color, which can never be repeated. Timeless wood furniture with marquetry images is a rare find these days. Coupled with meticulous craftsmanship and artful design, David’s furniture is a treasure, it is characterized by the use of highly figured hardwoods, simple, clean lines, and most notably, his incorporation of the marquetry. David says that marquetry allows him to move beyond the beautiful functionality of his furniture and incorporate images as if he were painting with wood. David creates his furniture with themes from the new west, or whatever the client’s heart desires |
