David Ward

David Ward has had a lifelong passion for woodturning and built his first lathe while living in upstate New York in the early 1970s. By the late 70s David was living in Glenwood Springs, Colorado and selling turnings at a local gallery. By the mid 80s he was selling turnings at a half a dozen galleries in several states.

In the early 1990s, his wood turning took the form of djembe drums and David built a small company with several employees producing and selling drums.  

Ashland became David’s home in 1999.

Inspired by his work with lathes, he invented a machine called a StrawJet, which is an agricultural machine used to process crop residue into construction material. This device won the 2006 Modern Marvel of the Year contest, sponsored by the History Channel and TIME magazine. Engineering work related to this technology has consumed most of his professional attention since then, and it is only in 2026 that David has started to work again on his art. 

What intrigues David about woodturning is that unlike many other forms of art, the end result is an expression of nature as much as that of the artist. The potter shapes the clay into the desired form, the artist mixes colors to reveal what is in his mind‘s eye, but a wood turner succeeds only when he is able to harmonize his art with what is present in nature. Working with the subtle patterns and textures of the wood results in a remarkably intimate experience with nature, both while turning on the lathe and in relation to trees in general.