About David Morris

I was born in 1936 in Brockton, Mass. I was the oldest child in my family.

By the age of five my drawings were admired by adults. In school I would sit on the side in class and enjoy drawing and was soon known as the “class artist”. My parents bought me an easel and water colors for my eleventh birthday and at the age of twelve I took part in a sculpture class.

I attended a high school that specialized in the arts, drawing, music, sculpture and theater. In the twelfth grade I took a ceramics class.

From 1954-1958 I studied ceramics at Alfred University in New York, after which I served in the army from 1958-1960. After I was discharged I traveled by bicycle in Europe and then came to Israel for the first time.

My grandfather and great grandfather lived in ancient Yerucham and I met their children-family members in Israel. Two years later I returned to Israel and became a citizen. I have been a member of Kibbutz Ein Hashofet since 1962.

My first job in the kibbutz was with the sheep. After six years I began working in my kibbutz studio, together with Jean Mayer, another ceramicist. I have since had several one-man exhibitions and also participated in group shows.

I love working with clay. I enjoy its plasticity- it lacks form, until I determine its shape. The contrast in the material attracts me: in the beginning it is very soft but after the firing it becomes stone-like.

I enjoy the surprise and the excitement upon opening the kiln, for one never knows what the results will be.

I sculpt human and animal creatures and I do my best to make them appear natural and realistic even though I add features that normally do not belong with one another.