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David Whyte Macdonald CBE FRSE is a Scottish zoologist and conservationist. He is the Director of the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) at the University of Oxford , which he founded in 1986.
David MacDonald is a master potter who creates richly patterned utilitarian objects from clay. His work is recognized for its integrity, endurance, and beauty, and is not available for purchase.
Learn about David Macdonald, the founder of WildCRU and a leading expert in behavioural ecology and conservation. Explore his research, teaching, writing and film-making on various topics and habitats.
- Background
- Mentors and Influences
- Choosing Clay
- The Influence of One Significant Question
- The Emergence of Pattern
- Monthly Methods: Inscribing and Carving A Pattern
MacDonald, Professor Emeritus of Ceramics at Syracuse University, grew up in Hackensack, New Jersey, in the 1950s and ’60s as the third eldest of nine children. He was captain of his highschool track and cross country teams, setting school records in the one-mile race. He obtained an athletic scholarship to Hampton Institute (now Hampton University...
Both Joseph W. Gilliard and Robert “Bob” J. Stull, had a deep, lasting impact on MacDonald’s life and work as a potter, teacher, and person. Not only were Gilliard and Stull role models as ceramic artists, craftsmen, and educators, but they were also black. For the young African-American MacDonald, this must have seemed like a godsend. Gilliard was...
Looking back at his beginnings, MacDonald realized that pottery struck a responsive chord in his psyche when he took a ceramics class as a requirement to become an art educator. He was intrigued and skeptical about being able to make something he could actually use. It was a pivotal moment, which set the direction for the rest of his career. At Ham...
In contrast to the polite, courteous, respectful, and gentlemanly demeanor with which the young MacDonald interacted with his classmates and Gilliard, MacDonald’s early ceramic work was fueled by indignation and outrage which arose from the plight and injustices confronting African-Americans at the time. As MacDonald recounts, “I would look around ...
Those who are familiar with MacDonald’s work know that surface pattern defines his pottery. The use of carved patterns emerged from a confluence of MacDonald’s incessant work ethic, his research of African culture, and the direct and indirect influence of his earlier teachers. For example, Bob and Bettye J. Stull were on their way to the East Coast...
Once MacDonald has developed his idea and has the design worked out in advance, it is time to realize the finished surface of the vessel, in this case a plate. He uses two main technical processes: inscribing the pattern then carving the pattern. Before beginning the decorative process, he turns the leather-hard plate over and creates two holes in ...
Learn about the ceramic artist David MacDonald, who creates vessels inspired by African heritage and culture. Watch a video of his lecture on his Middle Passage series, which depicts the horrors of the slave trade.
Amongst other things I am currently a Visiting Professor at Imperial College, chair of Darwin Advisory Committee, chair of Natural England’s Science Advisory Committee and board member, a Trustee of Earthwatch, and council member of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust.
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David Samuel Horne MacDonald PC (born August 20, 1936) is a Canadian United Church of Canada minister, former politician, and author. Early life.
