David
Wayne Shelton was born in 1956 in Hutchinson, Kansas. Dave was four
years old when his family moved to the Denver area and settled in
Shaw Heights, a small neighborhood in Westminster. He attended public
schools and graduated from Westminster High. In 1974 he joined the
Army. His service included a two year tour through Germany and painting
murals on the walls of military nightclubs was one of his official
duties.
After
military service he did not pursue a career in art right away. At
some time later he joined his friend Mike Radasky in the creation
of “Bumble Boogie”, which was the world’s first
and only animated clay martial arts space adventure.
Dave
and Mike were often featured on local TV channels while giving presentations
at schools. A copy of “Classics in Clay” ™
can be found in the library of the Denver Art Institute and their
movies were shown on Show Time/Movie Channel U.S.A., Prism, and KLM
Royal Dutch Airlines.
At
the 1995 U.S. International Film and Video Festival competing against
1500 entries from 23 countries, their movie was awarded third place.
One
month after their success at the International Festival, tragedy struck
when his friend Mike Radasky lost his life in a car accident. This
ended their seven year run in the film animation business and Dave
again left the art world.
Dave
decided to build a house that he had designed himself. He chose a
sunny building site at an elevation of 9,400 feet on a mountain in
Idaho Springs. Since hiring a crew was not in the cards, he built
a three story post and beam log house by himself. This is the place
where he now lives and works.
Dave
often holds classes on the art of wood carving and makes his home
available to the students for the duration of their training; picking
them up at the airport and driving them to his Shelton Manor is part
of his service; they reside as his guests on the third floor.
During
the day his students attend class and learn from him the art of carving
wooden sculptures. Dave has also been complemented on his excellent
cooking skills.
Recently
he has been busy traveling to various parts of the country for his
carving commissions. Dave has carvings in Washington, D.C., Virginia,
Kansas, Florida, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Arizona, California and,
of course, Colorado. He just completed projects in the Virgin Islands
and Washington, D.C.
He
takes pride in the fact that he meets the desires of his customers.
Hearing them utter the magic word, WOW, is when he knows that his
mission has been accomplished.
Dave
can also provide granite copies of his wooden carvings in any size
desired by his clients. His customers can help create a piece of art
in granite and give final approval before the granite copy is reproduced
in China. A granite copy costs $300 per cubic foot of stone, which
is in addition to the original carving. He likes to THINK BIG!
vistit
Dave's web site
