David initially began his career as a sculptor, with particular interest in carved media, such as stone and wood, culminating in several large commissioned works weighing several ton. In 1985 he began a change of scale exploring small scale carving in bone, stone and dense hardwoods. Since 1974 he has taught sculpture, 3D design, and jewellery in tertiary institutions. He resigned as head of jewellery at Otago Polytechnic in 2001 and now works at SHED Workspace.