Born in Milwaukee's Bay View neighborhood in 1943, David Harrison moved to then early Brookfield in 1949 where his father, an engineer for Allen Bradley, had built a home in an early subdivision situated in a pasture. From an eight-room schoolhouse in Elm Grove, he graduated from a 36 room St. Mary's Grade School as one of 120 students in the eight grade. He found his education in high school and college at St. Francis Seminary on the Milwaukee's Lake Michigan shoreline. Having taught grade school at two diocesan parishes, he began his long 32-year career as an English instructor at Arrowhead High School in Hartland Wisconsin.
His early summer years were spent backpacking in the mountains of Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Utah. After joining the Chicago Mountaineering Club in 1983, he started rock climbing and spent many expeditions climbing in the mountains of Alaska, Peru, Bolivia, Tajikistan, Siberia, British Columbia and the Yukon. He edited the Chicago Mountaineer for several years as well as editing a creative writing journal for his high school during this time.
During the teaching years, he studied theater staging and lighting at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis Minnesota. The influence of his experience led to his work with his high school's drama productions, the Lake Country Players and the Waukesha Civic Theater. This time saw him as the first president of the Nordic Ski Club of Milwaukee when he began developing cross-country ski trails for the Department of Natural Resources in the South Kettle Moraine State Forest. He competed avidly at cross-country ski races throughout the Midwest and completed 13 American Bierkebeiner ski races in Hayward Wisconsin. His ski experience led to his participation on the USSA Central Division Board of Directors.
It was during this period that he amassed his collection of his 35mm mountaineering slides that exceed 15,000 pictures. In addition he found subject matter in noted gardens and the work of Bill Radler, noted rosarian, at a time when the digital revolution was developing.
Harrison had always wanted to print his photos for framing, but his busy life style prevented him from accomplishing it until he visited Skagway Alaska in the summer of 2004. It was in an art gallery that that he discovered the wonders of software manipulation and the technical artistry available through giclee printing, a process that uses fade-resistant archival inks and acid free papers that allow him to create works of museum quality.
To that end, he purchased an Epson 7600 printer and a collection of acid free papers that include matte, canvas, fine art, and photographic uses. Because of the cost of the basic computer supplies, he created a wood shop in his basement where all his canvas frames are made.
After he retired in 2000, Harrison began digitizing his slide collection for use on his computer; but now, he employs his pictures in his creative process in his art.
Since 2005, he has been experimenting with design, color, light, shadows, layers of images, movement for the sheer pleasure of it. As he told his sister, Susan Voegeli – a noted Wisconsin artist, “I just want to do this art for the mere pleasure of doing it. I just want to see how far I can go with it.”
As he moves into the summer of 2011, he has 12 art shows ahead of him Wisconsin. During each fall and winter, he searches for new expressions and presentations that incorporate fresh ideas for canvas, paper, and tiles.
He continues his jaunts to the gym, his volunteer work at the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin, the Milwaukee Symphony, and his participation in the Waukesha Area Symphonic Band.
