As a child growing up in Flint, Michigan, David Phillips always looked forward to the annual visit of the oil distributor truck. As it rumbled past, his dusty gravel road transformed into a treasure trove of glossy stones, their patterns enhanced by the slick oil coating. David was—and still is—entranced by these small treasures, which have served as a source of inspiration for a lifetime of art. 

Despite financial strain, David’s parents always encouraged his artistic pursuits. On one memorable occasion, his mother, an avid porcelain painter, enrolled David in a correspondence art course that often had him designing wallpaper or fashionable clothing—topics in which David had little interest. Still, grateful for his mother’s investment, he dutifully completed every lesson.  

David spent two years studying advertising and illustration at Columbus College of Art and Design before transferring to Cranbrook Academy of Art. Though his degree was in painting, it was his minor in sculpture that truly sparked enthusiasm. He spent hours in the foundry watching artists melt and pour metal and created several bronze castings of his own. He returned to Cranbrook for his MFA in sculpture, influenced by Rodin and fellow Cranbrook alumnus Carl Milles. He wasn’t sure where his career would take him—but he knew it would be somewhere on the East coast. 

“When I moved to Boston, I didn’t have any prospects,” David recalls. “I ran into a guy who was setting up a program in an old Edison plant. He said I could build a foundry right in the building.” David did exactly that, operating his Medford foundry for decades. His work eventually captured the attention of a man named Tony Lopes. “He called me and said, ‘I want to sponsor a work of yours. The only condition is that it’s seen by the public,’” David recalls. The first piece went to the Animal Rescue League of Boston. When Tony passed away, David discovered he’d left more money, which went towards five additional pieces for the New England Conservatory. It was a serendipitous moment. “I feel he saw all the hard work that came before, even though he didn’t know me,” David says. “That just doesn’t happen.”

Despite his childhood love of stones, it wasn’t until moving to Massachusetts, where he began collecting beach rocks, that David began to implement them into his art. His earliest stone works consisted of transferring beautiful patterns from rock to paper, but he quickly scaled the project into 3D. “Some of the stones I collect have such monumental patterns that I started enlarging them and casting them in bronze,” says David. “The idea was to make something precious out of a humble stone.” 

Many of his projects explore themes of nature and cartography, conveying the impact of visible and invisible borders using metal inlaid in stone. While much of his work is found in city gardens and exhibitions, David’s personal favorite pieces are located deep in the New Hampshire woods, an unexpected and astonishing discovery for the lucky few who stumble upon them. 

After years of visits, including three blissful summers in Truro’s beloved dune shacks, David and his wife now live on Cape Cod year round. This summer he’ll exhibit a retrospective show at the Cape Cod Museum of Art, highlighting selections from 57 years of artistry. But David is still looking to the future—he is currently experimenting with textured materials including braille and player piano roll paper. 

Nearly 70 years after he plucked his first stone from the streets of Flint, David still stoops down when he sees a promising rock in the sand. “I was just interested in the beauty of stones, and I’ve made a career out of it,” he says. “I still have so many ideas—I’m rather excited about where my work is going.”  

This summer David Phillips’ work will be featured May 1 through August 16 in a solo exhibition at the Cape Cod Museum of Art in Dennis, “David Phillips, A 57-year Retrospective,” which will coincide with the release of his book of the same title.

~Hannah Kunze