Page 5 - Casting of Angels- Dave Parvin
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David E. Parvin in his studio in Denver, Colorado.
Pilot, sculptor, author and renown life casting artist, David E. Parvin passed away on
October 25, 2014 at his home in Aurora Colorado. He was 71 years old. He was many things
to many people, but above all, he was a great friend to those who knew him and admired this
multi-talented man.
Dave, as he liked to be called, was born in the Midwest on February 23, 1943, raised in
the Northwest and lived in Colorado for over 30 years. Although he attempted to sculpt be-
fore his third birthday, the road to becoming a professional sculptor had several detours:
studying for the priesthood, earning a bachelor of science in natural science from Seattle Uni-
versity, flying helicopters for the Marines in Viet Nam, remaining married for thirty-five
years, raising a son to manhood and becoming a grandfather.
He is a self-taught artist whose primary subject was the human form which he executed
in a classical realist manner. Though principally known for his bronzes, he has also worked
in wood, concrete, polyurethane, polyester, Forton MG, pewter, acrylic, glass and raku.
Through his work, Dave became internationally recognized as a life casting expert and con-
tributed many new techniques and materials to this art form. He was one of the artists to be
honored with a lifetime membership in the Association of Lifecasters International (A.L.I.),
and was one of only six to be certified as life casting instructors by the same institution.
Because Dave always felt an obligation to pass on his artistic experiences, he taught
workshops on life casting, figurative sculpture and making a living as an artist. He has trav-
eled by invitation as far as London, England and Australia to lecture.
He has written over sixty articles on various aspects of sculpting for a variety of art pub-
lications which we a pleased to present here in this volume of The Casting of Angels.