David Abbott

David Abbott

Director

David was born in Hertfordshire, and moved to the States when he was 15. He spent 8 years in Virginia (close to the Chesapeake Bay), completing high school and receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in Studio Art from James Madison University, where his passion for printmaking began. Becoming disenchanted by a second Bush term, he returned to the UK and set up Hackleys Press, a small screenprinting studio to sate his desire for print. Within a couple years of returning to the UK he enrolled at the University of the West of England where he received an MA in Multidisciplinary Printmaking in 2007. Shortly afterward, David became a founding member of Snap Studio, a gallery, studio and printmaking facility in the heart of Bristol and now a fixture in the Bristol art scene. He taught screenprinting workshops and became involved with the local community, helping to launch the Christmas Steps Arts Quarter and currently its Secretary. David setup Chesapeake with Frea Buckler in April 2009, in a studio with large sash windows overlooking the Christmas Steps and the floating harbour.

David has taught graphic design and photography at the City of Bristol College, and has been a practicing designer for almost a decade.