My name is David Andre Hrobowski and I was born on March 7, 1954 to Mary Louise & Robert Hrobowski. I am the oldest of five and attended both elementary & high school in St. Louis, Mo.
In 1972 I received a music scholarship from Florida A&M University where I was a member of the prestigous "Marching 100" band under the direction of William P. Foster. Although I remained in the band for two years, I changed my major from music to pharmacy after two quarters.
I worked on the year book as a student photographer, pledged the Kappa Psi Fraternity and was elected president of the Student Florida Pharmaceutical Association. Upon completetion of the pharmacy program and the required internship in 1978, I took the Florida State Pharmacy Board Exam and went on to work in both hospital and retail pharmacies.
In 1980 I began to collect antiques with a special interest in vintage cufflinks.
I said goodbye to pharmacy in 1983, moved to California and became a picker where I learned the ins & outs of buying and selling at flea markets and antique shows. In 1985, I opened a shop in an Antique Mall in Pasadena which I operated for ten years.
I had my first interior design job in 1990: a 10,000 sq ft house in Bel-Aire belonging to the secretary of the Prime Minister of Japan and in 1991, I was asked to decorate the reception hall at Marla Gibbs theater for the screening of the Josephine Baker Story starring Miss Lynn Whitfield.
In 1998, I help design and introduced the first web site of vintage cufflinks on the internet under the name: CUFFLINKKING or CLK.
In 2002, I was hired to remove and sell what could be salvaged from the old Jane Mansfield house and also the old Ester Williams house.
I am currently a dealer of antique & decorative accessories, working one a day a week in a high end mid-century showroom in Los Angeles and one day a week as a health care provider. I have a permanent space at the Rose Bowl Flea Market where I have been selling my wares for 30 years. I also sell vintage cufflinks on eBay and most recently I've been making functional furniture out of popsicle sticks.
Around nine years of age, while sick at home, a neighbor came over with a box of craft sticks and Elmer's glue; her name was Doris Minter and she suggested that maybe I could make something out of them. I remember being very excited and made a lamp with matching shade. Everyone liked my lamp and somehow I ended up on one of the local TV shows where I was interviewed and the network either said or showed my number because I recieved 3 or 4 orders.
Fast forward 40+ years, while in downtown LA visiting a friend who drug me into a store called Moskatels (a massive floral & craft store) I noticed at the end of one of the isles boxes & boxes of craft sticks. I had a nastalgic moment and bought three boxes of sticks and a large white glue and set out to recreate the lamp I remembered as child but a more elaborate lamp was to be. This time the lamp & shade were larger and more intricate. This lamp lead to another identicle one which inspired a console table which demanded a mirror to complete the set. For several months I obsessed over the project, forsaking all but the bare neccessities.
In 2007 another friend of mine allowed me to display my work in one of his shop windows for a month and from this I was directed to the MorYork Gallery. The owners, Clare and Bob, ask me if I would be interested in having a solo exhibit in March of 2010 of which I said yes. My first exhibit was very successful and I received excellent press from the Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian Magazine, the Baltimore Sun and several blogs & tweets. It appears that I am the first to take popsicle stick art or as I have named my work "Riffstick Art Furniture" to this level and I believe the possibilities are endless.
RIFFSTICK* a repeating idea or pattern of glued popsicle sticks and its variations
Some of my future projects include: A fireplace mantle, a bed, a couch, a chandelier and a grandfather's clock. As an after thought, it would be very cool to replace every piece of furniture in my home with Riffstick Art Furniture!
Thank you for your time and interest.
Sincerely,
David