Raised on the east coast David Priesing fell in love with the sea. So it was no surprise when David moved to Maine in 1995 to pursue his art career and become a small business entrepreneur.
David Priesing is an award winning professional Graphic Designer who won numerous awards from the Maine Press Association for design excellence, with 20 years of experience in corporate in-house promotion, studio advertising and newspaper publishing, including 7 years with the Bangor Daily News. and 2 years at the Ellsworth American.
David sold his first piece to his English teacher in 7th grade for 5 dollars. He has been a practicing artist ever since. He even did a couple of seasons teaching adult education watercolor and drawing for Bucksport Maine.
David is a graduate of Mason Gross School of Arts at Rutgers University with a Bachelor Degree in Graphic Design with a minor in fine arts, he also went to New England College where he learned how to paint with oils.
David created Straydog Publications in 1997 as an umbrella organization to encompass the many varied projects in progress, and the differing types of work he does, including fine art and jewelry.
His illustrations have been published in the Bangor Daily News, Ellsworth American and he illustrated “No Place for Little Boys” the story of Peleg Bradford, By Melissa MacCrae and Goddess Publications, about a Carmel, Maine veteran of the Civil War, published in 1997. He created the cover illustration for “It Takes a Woman” Also by Melissa MacCrae and Goddess Publications, published in 1999.
The series of fourteen illustrations from “No Place for Little Boys” were displayed independently in the Left Bank Cafe in Blue Hill, Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance in Brunswick, and also at BookMarc’s Bookstore and Cafe in Downtown Bangor.
Marc Berlin owner of BookMarc’s Book Store commissioned David to illustrate 2 Pen and Ink works for a Bookmarc Publishing title called “History of Bangor”, in 2000. One was of the founding father of Bangor, Reverend Seth Noble, and the other of the notable author Thoreau wandering the Kenduskeag Stream at Six miles Falls.
David Priesing donated a 18x24 Water Color painting Called “Lady Liberty” to The Susan B. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Bid and Boogie for the Cure on February 23, 2002 in the Bangor Civic Center.
David additionally donated a Pen and Ink Illustration, 18x24, called “Keeper of the Light” to the 2002 Maine Public Broadcasting Company’s 31st Great TV Auction which was jury selected for inclusion into the exhibition at the Blaine House and Maine Arts Commission Office as part of the Arts in the Capitol Program. In 2003 David donated an 18x24 Watercolor of the Portland Head Lighthouse to the Maine Public Broadcasting Company’s 32nd Great TV Auction.
David created a series of 14 Maine lighthouses in watercolor. He had them reproduced on greeting cards. He donated several of these to MPBN's Great TV Auction and sold a couple independently at the WLBZ Sidewalk Arts festival in downtown Bangor Maine.What remains of them are available exclusively from Straydog Publications.net. David’s interests in lighthouses comes from a longtime fascination with nautical themes such as the likes of clippers ships and schooners. The mystique and reverence of lighthouses with their lifesaving function and their dramatic history inspires his creative efforts.
David Priesing resides in Brewer, Maine, with his wife Melissa MacCrae. He is a member of the Graphic Artist Guild,
David Priesing’s illustrations are currently available exclusively through Straydog Publications alone.