64 | JULY 11 • 2024 
J
N

I

n each of three generations 
from the Abrahamson fami-
ly of Illinois, there is an artist 
working in a medium different 
from the other two, and the art-
ist in the middle will be making 
his first visit to 
this summer’s Ann 
Arbor Art Fair.
In between first 
helping his dad 
with the comple-
tion of wood proj-
ects and then later 
watching his son using sterling 
silver to express ideas in metal, 
David Abrahamson has been 

working with mixed media that 
overlap abstract painting designs 
enhanced with sand and paper.
While his dad brought sym-
bols from the family’s Jewish 
heritage into some works, 
David Abrahamson’s son 
showcased wall hangings with 
images of stingrays, sea horses 
and abstractions. The middle 
Abrahamson, defining himself 
as culturally Jewish and cele-
brating religious holidays, wants 
each of his imaginative designs 
to appeal to a broad range of 
clients.
“People often think my work 

resembles landscapes as seen 
from above, otherworldly skies 
or deep space objects such as 
nebula,
” said Abrahamson, 
whose appearance in Ann 
Arbor, July 18-20, will be among 
some 13 visits to art fairs he has 
scheduled for this year.
Live music, food vendors, 
demos and activities add to 
the access along 30 blocks of 
booths in Ann Arbor. Some 
1,000 artists are divided among 
three separate juried and non-
profit events — the Ann Arbor 
Street Art Fair, the Ann Arbor 
Summer Art Fair and the Ann 
Arbor State Street Fair.
Ultimately, participants in 
Michigan are displaying their 
talents in the totality of the larg-
est art fair in the country.
“My inspiration can come 
from sky, water or space,
” said 
David Abrahamson, who is 
assisted at each fair by his wife, 
Leslie, a coordinator of confer-
ences for social workers. “I’ll 
probably be bringing approx-
imately 25 pieces. Most of my 
pieces are 36 by 36 or larger, but 
I will have some smaller pieces 
in sizes of 12 by12 and 16 by16.
”
Although Abrahamson 

earned a journalism degree from 
Northern Illinois University in 
DeKalb, he only worked at writ-
ing for a short time. His early 
responsibilities included editing 
projects at a metro newspaper in 
Chicago.
Abrahamson’s work in artistry 
came as a self-taught interest 
launching on computers.
“I started as a digital art-
ist over 30 years ago,
” the 
mixed-media artist said. “My 
self-taught skills were on the 
computer, and I traded art on 
the computer. I did a lot of 
high-technology work, and my 
style of work for that was in a 
contemporary field. 
“I was an art director and 
graphic designer and had my 
own graphic design digital illus-
tration business. I did that for 12 

ARTS&LIFE
ART

David Abrahamson brings his unique designs to the Ann Arbor Art Fair.

‘Otherworldly’ Abstract 
Multimedia Artist

David 
Abrahamson

Details

The Ann Arbor Art Fair runs
10 a.m.-9 p.m. Thursday-Friday, 
July 18-19, and 10 a.m.-8 p.m. 
Saturday, July 20. For more 
details about the locations, 
artists and events, go to 
annarborartfair.com.

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Abrahamson
at work

“Afterglow” by
David Abrahamson

