Daniel grew up near Piha on Auckland's wild west coast. His work is inspired by his lifelong connection to the ocean and passion for surfing. The son of two 70's basket weavers, his own creativity emerged during high school workshop design classes, where he developed a love of working with New Zealand's native timber, and learnt bone carving.

More recently after helping a copper artist with some production issues, he started working with this versatile and attractive medium. Daniel is a self taught artist and designer, keeping his artworks imaginative yet real. His desire for simplicity and to capture the essence and feel of his subjects clearly shows in his work.