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Kim McClelland has always loved to draw, so the fine detailing required in carving was just right for him. Once he purchases fossils from the Native American Indians in Alaska, he works around cracks, fissures and chunks of bark as he slices, polishes and engraves them. Thus a fossilized mastodon or mammoth develops a story of its own...designed and carved by Kim, and reproduced by his wife, Katherine, in a polymer resin base. "Kim is known for his intense, detailed work...and his imagery is extensive," says Katherine. "We love being able to put artworks in the hands of those who could never afford a McClelland original. It makes his designs available to a much larger audience." With some 300 images to choose from, Tree of Life Artworks has found a place in many homes and hearts. A Brief History of Scrimshaw Scrimshaw is considered to be American's only indigenous art form, outside the Native American arts. It was developed in the late 1800s by American whalers as a "thrifty waste of time" during voyages which could last up to four years. Sailors sanded and polished whale teeth or walrus tusks, providing a smooth surface on which an image was cut with sharp pointed scribes and knives. Ink was rubbed into the cuts, then wiped away from the polished surface, leaving images much like those on printing plates. Scrimshaw declined and was somewhat neglected until the 1960s, when President Kennedy identified himself as a collector. The revival increased in the 1970s and 80s, when many people began to collect original pieces. Artists began to take up the medium, including one named Kim McClelland. |
