Scrimshaw Powder Horns: with my links to "How To Build Your Own Powder Horn", and "How to Scrimshaw"

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UPDATE 5-5-2011:
I have agreed to teach a Powder Horn Building and Scrimshaw Decoration Class at the John Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC. The date will be mid-July in 2012, a five day class. We’ll discuss the history, techniques, and build a horn in class with a display stand, and decorate it with your own scrimshaw artwork. So, this class will be a combination of two classes, teaching both parts of historical and contemporary powder horn crafting.

This class size will be small, so if you have interest in this class, contact the school and put your name on a waiting list, as their catalog to the public will be released in early 2012.

thanks,
Mark DeCou

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Finished Powder Horns for Sale:
As of 12-8-2008, I have two powder horns for sale, email me for more information mark@decoustudio.com

Scrimshaw Powder Horn 16 - For Sale -
Scrimshaw Powder Horn 21 - For Sale -

If you would like more information about them, please email me at mark@decoustudio.com

To build your own powder Horn, I’ve blogged about the steps, click here

To Scrimshaw your own Powder Horn, I’ve blogged about those steps, click here

You can see more of my Powder Horn and Scrimshaw artwork at my Website

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Project Story:

I enjoy woodworking, & combining wood with other materials is a lot of fun. I also enjoy making functional-art items, especially historical crafts.

Several years ago, I decided to try blackpowder shooting, and I needed a horn to carry the powder. I built myself a horn from a rough steer horn that a friend gave me, and I spent about an hour scratching some artwork on it the night before a competition shooting event. The next day, I got so many positive comments, that I started building more and more of them, gathering books and articles on the historical techniques, and hundreds of hours of research and reading to understand the old techniques.

I taught myself some techniques in an artform called Scrimshaw, (often used to decorate the functional powder horns during the years of our history when black powder rifles ruled the battlegrounds and forests).

I found some people that liked my work enough to buy it and collect them. I realize that this is not truly a work of wood only, but a combination of wood and steer horn, I hope that other woodworkers won’t be too offended by this submittal of a mixed-media form.

Each of the horns have a unique Scrimshaw art motif. If you aren’t familiar with Scrimshaw, you can go to my website
http://www.decoustudio.com/articles.html
where I have some articles and more information about this important historical form of American Folk Art.

If you are interested in seeing the basic steps to Building Your Own Powder Horn, please see my blog on that subject: http://lumberjocks.com/jocks/decoustudio/blog/2482

If you would like to learn more about Scrimshaw as an Artform, including How to Do It, please see my blog on that subject: http://lumberjocks.com/jocks/decoustudio/blog/2473

thanks,
Mark DeCou
www.decoustudio.com

-- Mark DeCou - American Contemporary Craft Artisan - www.decoustudio.com