| Project by Mark A. DeCou | posted 887 days ago | 2753 views | 0 times favorited | 6 comments |  |
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As of 9-8-08 I have two Scimshaw Powder Horns 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 - Kansas Flint Hill's Artisan
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6 comments so far
Roger
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37 posts in 888 days
posted 887 days ago
Awesome, love mixed media bring it on.
Mark A. DeCou
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1305 posts in 887 days
posted 887 days ago
I’ve got another set of odd mixed-media things coming, but my time to work on the computer more today is gone, so I’ll get some posted another time. Thanks for your encouragement
-- Mark DeCou - Kansas Flint Hill's Artisan
jockmike2
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4129 posts in 728 days
posted 724 days ago
To me, this and some of your other work has an asian slant to it, it’s beautiful. Of course I’m a piker. Can you let me in on your secret of the joints on your Maloof chair? I can understand if you don’t want to share that.
-- Mike. Profisher50@yahoo.com
Mark A. DeCou
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1305 posts in 887 days
posted 722 days ago
Hey Jockmike2: I answered your question on the chair joints in the project posting, comments section,
here is the quick link to it.
http://lumberjocks.com/projects/84#comment-450
-- Mark DeCou - Kansas Flint Hill's Artisan
Mark A. DeCou
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1305 posts in 887 days
posted 533 days ago
I had the audacity to enter one of my borrowed-back powder horns in the “Mixed Media Sculpture” category this past weekend at the Great Plains Woodcarving & Fine Arts Show and Sale in Wichita, KS.
I actually won 3rd place in this category, and had a lot of fun explaining the heritage of powder horns and scrimshaw artwork.
What I am seeing from the public, is that there have been enough high-dollar scrimshaw pieces on the Antique Roadshow tv show, that people are actually looking at it now. Several years ago, nobody seemed to recognize the artform, and few would pause to even consider what it was. At this show in Wichita, everyone stopped and looked intently at the four powder horns I was showing, and showed interest in the artform. A few asked about pricing, but now buyers. Once I surpassed the “under $100” range in my powder horn work several years ago, the number of interested buyers dropped off significantly. Still, they are enjoyable to build and engrave.
There is a new “How-To” book being written by a fellow scrimshander from Colorado. He is getting his book ready for publication. He also sells an online version, and a “kit” of things a person needs to start their own scrimshaw work. His website is www.scrimshawstudio.com and his name is Jim Stevens. I’m working with him to provide some photos of my work that he might be able to use in his published book. I hope I have something that will work for him to use.
Thanks,
Mark
-- Mark DeCou - Kansas Flint Hill's Artisan
Karson
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12889 posts in 882 days
posted 533 days ago
Congratulations again. Sounds like a busy weekend for you.
-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com