Work in Progress: Papier-Mâché Whale Vertebra Part One

      Before leaving Northern California for good in September I made one last trek out to my favorite beachcombing spot near Point Reyes National Seashore to collect a few more buoys.  While rambling along the rocky coast I nearly fainted when I made one whopper of a discovery: a massive, decaying whale carcass. I had always hoped to run across a lone whale vertebra washed up on the shore and here was not just one, but indeed an entire whale's worth!

      Now, it isn't legal for an individual to possess any part of a whale, and the vertebra pictured below was way too heavy, oily, and stinky to drag back up the cliff with me anyway, so I was satisfied to take a few pictures of my find and call it a day.

      Back home, while editing the photos, I couldn't shake the desire to add that whale vertebra to my nautical collections, and I determined that I would try my best to duplicate my own (legal and less smelly!) version in papier-mâché! I guess I had papier-mâché on the brain, having recently watched a video about how one of my favorite artists, Mark Dion, and his team of sculptors recreated in papier-mâché all of the gear used in a little-known 1908 expedition to the Far East.

     Working from my photographs and using the buoys pictured above for scale (I did take those and that wicked-looking gaff hook home with me!) I drew out a full-scale template for all of the elements that I would need to build a sturdy interior structure upon which to layer the mâché. Fortunately, at the time I was working at the Oakland Museum, and was permitted to use the woodshop and some discarded wood to create parts that I would be able to take home and assemble when I was ready to start the project!

     I am now happily relocated (once again!) to Los Angeles, working for a super-creative, awe-inspiring company, and settling into my new life here; it seems the time is right for getting to work on that whale vertebra! I'm so glad I took the time to figure out all of the mechanics of the interior structure while I had access to a woodshop; all of the elements screwed together just as I had envisioned, and before long I had a rock-solid "skeleton" for my new papier-mâché project! 

     The next step will be to cover most of the structure with wire mesh to further fill out and refine the shape of the vertebra and provide a good, textured surface onto which the mâché may be applied. 

      I will post an update as soon as I start the process of applying the papier-mâché!

Recent Projects

A Hopi-style Katsina I carved from a length of Cottonwood root that my Nephew and I collected along the Rio Grande in New Mexico. It has a base coat of white Kaolin clay and is ready for further painting and adornment.

The time I recently spent in New Mexico reinvigorated my appreciation for the arts and crafts of the Native American tribes indigenous to the area. I discovered a terrific book on the subject called "The Native American Curio Trade in New Mexico"  by Jonathan Batkin at the Case Trading Post in Santa Fe's Wheelwright Museum and was inspired to start a series of small gouache paintings depicting objects typically offered for sale in a classic New Mexico trading post.

My interest in painting the Navajo Rugs was inspired by the myriad small rug paintings that originally hung in the trader's office at the historic Hubbell Trading Post. The project really came together when I discovered a box of delicate antique wood frames in the garage of an estate sale; they were a perfect fit for the paintings! I have many more in the works; here is what I have painted thus far:

Navajo Moccasins. I purchased the pair that served as my models at the City Electric Shoe Shop in Gallup, New Mexico.

Pottery Sherds. 

A Navajo Rug. 

A Zuni Silver and Turquoise Ketoh.

A Hopi Katsina. 

A Navajo Rug. 

A Zuni Knifewing Pin. 

An Acoma Pot. 

A Navajo Rug.

A Hopi Katsina. 

A Navajo Rug. 

I really like the way they look  as a group. I have several more curios to paint before the series is finished! 

A few weekends ago I finally got around to soaking my rawhide drum head and lacing and assembled this drum based on a style of souvenier drum that was crafted using the circular wooden boxes that rounds of cheese were shipped in. It sounds great; very loud and resonant. I made the beater from a Redwood branch and deerskin. 

And finally...  I have been looking at examples of Dentalium shell necklaces made by various Pacific Coast tribes and have started assembling my own versions using beads from my collection, Dentalium shells, and abalone pendants. I collect the abalone on my beach rambles in Northern California and pick out the best pieces to shape and polish for the pendants. This is one of the more colorful versions.

Thanks so much for looking!!!