David Goldsmith information page
Scrimshaw Ivory Carving
Summary
In 1988 David Goldsmith was re-reading Herman Melville's novel Moby Dick and came across the word 'scrimshander' written in italics. He looked it up in a dictionary and found it was talking about scrimshaw, the art form, and that scrimshander was the person who produced it.
Having had an interest in doodling and calligraphy, he decided to try it.
David's scrimshaw now journeys around the world. The presidents of Poland and Iceland have owned pieces of his work. He has received numerous honors and he is represented in Canada by over 15 galleries.
The origins of scrimshaw are uncertain. David believes it may have been the Chinese, 2,000 years ago, who first polished the surface of ivory, etched or scratched a design into it and then filled the etching with ink. During the 1800s whalers, while on journeys of two or three months off the eastern coast of North America, passed time by scratching scenes onto whale teeth. Scrimshaw can be done on bone, antler, nutshells and even man-made materials.
David prefers to work in ivory as it is a solid, porous material with a fine grain. It is almost indestructible, yet it allows for extremely detailed etchings and it holds ink very well. However, as a committed conservationist who loves wilderness backpacking and canoeing, David is concerned about the use of ivory from endangered species. When he began doing scrimshaw he used nothing but antique piano keys, for his work. Today he also uses wooly mammoth tusks which are usually found along rivers and streams in isolated areas.
David wears magnifying goggles to do the fine detail work that scrimshaw demands. After etching the piece he uses a thinned acrylic paint, which rubbed into the etched surface. The whalers used lamp black. But David uses acrylic because it is waterproof. Inks are dyes, and will fade. Acrylics won't fade. A final polishing removes any excess acrylic, leaving the natural beauty of his subject. These pieces are then framed in archival quality mats and frames and presented as hanging art pieces.
David has received numerous honors and he is represented in Canada by a number of galleries. He lives, with his wife Marilyn, in Radium Hot Springs. Their love of the outdoors and their roots in Saskatchewan are reflected in much of David's work.About Canada are a store in Banff Alberta who carry a range of products by David Goldsmith, they are a gallery and gift store. This is a store that sells online and tends to have some really neat Canadian made products.
David Goldsmiths scrimshaw now journeys around the world. The presidents of Poland and Iceland have owned pieces of his work. He has received numerous honors and he is represented in Canada by over 15 galleries. David prefers to work in ivory as it is a solid, porous material with a fine grain. It is almost indestructible, yet it allows for extremely detailed etchings and it holds ink very well.
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