SCRIMSHAW   by  JACOBS  (Dianne Anita "Jacobs" Thompson)

Bead making design came from a background in art.  I have a B. A. in art from Western Washington State University, but studied art at other schools, including the Museum Art School in Portland, Ore. My main interests were in drawing, mixed media and sculpture. I worked professionally as a freelance scrimshaw (engraved ivory) artist for many years, and used to make bead necklaces to hang scrimshaw pendants on before the bead market exploded and an enlarged market for beads alone put a focus on the bead making. I worked exclusively on fossil ivory--ancient walrus tusk shards, mastodon and woolly mammoth found mostly at excavation sites in Alaska.  The photos below are examples of my work, always signed as "Jacobs", my maiden name.  Some of the pictures are old and faded, but at least provide some idea of what the original pieces looked like.  Scrimshaw is an old traditional art form done on ivory or bone by mariners and Eskimo/Indian craftsmen, usually using a sharp instrument to scratch the engravings into the surface and then rubbing them with lamp black, charcole or a similar substance. The use of color greatly complicates the process.  These days I enjoy the relative freedom and greater creativity of making abstract bead designs--djt