Navigation Bar |
| |
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
My name is Nkosi from Phalaborwa. I developed the love for art at the age of seven, and inherited the gift from my mother whose hoby was sketching. Later in 1993 i had the opportunity of watching someone doing scrimshaw on black serpentine stone and my 'appetite' for this form of art was 'whetted'. I tried my hand at scrimshaw on black serpentine stone for the first time, my first work was a success. From there on i never stopped. From 1996 i have been doing scrimshaw for living mainly in JHB ,Hoedspruit and Phalaborwa.
Scimshaw was the name given to handiwork created by the whalers made from the byproducts of harvesting marine mammals. It was most comonly made out of the bones and teeth of Sperm Whales, the baleen of other Whales, and the tusks of walruses.It took the form of elaborate carvings in the form of pictures and lettering on the surface of the bone or tooth, with the engraving highlighted using the pigment, or small sculptures made from the same materiel. The making of scrimshaw began on whaling ships between 1817 to 1824 on the Pacific Ocean, and survived until the ban on commercial whaling.
The practice survives as a hobby and as a trade for commercial artist. A maker of scrimshaw is a scrimshander.
I normally use as my 'canvas' ivory substitudes, hipo and ellephant ivory (if and when it can be legally obtained) and bone. I like doing both colour and black and white, using line and stippling method respectively. I've done scrimshaw for knifemakers like S.Mackrill, Mike Barnes and the 'Master Bladesmith' in South Africa Kervin Harvey. To mention but a few. Although i'm a gifted wood and ivory carver my passion remains for scrimshaw and painting.
My other passion is ofcourse is Mural Paintings. To my credit my muralworks adorn the walls of Zuma Zuma and Karongwe game lodges, Moditlo private home, Phalaborwa Foundation gallery in Namagale and the Premier's house in Polokwane.I have also exhibited my work in Polokwane Art Gallery and Monsoon Art Gallery in Hoedspruit 2007.
Types of scrimshaw : Free standing, and knife handles.
Comment : Colour and monochrome scrimshaw, wildlife and the human form and portraits.
No brochure but digital photographs available on request. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
