| I recently had an opportunity to
visit with Bob Hergert in his studio on the southern Oregon coast to talk to him about his
scrimshaw. His studio is small, packed with guitars, amplifiers, computer and
stereo equipment. Pictures and artwork cover the walls and every horizontal surface.
Amidst all of this paraphernalia sat a drafting table, dominated by a stereo microscope. Deciding
not to present a standard article, written from my perspective, I decided instead to be
straight forward with this report, and submit questions that Hergert could answer in his
own words, so to speak.
Mismo:" Bob, let's start with the questions I'm sure everyone asks you. How
did you get started doing scrimshaw?" |
Bob Hergert: "In 1978, I was selling prints of my
pen and ink drawings. A jeweler who bought some of my work suggested I give
scrimshaw a try. He thought my style of drawing with dots (stippling) and the
nautical subject matter of much of my work, would serve me well working in ivory. He
gave me ivory cabochons which I scrimmed, and he then set them into jewelry." JM:
"How did you get involved working on knives?"
BH: "This same jeweler introduced me to his ivory supplier, who happened to
live near one of the Oregon's premier knife makers (Gary Kelley), who let me work on his
miniature knives. When you're one of a handful of people who do something like
scrimshaw, it's amazing how word spreads and people start finding you." |
