Claudia Moeller’s 22 years of creating thousands of scrimshaw pieces has resulted in her winning international recognition. Moeller, of Kaua’i, won first place in the Hawaiiana category with a piece called “Hawaiian Sunset” at the sixth annual Hawaiian International Scrimshaw
Claudia Moeller’s 22 years of creating thousands of scrimshaw pieces has resulted in her winning international recognition.
Moeller, of Kaua’i, won first place in the Hawaiiana category with a piece called “Hawaiian Sunset” at the sixth annual Hawaiian International Scrimshaw Competition last month at the Ye Olde Ship Store at Coconut Market Place.
For the competition, Moeller’s prize-winning creation depicted the etching of a Hawaiian Nene geese bathing in the Wainiha River during sunset on a piece of fossil walrus ivory.
Moeller’s win marked the first time a scrimshander — a person who makes scrimshaw pieces — from Kaua’i won in the competition. She is one of about two dozen scrimshanders in Hawai’i.
The history of scrimshaw in Hawai’i has its ties to Lahaina on Maui, once a whaling outpost. When whalers weren’t busy pursing sperm whales for their oil, they carved designs onto discarded whale bones and teeth.
The type of ivory Moeller uses is found exclusively in Siberia or Alaska and can be several hundred to several thousand years old.
Moeller’s prize-winning artwork, which is seven inches long and two inches wide, was selected among 37 pieces created by scrimshanders from around the world. A collector liked her work so much that he bought it.
Scrimshaw, depending on the amount of detail put into a piece, can command a price of several thousand dollars.
Moeller said she competed in three other contests sponsored by the Kaua’i store and came up empty-handed, but entered the latest competition with optimism.
“I thought what I had was good, but when I saw the competition, I started to wonder,” Moeller said. “But things turned out okay. This is my finest piece. I am really happy.”
Moeller said she won because of her creativity and innovation. Traditional scrimshaw pieces are black and white, but her creation involved the use of different colors that helped bring out the details of her work, she said.
“My style is color,” she said. “And it works for me.”
She said she learned the value of using oils and paints from her husband, Terry, a news cameraman and a scrimshander for 20 years.
Moeller started making scrimshaw pieces in 1979 while living on Maui. She has made thousands of scrimshaw pieces that have been sold commercially.
Most pieces run along the Hawaiian theme: Birds, flowers, scenes of mountains in Hawai’i and maps of the islands.
Like many scrimshaw artists, Moeller also uses ivory from the woolly mammoth, an extinct elephant that lived in Siberia.
Moeller, also a painter, said she loves scrimshaw work and wants to be involved in her craft for a long time.
“I plan to be the Grandma Moses of scrimshaw,” she said.
Scrimshaw pieces were once made from sperm whale bones and teeth, but that practice mostly came to an end in 1973, when the U.S. government banned their exportation and importation as a result of opposition from conservation groups, Moeller said. Other nations followed with their own bans.
The early examples of scrimshaw from Arctic whaling were made in the 17th century, followed by other artwork that came from whaling in the Antarctica.
Most scrimshaw was done on sperm whaling voyages between 1835 and 1870. With dental equipment or needles used to mend sails, whalers traced on or pricked out the surface of bones. Once the engraving was done, the creator rubbed black oil from India, paint or tar into the lines to bring out the details of their carvings.
Back from whaling trips, sailors gave their artwork as gifts to wives and girlfriends.
Staff writer Lester Chang can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net
