Janet H Walker on mon 12 jan 98
...Could you tell us more about making brushes from the hair of an old dog..
Arghhhh! This is where I came in!!!
Exactly two years ago. It was during an intense discussion of making
brushes from Fido and other animal pals.
I joined ClayArt then and my clay life has not been the same since.
Better. Much, much, better. I owe so much to all of you, especially
those who have helped me understand the serious technical side of
ceramics. And the zany not-so-technical side as well. Thank you,
thank you.
Best to all.
Jan Walker
Cambridge MA USA
Louis Katz on wed 14 jan 98
1. Get a dog.
2. Find the dogs best friend and buy them a cup of Java
3. While they tcikle the dogs fancy, wrap a thread around some of the hair
that sticks out of the back of the dogs leg. Tie a knot. Cut carefully with
a razor or very sharp scissors. Do not cut the dog, just the hair.
4. Glue it into some bamboo or another handle.
By the Way Kodansha books (a publisher) printed a great book of different
brush types that included some step by step pictures of Sumi brush making.
Down in the fog by the sea.
Louis
joanna on thu 15 jan 98
i can't stand it anymore! anyone in the eugene, oregon area want to get
together, tickle some dogs and other creatures with 4 legs and make
brushes from their hair? i've got a tail from some creature a zoologist
friend gave me a few years ago. my cats all are short-hair, so they're
out of the loop, but some of you must have goats and dogs and stuff.
i'm serious. if you'd like get together with a few other people to help
each other practice making our own brushes, send your e-mail or phone #
to me at one of the e-mail addresses below, and we'll put something
together.
mas tardes, j
--
joanna deFelice
prepress@cyberis.net
joanna@orcis.uoregon.edu
Maggie & David on fri 16 jan 98
I can't believe I'm sharing this with hundreds and hundreds of people I
don't know but the way I get great brushes is by keeping a square-edged
(long handled) shovel in my car and upon sighting an appropriate road-kill
(not too old, not too fresh,not too messy), give thanks to the animal gods,
and chop off the tail. then you pick it up wearing gloves or with the
plastic bag you're going to put it in so you don't touch it and take it
home and let it air-dry in the sun until it seems somewhat dessicated and
certainly doesn't have any odor to it (they usually don't to begin
with.)Then you can cut off the fur. I have gotten nice amounts of skunk,
deer and squirrel fur this way. I have to admit I like Mel's method better
but I doubt any skunk will lay down on it's back for you. From the
frontiers of Northern California,
Maggie Shepard
FireWorks Pottery
Mt. Shasta, Calif.
Olivia T Cavy on sat 17 jan 98
Maggie,
A while back Carla Flati had me doubled over in laughter with her tale of
stopping to liberate the tail of a newly deceased deer on the side of a
busy Pittsburgh area road. While she was hacking away with a dull knife
(apparently Pennsylvania deer have tougher tails than California deer) ,
wearing surgical scrubs, a state trooper stopped to ask what she was
doing, and didn't quite believe her story that she wanted the tail to
make glaze brushes. Must have been quite a sight, but I do believe she
got the tail and got to leave the scene. Carla recommended carrying in
your car a very sharp tool, something like a tree trimmer.
Lana Wilson also had a funny story about having her then teenager get out
of the car to pick up a skunk (or part thereof). The problem was that the
skunk was really fresh road kill, and was quite aromatic!
Bonnie D. Hellman
Pittsburgh, PA
work email: oliviatcavy@juno.com
home email: mou10man@sgi.net
On Fri, 16 Jan 1998 11:29:00 EST Maggie & David
writes:
>----------------------------Original
>message----------------------------
>I can't believe I'm sharing this with hundreds and hundreds of people
>I
>don't know but the way I get great brushes is by keeping a
>square-edged
>(long handled) shovel in my car and upon sighting an appropriate
>road-kill
>(not too old, not too fresh,not too messy), give thanks to the animal
>gods,
>and chop off the tail. then you pick it up wearing gloves or with the
>plastic bag you're going to put it in so you don't touch it and take
>it
>home and let it air-dry in the sun until it seems somewhat dessicated
>and
>certainly doesn't have any odor to it (they usually don't to begin
>with.)Then you can cut off the fur. I have gotten nice amounts of
>skunk,
>deer and squirrel fur this way. I have to admit I like Mel's method
>better
>but I doubt any skunk will lay down on it's back for you. From the
>frontiers of Northern California,
>Maggie Shepard
>FireWorks Pottery
>Mt. Shasta, Calif.
>
Paul Jay on sat 17 jan 98
Maggie
At last. Someone else who is a s crazy as I am. I usually have a very sharp
pocket knife instead of a shovel. My family still thinks its weird that I came
to a stop on a country road and cut off the tail of a skunk. Great brush, but
after 10 years and lots of washing (tomato juice, then soap) you can still
smell it a little! Thank God we have a cat who brings us those pesky red
squirrels as presents on our front steps. Great liner brushes.
Maggie & David wrote:
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> I can't believe I'm sharing this with hundreds and hundreds of people I
> don't know but the way I get great brushes is by keeping a square-edged
> (long handled) shovel in my car and upon sighting an appropriate road-kill
> (not too old, not too fresh,not too messy), give thanks to the animal gods,
> and chop off the tail. then you pick it up wearing gloves or with the
> plastic bag you're going to put it in so you don't touch it and take it
> home and let it air-dry in the sun until it seems somewhat dessicated and
> certainly doesn't have any odor to it (they usually don't to begin
> with.)Then you can cut off the fur. I have gotten nice amounts of skunk,
> deer and squirrel fur this way. I have to admit I like Mel's method better
> but I doubt any skunk will lay down on it's back for you. From the
> frontiers of Northern California,
> Maggie Shepard
> FireWorks Pottery
> Mt. Shasta, Calif.
TMartens on sun 18 jan 98
All these hairy tail tales make me feel quite sane, indeed they do.
Though not clay related, some of you may enjoy this story.
Years ago when I lived in Namibia I heard I could buy a Kudu for
R35.00 (less than $10.00) Now that is a lot of meat so I ordered one
and made space in my freezer for all the packets of meat that were
coming.
Imagine my horror when the farmer dumped a newly shot Kudu on my
lawn! Intact bullet and all .In a flat panic I phoned the food
columnist on the paper where my husband was editor at the time.She
was the one who had gotten me into this mess in the first place.
Calmly she told me she and her husband would come and sort it all out
that evening but...."Don't let any flies settle on it and keep it
cool."
Keep it cool? In the summer in the desert? Keep the flies away? HOW??
I don't know what the neighbours thought, but the kids and I set up
the beach umbrella over the deceased, periodically poured water on it and
waved towels at the damn thing for hours,
laughing hysterically most of the time
and I at least, swigged a fair ammount of beer because it was hot
work!
Eventually it was all cut up and packed away and that darn food
columnist dined out on the story for months!The editor ( my ever
loving) said he did not know if he could hold up his head in town
again. I have stuck to potting since.
Toni M
Sarah Barnes on sun 18 jan 98
I was lucky enough to find a fox tail, just the tail, on the side of the
road not too long ago. I keep an old ax I bought at an auction for $5 and
a tupperware container of salt and cloves in the trunk of my car. I just
put the tail in the salt let dry out for a few months and then voila new
brushes. Someone told me that to check how fresh the road kill is, if
the hairs pullout easily its too old.
Sarah
Baltimore, MD
Sbarnes@mica.edu
Fred Paget on sun 18 jan 98
I had been reading in ClayArt about brush making,so before we went up in
the mountains to Lynn Rank's kiln building workshop by Nils Lou, I put
together a road kill kit to carry along: one pair of rubber gloves, a
snap-cut pruner and a large heavy plastic bag. On the way home we came upon
a freshly run over fox and I got his tail.
The pruner works great. I used to use one like it back in W.W.II in a
shipyard where I was an electrician, to cut marine cables which are wire
covered with rubber, a lead sheath and metal braid generally about 3/4 inch
in diameter over all.
There were a few skunks seen too but the wife vetoed getting them.
When I got home I cured the tail with borax and will get it out and try
to make some brushes real soon now. We used to use borax to cure big
display specimen lobsters (10 pounds and up) when I was a skin diver in New
England.
You have to be careful here in California because some of the squirrels
and rabbits have diseases that can be caught by humans (tularemia and some
others) and deer carry ticks that may transmit Lime disease.
Fred Paget
>A while back Carla Flati had me doubled over in laughter with her tale of
> stopping to liberate the tail of a newly deceased deer on the side of a
>busy Pittsburgh area road. While she was hacking away with a dull knife
>(apparently Pennsylvania deer have tougher tails than California deer) ,
>wearing surgical scrubs, a state trooper stopped to ask what she was
>doing, and didn't quite believe her story that she wanted the tail to
>make glaze brushes. Must have been quite a sight, but I do believe she
>got the tail and got to leave the scene. Carla recommended carrying in
>your car a very sharp tool, something like a tree trimmer.
>
>Lana Wilson also had a funny story about having her then teenager get out
>of the car to pick up a skunk (or part thereof). The problem was that the
>skunk was really fresh road kill, and was quite aromatic!
>
>Bonnie D. Hellman
From Fred Paget, Marin County, California
Valice Raffi on mon 19 jan 98
A word of caution regarding road kill...
The Dept of Fish and Game generally takes a very dim view of "collecting"
creature bodies and body parts. Particularly concerning any "beasts/birds
of prey". I once found out (to my great shock) that a road kill owl that
I'd picked up on mountain pass had me (technically) liable for a $5,000.
fine, and because I'd transported it over State lines, the amount was
doubled.
This law was intended to prevent people from killing birds and animals for
their parts, but does extend to road kill.
Now, ...I believe in recycling, and I haven't let this law stop me (I don't
believe the highway is an appropriate burial ground for anything), but
ya'll should probably be aware.
Love all the stories - keep 'em coming! I, too, thought I was alone in
this. Use road kill on some of my pieces - luckily, no ones asked WHAT it
is, 'cause I don't know!
Valice
in Sacramento, where we got some sunshine yesterday, YEA!
Cindy on tue 20 jan 98
Hi, Ya'll
I've been following the road kill topic with both interest and, I admit, a
measure of amusement. Here's another idea for those of you too squeamish to
take advantage of nature's bounty splattered across the interstate. Make
friends with every hunter you can find. Deer tails make nice brushes, and
hide buyers generally cut off the tales before selling to tanneries anyway.
I have a friend who gets calls from all over the county to come and get rid
of nuisance animals (the skunk under the front porch). He doesn't mind
supplying me with all the scraps I can use, and after all, how much fur do
you need for a liner, or even for a glaze mop?
Cindy in Custer, SD
Darrol Shillingburg on tue 20 jan 98
Valice and All,
You might qualify for a "salvage or possession permit" under the
sponsorship of a receiving agency, like a museum, or university that has
federal and state permits to keep protected species for educational or
research purposes.
It would give you protection from liabilities for possession of whole or
parts of protected animals ( which is a longer list than most people are
aware of) and still allow you to interupt the highway burial process.
When I worked for natural history museums and carried a pocket full of
"collectors permits" I still needed a permit for possession of salvage to
cover those thinks not on the "collectors permits", like owls!!
There have been artworks confiscated in California and I suspect other
places as well, because they contained parts of protected species. Never
heard of confiscated wax brushes, though.
A call to your regional friendly Wildlife Management Office could give you
a reading on your risk.
Darrol in Elephant Butte, NM
DarrolS@Zianet.com
on the web at http://www.zianet.com/DarrolS
> Valice Raffi --------Valice wrote------------------
>
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> A word of caution regarding road kill...
>
> The Dept of Fish and Game generally takes a very dim view of "collecting"
> creature bodies and body parts. Particularly concerning any
"beasts/birds
> of prey". I once found out (to my great shock) that a road kill owl that
> I'd picked up on mountain pass had me (technically) liable for a $5,000.
> fine, and because I'd transported it over State lines, the amount was
> doubled.
>
> This law was intended to prevent people from killing birds and animals
for
> their parts, but does extend to road kill.
>
> Now, ...I believe in recycling, and I haven't let this law stop me (I
don't
> believe the highway is an appropriate burial ground for anything), but
> ya'll should probably be aware.
>
>
> Love all the stories - keep 'em coming! I, too, thought I was alone in
> this. Use road kill on some of my pieces - luckily, no ones asked WHAT
it
> is, 'cause I don't know!
>
> Valice
> in Sacramento, where we got some sunshine yesterday, YEA!
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