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 The Scrimshaw Studio is a member of the Barrels and Blades Webring <<Prev | Next>> Ring Hub | Join Associate member: The Knifemaker's Guild American Bladesmith Society Member: Honourable Company of Horners Instructor: NRA Gunsmithing School Mr. Stevens does not do appraisals. For appraisals he recommends Sara Conklin: sconklin2@pngusa.net or American Society of Appraisers: http://www.appraisers.org/ findappraiser/
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See where Jim's work is on display.
Read media stories/coverage. A note from the artist: I first began drawing and artwork in general when, as a child, I stole into my Grandmother's studio and "borrowed" a piece of her charcoal and sketching paper. She was a commercial artist. She caught me. But instead of being angry, as I feared, she sat me down and taught me how to draw. Years later, I had the opportunity to study with and help American master sculptor Ed Dwight with his 12 foot high bronze statue of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. that stands today outside Morehouse College's King Chapel in Atlanta, Georgia. His work inspired me to devote more practical time to my art. That made my mother happy. She had always wanted me to be an artist. Over the years my work was commissioned and sold to private collectors around the country and was also shown in galleries in Massachusetts, Maryland and Michigan. Before the Russian master stone and gem carver Vasily Konovalenko died, he saw my work and invited me to study with him. Unfortunately, the time we had was cut short by his death. While a Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol leader (a LRRP) in Vietnam, I was shot in the head during a combat mission. The wound resulted in severe migraine headaches, which I still endure today. In 1994, I suffered a migraine that caused a stroke which, in turn, took my eyesight in just 30 minutes. After losing all but a pindot of my eyesight, I was unable to continue teaching at the University of Colorado and also lost the confidence to continue with my art. I was also angry. So angry in fact that I even destroyed many unfinished pieces and most of my notes, drafts and records. It took many years to accept being blind. In 2000, I began to produce art again. Slowly. For friends and family as gifts. But the more I did, the more I felt I could do. I kept working and re-learning the craft - learning how to do my art without the eyesight an artist so desperately needs. It has been a long process but I finally remastered the skills - using a variety of special lenses, but the art and the quality are finally there again. After years without art, once again, I love what I do. Today, I have had three books published on scrimshaw art and my own art is collected internationally from Moscow to London, Trieste, New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Perth, and numerous other citeies around the globe. And while there are thousands of VSA artists around the country, the Kennedy Center has reviewed and accepted fewer than 1,700 for the official Kennedy Center registry. I have been honored as a Kennedy Center Registered VSA Artist in both the visual and literary arts. My persistence and desire to be an artist again has worked. If you ever face a personal challenge, please, keep working to overcome and never give up. You can do it, too. Outside of my art, I enjoy my children, my writing, and my continued study of the martial arts. In 2002, I became the only legally blind man to ever win the men's fighting competition at the Rocky Mountain Martial Arts "Tournament of Champions." In 2004, I most humbly achieved the rank of Shodan - a Shaolin black belt.
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