Stone Hollow Scrimshaw Studio -- Michelle Ochonicky

Michelle “Mike” Ochonicky is an award-winning artist whose work includes murals, drawing, illustrations, sculpture and photography but, for over thirty years, she has carved herself a reputation as a master of the early American art form of scrimshaw.

Mike graduated with a degree in art, with an emphasis on sculpture, from Fontbonne University in St. Louis, Missouri. She first started carving when her father, who collected scrimshaw, suggested she give it a try. For Mike, it was the perfect medium to combine her love of art and history. Additional graduate studies in a variety of mediums continued to enrich to her work, giving it a distinct style. A masters degree in Horticulture provides her detailed botanical etching with accuracy.

In the late 1700’s and early 1800’s sailors created scrimshaw as a way to pass time on long whaling voyages. Intricate pictures were etched using only a pocketknife or sail needle. Today, animal protection laws ban the importation of ivory whale’s teeth or elephant tusks. Instead, Mike uses cow bone or horns, deer antlers, ostrich and emu eggs, tagua palm tree seed pods, fossilized ivory and manmade polymers with the look and feel of ivory. An environmentally-conscious artist, she often recycles antique ivory piano keys in her work. Like the sailors, Mike uses no patterns, stencils, transfers or power tools. Each piece is truly hand-done and original. Working from her tiny Stone Hollow Studio deep in the woods near Eureka, Missouri, Mike’s subjects include the very traditional nautical themes along with the wildlife and botanicals she loves so much. Her sculpture-based skills infuse her scrimshaw with a three-dimensional quality, making the images appear alive.

Mike was named Missouri’s Selected Artist in 2010, commissioned by the Governor of Missouri and the National Parks Foundation to create and design the pieces on Missouri’s State Tree at the National Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony in Washington, D.C. Her work has been displayed in the White House Visitor Center, the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, Missouri Capitol Rotunda and the Missouri Governor’s Mansion as well as in museum, private, corporate, state and university art collections in the U.S., Europe, Asia, South American, Africa and Australia. Early American Life magazine has chosen her scrimshaw fifteen times for its prestigious Directory of Traditional American Craftsmen

She is the former Executive Director and three-term president of Missouri Artisans Association/The Best of Missouri Hands, and continues as Arts Editor for a monthly magazine.

Stone Hollow Studio, LLC
Michelle Ochonicky
31 High Trail
Eureka, Missouri 63025
(636) 938-9570

Email Michelle Ochonicky
www.stonehollowstudio.com



		Michelle “Mike” Ochonicky is an award-winning artist whose work includes murals, drawing, illustrations, sculpture and photography but, for over thirty years, she has carved herself a reputation as a master of the early American art form of scrimshaw. Mike graduated with a degree in art, with an emphasis on sculpture, from Fontbonne University in St. Louis, Missouri. She first started carving when her father, who collected scrimshaw, suggested she give it a try. For Mike, it was the perfect medium to combine her love of art and history. Additional graduate studies in a variety of mediums continued to enrich to her work, giving it a distinct style. A masters degree in Horticulture provides her detailed botanical etching with accuracy. In the late 1700’s and early 1800’s sailors created scrimshaw as a way to pass time on long whaling voyages. Intricate pictures were etched using only a pocketknife or sail needle. Today, animal protection laws ban the importation of ivory whale’s teeth or elephant tusks. Instead, Mike uses cow bone or horns, deer antlers, ostrich and emu eggs, tagua palm tree seed pods, fossilized ivory and manmade polymers with the look and feel of ivory. An environmentally-conscious artist, she often recycles antique ivory piano keys in her work. Like the sailors, Mike uses no patterns, stencils, transfers or power tools. Each piece is truly hand-done and original. Working from her tiny Stone Hollow Studio deep in the woods near Eureka, Missouri, Mike’s subjects include the very traditional nautical themes along with the wildlife and botanicals she loves so much. Her sculpture-based skills infuse her scrimshaw with a three-dimensional quality, making the images appear alive. Mike was named Missouri’s Selected Artist in 2010, commissioned by the Governor of Missouri and the National Parks Foundation to create and design the pieces on Missouri’s State Tree at the National Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony in Washington, D.C. Her work has been displayed in the White House Visitor Center, the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, Missouri Capitol Rotunda and the Missouri Governor’s Mansion as well as in museum, private, corporate, state and university art collections in the U.S., Europe, Asia, South American, Africa and Australia. Early American Life magazine has chosen her scrimshaw fifteen times for its prestigious Directory of Traditional American Craftsmen She is the former Executive Director and three-term president of Missouri Artisans Association/The Best of Missouri Hands, and continues as Arts Editor for a monthly magazine. Stone Hollow Studio, LLC Michelle Ochonicky 31 High Trail Eureka, Missouri 63025 (636) 938-9570 Email Michelle Ochonicky www.stonehollowstudio.com Home \| Artisans \| Membership \| Contact \| Featured Craftsman \| Mission \| Links \| Members Only
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