In his 20's, Dale spent four years traveling the West in a country-rock band. While performing in Seattle in 1976, he saw scrimshaw for the first time, fell in love with the detail that was possible, and started trying his hand at it. After returning to his ranching roots, he started doing scrimshaw for the Buck Knife Company, working on several hundred limited edition knives in the 1980's. A Buck knife on which he scrimmed a portrait of Israeli Prime Minister, Yitzhak Shamir was presented to Mr. Shamir in honor of his inauguration. After the Buck custom department closed, he continued to scrim knives for individual collectors. For the past decade or so, he has been doing a lot of work for a wholesaler from Anchorage, Alaska.
Dale tends to specialize in portraits which he feels is the ultimate chalange, but enjoys rendering just about any subject. About 99% of his workis done using the stipple technique, and in monochrome (black or a single color). Dale sometimes makes silver or gold settings for his work, in the form of pendants, belt buckles, bolo ties, bracelets, etc.
Dale scrimshaws part time now, as he also works as a writer, having written two books on local history and working on a third.. He writes a weekly column for the local newspaper and manages the Council historical museum. He also has two bluegrass bands in which he sings and plays several instruments. His wife, Anna, is the Council Postmaster, and plays bass in one of the bands.
Dale's talent was brought to our attention by our friend Bill Rill, and I owe him a special thanks. Dale just finished a scrim for me (Dick) and it is outstanding. His portraits of Inuit and Native American tribe members are superb.
His website is www.dalefisk.com
www.dalefisk.com
for more scrimshaw images