I’m afraid to say it but the time has come to stop teaching workshops and doing mount projects. I say this with both disappointment and gratitude. I have reached a point where I need to concentrate on taking care of myself rather than running a business, as I no longer have the stamina to teach the five-day workshops that have been the backbone of my practice. Well over 50 people have traveled to Seattle to study mountmaking, coming from all over this country, Canada, and even Hong Kong. The format of the five-day intensive was a great way for people to develop their skills and I’ve watched participants go from having barely worked with brass to completing very sophisticated mounts. And as anyone who teaches people will tell you, I’ve learned as much as I’ve shared. I’ve been honored to get to spend time with such a brilliant and interesting group of professionals. I’ll miss the energy and creativity of the workshops.

The past few months have been a challenging finish to my career. In addition to giving workshops, I’ve been working with the Burke Museum on mounting their “Green River Canoe”, a carved native canoe found in the 1960’s buried in the banks of the Green River South of Seattle. Probably carved in the middle of the 19th century, it was well used and possibly buried in a flood. Another flood in the 1960’s uncovered it again and it was excavated and preserved at the Burke. It consists of a major hull fragment, bow and starboard gunwale fragment, and stern prow fragment, as well as tons of smaller pieces. Working with Collections Manager Laura Philips, Conservator J. Claire Dean, and Mountmaker Craig Kuehnert, we’ve been mounting the various pieces to give them appropriate support and bring them back to the aggregate appearance of the original canoe. It’s been the most challenging 3D puzzle I’ve ever attempted. There’s still a little bit left to do, but with luck we hope for it to go on public display soon. Here are a few photos.

Before I close up my shop later this year, I may try to do some one-day per week sessions for local people and hope to give a very short course of Mountmaking for Exhibit Designers. The awareness of what mountmaking can do and what it involves is something that I’ve wanted to bring to the other members of exhibit teams.  I’m also hoping to produce a series of instructional videos and will continue to be a part of the International Mountmakers Forum . We’ll see if I’m able to keep the energy up to make these a reality. The website will be going through some changes to reflect my retirement but I plan to keep it active for the reasonable future.

I’ll try to keep folks posted on further developments and look forward to seeing everyone at the 9th International Mountmakers Forum, September 10th-12th at the MFA Boston. It’s been an amazing ride and I’m so glad to have found this odd little corner of the museum world.

Jamie