Fish Skin Preparation into a Material For Craft

In 2018, Karen Magnuson-Sherwood, being the kind and generous teacher she is, traveled to Bainbridge Artisans Resource Network (BARN) on Bainbridge Island, to teach a class demonstrating use of preserved fish skins woven into a lovely cedar basket.

Pictured left to right: Vicky Nickelson, Audrey Armstrong, Karen Magnuson-Sherwood. Karen made this beautiful fish skin basket as a student of Audrey Armstrong’s in Anchorage, Alaska.

Michelle Jones Port Gamble S’Klallam Artist with her lovely Cedar and Salmon Skin basket. Workshop taught by Karen Magnuson-Sherwood at BARN in 2018.

In October 2023, what a delight that Audrey Armstrong agreed to come all the way from Anchorage with her husband Scott to teach Fish Skin use at BARN! I will write more about that soon, as I catch up. Thanks to our neighbors who saved me some Ling Cod skins from their summer fishing season, here’s some pictures of the preparation process. Thanks to Audrey’s fresh knowledge shared two weeks ago, this is what I was able to do so far.

Push the ulu knife at an angle nearly flat against the skin

One hand holds the skin taut while the other hand pushes the ulu, removing all trace of meat and fat

naturally beautiful patterns – try to keep all the scales on if possible

Cleaning the skins with a few drops of Dawn Dish soap in cold water

Halibut Skin Basket I made in Audrey Armstrong’s Workshop October 2023

Stay tuned for more about what we learned.

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