Ed’s Western Decor

Whether to chronicle your child’s growth, or just as a fun art project, shadow silhouette art is fun and easy to do at home.  You will need a movable light source, a few pushpins, a large sheet of paper, a pencil to trace, and another person if you are making a silhouette of yourself.  Have your subject (or yourself) sit down in a chair next to a wall.  Move the light source close enough to cast the shadow of your head against the wall.  Once this is accomplished, take the large sheet of paper, and pin it against the wall with the shadow of the head inside.  Then take your pencil and trace the outline of the shadow against the wall onto the paper. 

This process will give you a silhouette outline, which you can trace onto a piece of construction paper, and then transfer to a background of your choosing.  It’s a fun project for kids and even adults! 

Silhouettes are used in artwork, often portraits of faces in profile.  A silhouette cannot convey a facial expression, but a silhouette artist with talent can create movement, mood and emotion nonetheless. 

Silhouettes were popular in America from the late 1700s to about 1840, when cameras began to replace them as the most accepted form of capturing a person’s portrait.  Silhouettes remain a unique and nostalgic way to preserve an image, as shown in our stunning and unique silhouette wall art.

One of my fondest western images was during the summer of 1951. An Old Timer living at Discovery Bay, Washington, told me, “If you go down to the railroad trestle when the tide comes in, you can catch all the Sea Perch you can carry in a ‘gunny sack.’ ” He told me the fish feed on small sand crabs on the beach and to load my fish hook firmly into the side of the crab, and then cast my line close to the edge of the bank.

My dad was working as a heavy duty mechanic on the road construction crew. They paved the highway from Discovery Bay to Neah Bay, located on the south shore of Puget Sound. At the age of eleven, I went fishing between the hours of 3:00 to 4:00 AM, and provided food for the families of the road crew. With fishing gear and burlap sack in hand, and my dog Queenie at my side, I got up before breakfast and went to work catching Sea Perch.

The rule was, my dad said, “You catch ‘em, you clean ‘em.” I did it, too! As I went from cabin to camper, I presented my catch and was paid for my services. The rewards were much more than money. I learned that salt water sea perch are mammals and do not lay eggs to hatch, a magnificent discovery in nature. There is joy in the giving of ourselves for the needs of family and others, and there are many great rewards for working hard: respect, discipline, obedience, and love for my parents.

They don’t call it Discovery Bay for nothing!