#0359-1 "Spring?"

This is a classic mount of a beautiful Spring Salmon in its ocean-phase colours painted on a slab of black walnut. It is actually a Chinook salmon which is the largest species in the Pacific salmon genus Oncorhynchus. The common name refers to the Chinookan peoples. Other vernacular names for the species include king salmon, Quinnat salmon, spring salmon, chrome hog, and Tyee salmon. Historically, the native distribution of Chinook salmon in North America ranged from the Ventura River in California in the south to Kotzebue Sound in Alaska in the north. The Chinnok salmon population is about 40 percent of what it used to be mainly due habitat loss and dam building. Apparently less than one percent of the juvenile Chinook salmon survive to maturity....

The Chinook salmon is spiritually and culturally prized among certain First Nations peoples. Many celebrate the first spring Chinook caught each year with "first-salmon ceremonies". A Chinook's birthplace and later evolution can be tracked by looking at its ear bone. The bone can record the chemical composition of the water the fish had lived in just like a tree's growth rings provide hints on dry and wet years. Strontium in the ear bone can accurately show researchers the exact location and time of a fish swimming in a river.

The large black walnut tree was on the front yard of my friend Jack Brydon on Church Street in Schomberg. Jack and I were great friends and did a lot fo wood working together. I carved several paddles in his shop while listening to Jack tell stories. Anyway Jack cut the black walnut stem into slabs. We sanded those slabs which I then sealed. I painted the shape of the fish with a couple of goats of titanium gesso in order to make the fish jump off the dark grain of the wood.

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