In the second article in our series on how natural materials are transformed into artworks, we’re focusing on ivory, which is often used in sculpture and jewellery. The IAQ spoke with longtime artist Derrald Taylor, who has been working with ivory since the 1990s and is presently based in Yellowknife, NT. Taylor shares his self-taught process for preparing and sculpting ivory, including soaking, shaping, sanding and finishing.
Ivory has long been a common material for jewellery and sculpture in the North. Distinct from bone, which comes from the skeletal structure of animals, ivory comes from the tusks of animals such as walruses, narwhals, mammoths and elephants and requires unique preparation. Taylor has spent decades refining his methods of working with walrus, narwhal, mammoth and mastodon ivory to prevent cracking and maintain structural integrity throughout his carving process. Here, Taylor shares his step-by-step process and advice for those interested in working with ivory.
Step 1: Sourcing the Ivory
Taylor works with a variety of ivory types, purchasing pieces from other artists and community members who bring materials to town or from friends who work with similar media. He prefers walrus ivory for its solid interior and smooth carving surface. “Walrus ivory may look like it’s all cracked up from the outer core, but once I start carving into the inside, it’s solid,” he says. [1]
ALL © THE ARTIST
Step 2: Soaking the Ivory
After sourcing and selecting the ivory, Taylor soaks it in oil for a significant amount of time—as long as one to two years. Ivory is dense and can dry out quickly if it’s not properly cared for. Taylor explains that dried ivory can become brittle, making it more difficult and risky to work with, especially for detailed pieces with fine features. Soaking helps the ivory retain moisture and prevents cracking during the sculpting process. “I use either cooking oil, tung oil or baby oil, just to keep the moisture,” he says. Once oiled, he stores the ivory in a cool, dark place, wrapped in plastic and sealed in a plastic bag, checking it regularly and re-oiling as needed.
Step 3: Planning and Rough Sculpting
Before starting to sculpt, Taylor considers the shape and size of the ivory to decide what he wants to create. Sometimes the shape inspires the design. “I just follow the shape of the ivory and decide what I’m going to make on it. I’ll do a lot of my carvings out of northern animals.” He begins by removing bigger pieces using either a handsaw or a band saw. Then he moves on to power tools to begin sculpting the form. “I use a Fordham tool with quarter-inch bits. And then I have another tool called a Dremel with a lot of mini bits, which is what I use for carving out [the details],” he says. “Then I’ll slowly grind away at it, just to get the image out of it.”
Step 4: Detailing
Once he’s shaped the rough form, Taylor moves on to the detail work. This is one of the most challenging and time-consuming stages of the process, especially when sculpting people or multi-image scenes. “You’ve got to figure out how you’re gonna have the man or the lady drumming or dancing and the movement, which is a big thing. And then you get the details of the hands, the feet, the face, the hair and the clothing they wear,” he says.
Depending on the brittleness or condition of the ivory, he may adapt his idea or switch to working on a different piece while the roughly formed one spends some time soaking in oil to further avoid cracking.
Step 5: Smoothing and Sanding
After detailing the piece, Taylor begins smoothing the surfaces using stone bits in his Dremel and then dry sanding by hand. “I’ll use little stone bits to smooth out all the rough edges, the cracks and the file marks.” He follows this with water sanding—a multistep process that helps bring out the ivory’s shine and finish. “You soak the carving in a bucket of water. You get water, sandpaper, wood sandpaper, and then you soak it. From there you sand the whole figure down. Then you start the whole process over with a higher number of sandpaper. It’s all water sanding that brings out the shine and the colour,” he says.
This step can take hours or even days, depending on the size and detail of the piece. “[It’s] the hardest part of it, and [it’s hard on] your hands, because you’ve got to be careful when you’re sanding that you don’t sand off the detail work.”
Step 6: Polishing and Oiling
To finish the piece, Taylor oils the piece again and applies a jewellery-grade polish called Fabulustre, which seals the oil into the piece and enhances the shine. “I usually let people know [when they buy a piece] that after a year or two, to oil it down because once they sit in a place for a long time, they tend to dry up and start breaking or cracking,” he says.
Passing It On
“All of the jewellery work that I do is self-taught from watching other artists,” he says. Over the years, he’s encouraged younger artists to try working with ivory to make jewellery and miniature sculpting, explaining that the skills translate into better detail work on larger sculptures later.
He has already started passing this knowledge on to his daughter, showing her the process for making earrings and other small pieces. “I say it's a good thing to pass down to younger artists, to try something different.” He also advises younger artists not to be discouraged by the learning curve: “Some will catch on right away—[it’s important to] just continue to use the materials we're getting off the land.”
Notes
1. All quotes Derrald Taylor, interview with Carly Brooks, July 2025.