I received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics from Saint Francis College in Bidderford, Maine, In 1973 I accepted a teaching position at Westport High School where I met Robert Rayno, the art teacher. As part of the class curriculum, he taught a section on scrimshaw. I sat in on many of his classes and purchased the necessary tools and ivory to begin etching. Combining my natural artistic ability with the techniques learned from Mr. Rayno, the cornerstone of "Spouting Whale" was established.
The quality of my artwork kept improving over the next few years. In 1975 I answered an advertisement for a seasonal shop in Provincetown, MA. It was at this point that my hobby matured into my business. I continued on with both careers, having my scrimshaw business monopolize much of my free time. The retail stores, craft shows, and the development of a wholesale business where the avenues of sale for my artwork. We began to do trade shows in 1976 to increase the wholesale business. During the same year, Spouting Whale Inc. was created. Spouting Whale is our ivory line of the business. As the wholesale business grew, I was required to hire more artist and jewelry assemblers to keep up with the growing demands. The period from 1974 - 1978 we employed six people on a part time basis.
Continuing growth, Spouting Whale In
c., began doing artwork on knife handles for various knife companies. In 1982 I realized the growth potential of my business and decided to devote full time to the development. It was at this point I decided to take a leave of absence from my teaching. In the following years I opened a variety of retail stores. Throughout the rest of the 1980's, I continued to make, distribute, and retail antique ivory scrimshaw pieces. In the 1980's I started working with a resin based scrimshaw, otherwise known as "faux" scrimshaw. In 1994, I got out of the retail business to focus solely on the wholesale of my antique ivory and resin scrimshaw line. We have continued to supply various parts of the United States with our line, and continue to work with most major knife companies to produce knife handles. In 2003, we found that our resin takes a dye sublimation process. This is similar to a heat transfer.
We currently have a studio in Fall River, MA where we make all of our products.
Bill Feeney
Owner