Salmon skin bark tanned

Ethical Making

Experiment

Heritage

Research

Sustainable

Traditional

The skin was tanned with powdered pine bark from dried logs. Fish skin was collected from a local fish store. The skins are waste material and can therefore often be collected for free.

Material

Composite
Experimental materials
Leather

Craft

Leather-working
Tinkering

General Technique

Combining
Structural modifying

Specific Technique

Bark tanning

Properties & Qualities

Application

Accessories Jewellery

Qualities

2D Flexible Opaque Textured / tactile Translucent Transparent Other

Colour

Brown Earth colour

Sample Information

Date of Creation

October 10, 2022

Dimensions

35 cm x 15 cm

Culture & Context

Project website prototype: fish

Process & Production

Bark tanning is an old way of tanning leather. Before chromium tanning became the industry standard, bark tanning used to be. It is a non-toxic method that where you take the bark of already dead trees and branches. As all bark contains tannins (what tanned the skins and make them into leather), local trees can be used.  

Recipe Details

Put the bark in a pot. Fill with water until it covers the bark. Bring it to a boil and then turn down the temperature and let it simmer for an hour. Now let it cool down to under 20 degrees Celsius. It is important throughout the whole process that the water is never higher than 20 degrees. An idea is to just leave it overnight. Then you put your skins into ¼ bark solution and ¾ water. Leave over night. Stir in the solution every few hours to avoid rot. Continue adding a bit of bark solution each day for 7 days. After 7 days, hang the skins to dry and soften them at the same time.

Credits

Craft Maker

Ragnhild Amalie Watvedt Jensen Sasha Gonzales Yoyo Peng Ieva Mikutaite

Library Contributor

Ragnhild Amalie Watvedt Jensen

Photographer

Sasha Gonzales Ragnhild Amalie Watvedt Jensen

Practitioner

Design School Kolding

Through education, development and research, Design School Kolding represents and supports a diversity of crafts, incorporating a broad range of material resources and using multiple techniques – analogue as well digital.

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