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Home My WebLink AboutClark Mundy Salmon's Gift For many hundreds of years, human life thrived on the Pacific Northwest Coast amongst a grand abundance of salmon. As primary food and foundation of community life, the salmon has always been highly revered in Northwest tribal culture, becoming family to the people, and a deeply sacred bearer of both immortality and wealth. Native tradition teaches that rightful honoring of salmon as life-source brings prosperity, and today the bones of each spring's earliest harvested salmon continue to be returned to the river in the tribes' "First Salmon Ceremony." The Salmon's incredible and arduous life journey can cover thousands of miles— first as fry traveling downriver to smolt, then out to sea for 1 to 5 years as adults, and finally as spawners pressing upstream with resolve toward their birthplace. When both male and female salmon return from the nutrient-rich ocean to their home river to reproduce and die, their decaying bodies nourish the entire watershed, fortifying the forest web that supports not only us humans but hundreds of species. Ancient recyclers, Salmon teach us that we can't have birth without death, and that all life is connected—when salmon thrive, so do we. What a gift they are to us! I've lived on the North Olympic Peninsula of Washington State for most of my 64 years. Now the historic removal of the Elwha River Dams near our home is allowing the wild salmon to return to their ancient spawning grounds for the first time in 100 years. Much of my current work celebrates the return of the legendary Elwha Chinooks to their freed river, and honors the restoration of the Elwha watershed and our nearshore—which will in turn revitalize our community, the Elwha Klallarn Tribal culture, and the growth of our region. I am excited to witness the beginnings of this rebirth, and find myself in a time of new possibilities, too. I am ever grateful for the phenomonal support of my local community in building a strong foundation for my copper work. Salmon's gift to us is so big, and so vital to our common survival. My native friends have taught me that the human spirit and the spirit of salmon are one, indivisible. I hope that my hand-hammered copper salmon will inspire you to honor that bond, and that the Spirit of Salmon will bring you prosperity.With, ratitude, With, Cl r Mundy CLARK MUNDY ail Copper and Wood i Clark Mundy is a native of the west Olympic Peninsula who has resided in the foothills near Port Angeles, WA since 1979. A boyhood spent in the woods and on the water sparked his creativity early on, and his love of the natural world has continued to inspire a wide variety of art forms throughout his 60 years. These have ranged from painting, photography, building, woodworking, printmaking, , and copper sculpture. As a teenager, Clark was inspired by his grandfather to paint, and his watercolors were shown in several western Washington locations. His love of building then spurred him into many years' work in every aspect of construction, from operating heavy equipment to fine woodworking, including a stint in the boatbuilding industry. In the 90's Clark crafted hundreds of unique handmade boxes from several species of salvaged northwest wood, including Western Red Cedar, Alaska Yellow Cedar, & Pacific Yew. In 2000, Clark was invited to study Northwest Native woodcarving with Al Charles Jr and Darrell Charles Jr of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe. Collaborative works with these artists are on display around the Pacific Northwest, including "Elwha Return," a mixed-media piece in the lobby of the Clallam County Courthouse, which the three artists created to support the conservation goals joining the North Olympic Land Trust, local governments, and the people of the region. To find out more about the Courthouse Art Project, which to date has gathered over $30,000 for local preservation work, visit www.northolympiclandtrust.org. Clark's primary medium of expression today is copper, being drawn to its ancient associations and malleable qualities. Favorite subjects are the fish and sea life native to Northwest waters, especially the legendary Elwha River Chinook salmon. Self taught, Clark hammers the copper into releif from the reverse side with a technique called "repousse," (French for "pushed back") heating and working each piece many times to reach the desired shape. He finishes with a torched and/or traditional oxidized patina, which is usually protected by a tough automotive topcoat for outside placement. Clark is one of a few copper artists who still creates each piece freehand. Much "hand-hammered"copper available today is produced using a mold, which takes far less time. Clark's work is easily viewed around Port Angeles. In 2008 he installed twenty-one copper salmon swimming up the spiral staircase inside the Landing Mall on the Port Angeles waterfront, an upstream journey which culminates in a seven-foot high salmon sculpture on the 2nd floor. Enitled "The Gift," Clark's river of salmon art project honors the Spirit of Salmon, and to the continued vitality and natural beauty of the Olympic Peninsula. In 2010 Clark teamed up with Tom Rankin of ONA Landscaping to create a 9-ft copper fountain sculpture with cedar bench & the planter for the Great Hall of the new Lower Elwha Klallam Heritage Center at First and Peabody Streets in Port Angeles. Named "Elwha: Journey Home," this art installation celebrates the return of the wild salmon runs to their ancient spawning grounds on the Elwha River. Clark's hammered copper accents adorn the building's inside pillars, and it was a special honor to create the copper welcome masks above the Center's entrance, which were designed by Al Charles Jr. from old Coast Salish tradition. 2011 produced a 20 foot sign and sculpture for the Feiro Marine Life Center entrance on City Pier in Port Angeles. Called "Lucy and the Welcome Crab," this copper and stainless steel installation features a giant Pacific octopus, Chinook Salmon and Dungeness Crab. Inside the Feiro stands a floor to ceiling cedar story pole & bench called "Kindred Spirits," which Clark created to honor Art Feiro and Will Wirt, the men whose shared vision brought the Marine Center into being. Most recently, Clark created a series of large copper masks and lampshades for the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe's campus in Rlyn, WA. Three-dimensional sculpture, including signs, lampshades, weathervanes, fountains, and wall compositions are his passion now. Sculptures may be combined with carved cedar, abalone, and/or stone to create mixed media pieces. Custom work is welcome, and no vision is too big or too small—your imagination inspires! You can find Clark on the web at both coppersalmon.com and facebook.com/clark.mundy, by phone at 360-912-1193, or by email to illfc_ )ppQrfia ma D..Q.QL% Thank you for your interest! , „ MW honored I am r° s y hand-hammered copper salmon as a gift to be presented from o l of Port Angeles to the l of Mutsu City. As a life-long resident the Olympic Peninsula, my heart jumps up to see the return of the salmon to the l River near Port Angeles, and I can think of no better symbol of the prosperity t t comes from inter-relationship of all peoples all life. "rhis Elwha Chinook has Coast st s lis crescents and a human face, reminding us that the human spirit the it it of salmon arY d It is called "Seven rati s," asking s to i f l of both the Est and the r° s nt in o 'Toe ' �.1r)