Ron Newton

Scrimshaw, woodburning
and metalwork

Sweetwater Trail in the northern part of Brown County, Indiana has been the home and studio of Ron and Pam Newton for the last six years. Ron is mostly self taught, taking a few classes at the Indianapolis Art Center, J.C. Campbell Folk School in N.C. and Herron Art Institute and several other workshops here and there.

Ron’s interest in art started as a young man. Classes and experimentation in various art forms have included oil painting, drawing, print making, blacksmithing, wood working and others. Not all of these have resulted in sustained practice but have been combined with his work today to develop a style of his own.

While attending a knife show Ron discovered Scrimshaw.  After marveling at the beauty of this art form he decided to give it a try. That was 25 or so years ago and today Ron has sold his work in several galleries, at shows and has given a lot away to friends. About five years ago Ron was invited to teach Scrimshaw at the J.C. Campbell Folk School. While doing this he started developing handouts to use in the class as well as learning a lot from the students. All this resulted in Ron writing and publishing a book on how to scrimshaw. This book is based on his belief that anyone regardless their skills can learn to produce beautiful scrimshaw.

While looking for more creative ways to display his scrimshaw Ron discovered jewelry and metal work. This included copper and because of the many ways copper can be formed and used in art Ron has focused his energy lately on developing copper works. These include some useful objects and some that are just whimsical in nature.

The Brown County Craft Gallery is his latest adventure and he is sure his association there will push his art to new dimensions.