Sharon M. Smith, a native of New Mexico, grew up painting the beauty of the Southwest. Experimenting with many different mediums, she settled into watercolor years ago. Traveling the states she has found an endless supply of inspiration. Sharon currently lives in Anchorage, Alaska with her husband Brian and their four young boys.

The Making of ‘Salmon Eggs’
‘ Salmon Eggs’, was a middle of the night revelation. Living in Alaska, our freezer is full of Salmon to eat and Salmon eggs to use for bait. A salmon body with chicken eggs stuck on it would be eye catching I thought. I chose the blue background color to offset the white and yellow of the eggs. The process to get the eggs on the body was fun, but time consuming as well.

                

My husband was a great help during the caulking and epoxy stages, as he is experienced in working those materials. We squeezed out a ‘dam’ of caulking in the shape of the white part of the egg. Then we let that dry overnight. We could only do one dam at a time because of the curve of the fish. Having to tilt the body one way or the other, it was easier to concentrate on one egg at a time.

After the caulk was hardened, Brian mixed Epoxy Resin with West Systems Hardener, 2oz. at a time. Then he poured the epoxy slowly into the egg shape. Before it dried we stuck half a ping pong ball into the middle of it for the yolk. This was repeated for each of the 13 eggs on the body of the salmon. Then I scraped the caulking off with a razorblade. The edges of the epoxy were then smoothed using a Dremel Tool. The egg hanging from the salmon’s mouth is made from a formable plastic called Thermoplastic, used in making various braces in Physical and Occupational Therapy. Brian, a physical therapist, had also worked with this material before. We drew the shape of the egg onto the sheet of plastic, cut it out and heated it up in a shallow pan of water on the stovetop. Then while it was still pliable we molded it in the mouth of the salmon. Again, half of a ping pong ball was then glued in place with epoxy. The entire fish was lightly sanded.

                

Next the salmon was vacuumed to remove all the dust, washed and dried. A coat of primer was applied over the entire salmon. Then two coats of blue spray paint were applied. I started painting each egg with enamel outdoor paint. After the eggs were finished (4 coats later) it was time to paint the inside of the mouth and detail the fins. I used Acrylic paints for this. I ordered the eyes from the taxidermist. Once those were glued in it really came to life! Then a final high gloss clear coat was sprayed over the entire salmon.

Now that the salmon is finished and ready to turn in, our children will miss eating dinner next to the huge blue egg-covered salmon on the dining room table.
This project was an absolute blast to work on and we are so thankful to have been selected to share our ideas with the great city of Anchorage. Thank you!

Happy fishing,

Sharon and Brian Smith