One factor that makes The Loft on Main such a delight is that curators showcase artists who work in a variety of media. Any visitor will find something to examine, admire, or appreciate. Patrons purchase items to use, wear, display, or gift.
Currently in the gallery window is an unusual, hand-carved musical instrument made of wood, bone, metal, and paint. Although “it still plays,” it is for display only. This piece of art surely will attract attention, because the body is a skull!
On Saturday afternoon, February 23, 2019, Jim C. Ellicott and wife Kathy, of Fenton, IL, entered the gallery. He carried a functioning electric guitar he had fabricated in 2012. It is 48″ long with a body 14″ wide. Ellicott has “made several electric guitars since the 1980’s.” The skull design began when his son’s friend commented that “a skull or skeleton would be neat.”
Ellicott stated, “That was the most elaborate one that I’ve made. The face material was carved from soft maple, from a tree that grew by Fulton[, IL]. It took months [as he] sanded repeatedly to get the contours of the cheeks just right and blended the paint colors.” Even with his years of experience, “it takes awhile. It’s still a lot of work and figuring things out.”
He made facial sketches, so the [purchased] Hipshot bridge would fit under the nose, and the pickup would be held in the skull’s carved, soft maple teeth. The purchased Seymour Duncan pickup is an electronic component that “changes the strings’ vibrations into an electric signal and sends it to the amplifier.”
“My son wanted [the skull] to have gnarly teeth,” he recalled.
- He carved the neck and peg head from hard maple.
- The tuner pegs were purchased from Hipshot.
- Ebony was used on the fret board.
In making art, there is inspiration or idea origination. This hand-carved guitar has two, cylindrical, Volume and Tone Controls carved from bone. Ellicott explained his parents had been to a butcher to buy beef bones for his dogs. He picked up bone pieces from the yard and carved them into knobs. He named the guitar “Skelety” after a childhood fear. When he was a youngster, Ellicott said he imagined a scary skeleton lived behind the furnace in the basement.
On February 23, “Skelety” was installed atop a display cabinet in The Loft on Main. Later it was moved to the gallery window for more visibility. Come take a look, and imagine the sound Jim Ellicott’s creation would make. He says, “It’ll play!”
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