Tag: Indigenous Art

Behind the Art, Behind the scenes, Drum December, How Po Makes Hand Drums, Indigenous Art, Kingston Artist, Portia Chapman

Drum December Day 18 – How to Soak Deer Rawhide Before Stringing the Drum

Portia "Po" Chapman
A top-down view of translucent deer rawhide submerged in a water bath, with an artist's hands guiding the skin and a large dark rock used as an anchor to keep the hide from floating.
The “Sacred Soak” begins. On Day 18, we prepare the deer skin for the white oak frame. This stage requires patience, clean water, and natural earth anchors like quartz or geodes to hold the hide beneath the surface for a full 24 hours.

Preparing the Rawhide is as Much About Honour as it is Technique

Preparing the rawhide on Day 18, we step away from the woodshop and begin the patient process of rehydrating the rawhide. This is a slow, quiet transformation that requires respect for the animal and an understanding of the specific needs of the skin.

Step 1: Choosing the Voice of the Drum

I source my rawhide from across Canada, and I’ve learned that even within the same species, every hide has its own unique quality. In my workshop, I work with deer, elk, moose, and bison.

  • The Rule of Thumb: Generally, the larger the drum, the larger the species of rawhide required.
  • The Scale: Deer is typically the thinnest and smallest, while moose and bison are the thickest and largest. Moose is so substantial that I often purchase it in quarter-sections.
  • Today’s Choice: Because our White Oak frame is on the smaller side, I am using a beautiful, translucent deer rawhide.

Step 2: The Rough-Cut

Before the water touches the skin, we must define its shape. I lay the drum frame directly onto the rawhide and cut a piece that extends about 2 inches beyond the frame all the way around.

  • Tools of the Trade: For deer and elk, a pair of tin-snip scissors works perfectly. For the heavy moose or bison, I switch to a jigsaw.
  • A Maker’s Hint: Trim off any sharp points or jagged edges during this stage. This prevents the rawhide from marking or scratching itself during the soaking and stretching process.

Step 3: Entering the Water

Soaking is about preservation. It is essential to use a clean vessel that is entirely free of soap residue, as we want to preserve the natural oils within the skin.

  • The Vessel: In the summer, I love using a galvanized wash tub filled with fresh rainwater. In the winter, I move to the laundry tub and use distilled water.
  • The Anchor: When the hide first enters the room-temperature water, it often wants to float. To keep it fully submerged, I weigh it down with rocks—specifically geodes and quartz. I can’t explain the science behind it; it simply feels right to anchor the animal skin with the bones of the earth.

Step 4: The Patient Wait

The rawhide needs time to remember its suppleness. I typically leave it to soak for 24 hours, though thicker hides like moose may need a little longer.

How do you know it’s ready? You will feel a change in the texture. The rawhide will feel thick in your hands and the color will transition into a soft, opaque white.

Join us tomorrow for Day 19 (December 27, 2025). We will lift the rawhide from its bath and begin the powerful work of stretching it over our White Oak frame.

Read more about my art and contact information at Love Art By Po and the many drums I make.


To contact me directly, please use this email:

📧 Portia@loveartbypo.ca

One response to “Drum December Day 18 – How to Soak Deer Rawhide Before Stringing the Drum”

  1. Professional Archive: Projects, Research, and Artistic Practice by Portia “Po” Chapman, Kingston Artist – Love Art by Po Avatar
    Professional Archive: Projects, Research, and Artistic Practice by Portia “Po” Chapman, Kingston Artist – Love Art by Po

    […] Day 18: Soaking Deer Rawhide […]

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Behind the Art, Behind the scenes, Drum December, Drum Works, How Po Makes Hand Drums, Indigenous Art, Kingston Artist, Po's Drum Making Process, Portia Chapman

Drum December Day 14: Stepping Into the Winter Workshop

Portia "Po" Chapman
Portia Po Chapman in a pink beanie and sunglasses smiling in front of the Love Art By Po studio sign for Drum December Day 14 Winter Workshop reveal.
Stepping into the winter workshop for Day 14! The real-time race to New Year’s Eve begins.

From Summer Bends to New Year’s Song: The Real-Time Race to December 27

Welcome to Day 14! The seasons have shifted, and it is officially winter here at the Love Art By Po studio. As I toss this fresh Kingston snow into the air, I am inviting you to step out of the summer archives and follow along with the Drum December real-time videos from inside my workshop, where it is warm.

We have finally moved back into the winter wood shop to finish the frames that we have been working on throughout the first thirteen days of Drum December. Sitting here at my bench, surrounded by some of the cherry, maple white oak frames I crafted in the heat of the summer, the journey ahead feels both exciting and urgent. On New Year’s Eve, I plan to drum a drum made from one of these hardwood dry-bent drum frames.

It is December 22nd, and we are now in real-time. My goal is to transform this raw white oak frame into a finished work of art—much like this sanded, green-stained, and varnished maple frame beside me (featured in the video below).

The clock is ticking toward my December 27th deadline. We must have the frame ready to string by then so the rawhide has the time it needs to dry, allowing us to drum in the New Year together.

Between Christmas celebrations and family gatherings over the next four days, I will be balancing holiday joy with shop discipline. To transform these raw summer hoops into a finished masterpiece, I need to follow these specific steps:

The 8-Step Sprint to Stringing

  1. Level the Joint: Using a drum sander, I’ll sand the joint edges. The goal is to make the overlapped ends appear as one continuous, seamless hoop.
  2. Progressive Sanding: I’ll sand the entire frame using 80, 120, and then 220 grit papers. It is vital to start coarse and transition progressively to the finest grit.
  3. Detail Work: Using a “mouse,” palm sander, or oscillating sander, I will delicately sand every inch until the wood is perfectly smooth and all scratch marks vanish.
  4. The Hand-Finished Touch: I’ll complete the final sanding by hand for total control.PRO-TIP: Do NOT use 400+ grit sandpaper. If the wood is too “polished,” the stain cannot penetrate effectively to reveal the beautiful, natural woodgrain.
  5. Custom Color: I’ll hand-mix a custom stain and apply it to the wood with a cloth to bring out its unique personality.
  6. The First Coat: The frame moves to the painting studio for its first layer of varnish.
  7. Refining the Finish: Once dry, I’ll lightly sand the varnished frame and wipe it down with a tack cloth to ensure it is dust-free.
  8. The Final Glow: I’ll apply the remaining coats. While I hope for two, sometimes it takes three or four to reach the perfect luster.

Why the Frame Matters

I treat my drum frames like a standalone piece of art because I choose not to fully cover the outside edge with the rawhide. I want the wood to highlight and accent the rawhide head, not just support it.

Come back tomorrow for Day 15 for the full drum sanding tutorial. It is truly amazing how rough, unfinished wood can be transformed to look like opaque stained glass.

See you tomorrow for Day 15!



Read more about my art and contact information at Love Art By Po and the many drums I make.

To contact me directly, please use this email:

📧 Portia@loveartbypo.ca

One response to “Drum December Day 14: Stepping Into the Winter Workshop”

  1. Professional Archive: Projects, Research, and Artistic Practice by Portia “Po” Chapman, Kingston Artist – Love Art by Po Avatar
    Professional Archive: Projects, Research, and Artistic Practice by Portia “Po” Chapman, Kingston Artist – Love Art by Po

    […] Day 14: The Winter Workshop […]

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Behind the scenes, Drum December, Drum Works, How Po Makes Hand Drums, Kingston Artist, Po's Drum Making Process, Portia Chapman, Portia Po Chapman Frames and Stretchers, Portia's Adventures, Studio Process, Uncategorized

Drum December Day 10 | How to Glue Before Clamping Drum Frame

Portia "Po" Chapman
On day 10 of Drum December, Po spreads glue on the white oak before clamping the drum frame to dry. Her assistant holds the frame firmly still at the Love Art By Po Kingston Art Studio
Drum December Day 10 – Po Glues the White Drum Frame Before Clamping the Dry-Bend

Choosing the Right Glue for Handcrafted Drum Frames | Drum December Day 10

At the Love Art by Po studio in Kingston, I believe that building a professional-grade drum frame is as much about the type of glue as it is the technique used to apply it.

Different moisture levels in wood require different chemical bonds. Whether you are working with freshly steamed “green” wood or seasoned dry wood, choosing the wrong adhesive can compromise the sound of your instrument. In today’s update, I’ll explain how to pick the right glue at your local hardware store to ensure a lifetime of pure sound.

The Challenge: Gluing Damp vs. Dry Wood

The first hurdle every drum maker faces is moisture. If you are bending steamed red oak, the wood is naturally damp.

Early in my practice as an installation artist, I treated drum frames like standard carpentry—LePage Pro Carpenter’s Glue. However, standard wood glue and damp, steamed wood do not mix. I would return to my shop table the next morning to find the joint “slimy” and uncured on the inside.

The Polyurethane Solution

To glue damp wood effectively, you need a moisture-activated adhesive like Original Gorilla Glue. This polyurethane glue uses the moisture in the wood to “activate” the bond. It bonds damp frames like a dream, but it comes with a significant trade-off: The Foam.

The Science of Sound: Why “Foaming” Glue Causes Rattle

If you want a pure, resonance-free tone, you must understand how glue affects vibration. Polyurethane glue expands into a foam, creating tiny air pockets within the joint.

Are Drum Frames Meant to Rattle?

  • The Rattle: If you enjoy a “smooth rattle” or mechanical reverberation, foaming glue is your best friend.
  • The Pure Tone: If you want a clean strike, never use foaming glue. The drum frame produces sound just as much as the rawhide. If your glue joint contains air pockets, the vibration of the drum strike can cause a “seam rattle” deep within the wood.

How to avoid the rattle:

  1. Glue the frame only when the wood is fully dry.
  2. Use a non-foaming moisture-resistant glue like Gorilla Glue Clear. (Note: “Non-foaming” glues can be slippery, making clamping a damp frame more difficult.)

Three Steps to a Rattle-Free Steamed Frame

If you are new to drum making, remember that hitting a drum with “enthusiastic force” will eventually shake loose any weak or brittle bonds. To ensure your steamed frame remains silent and solid, follow these three steps:

  1. Cooling Time: Let the wood cool until it is no longer steaming, but is still slightly damp before applying glue.
  2. Even Spread: Use a non-foaming polyurethane glue spread evenly across the entire joint.
  3. Pressure: Use 6+ C-clamps, applied two at a time on opposite sides to ensure even compression.

Innovating with Dry Wood Bending

For my premium drums, I prefer to glue the wood when it is fully dry. This produces a beautiful, rattle-free instrument. However, dry hardwood doesn’t like to bend—it behaves like a floor plank!

To solve this, I developed a proprietary dry-bending technique. The wood is pre-bent and shaped before the glue is ever applied. You can see the foundation of this technique in my previous posts: Day 5, Day 7, and Day 8.

My Go-To Choice: Titebond III

For dry, single-layer frames, I recommend Titebond III Ultimate.

  • Why? It offers a longer working time, becomes “tacky” quickly for better clamping, and is rated for both interior and exterior use.
  • The Secret: Let the wood and glue “perform their magic” for at least 24 hours before sanding or knocking the frame.

The “Drum Making Golden Rule”

Frame drums are built for life—they go from drizzling rain at a community circle to the dry heat of a bonfire. Because they are exposed to moisture, heat, and travel, your glue must be waterproof.

The Golden Rule:

No matter the purpose of the drum, ALWAYS use a high-strength, waterproof glue that produces zero (or nearly zero) bubbles.

Coming Tomorrow: Join me for Drum December Day 11, where I’ll share a deep-dive tutorial on Professional Clamping. I’ll show you the “tricks of the trade” to ensure your frame is perfectly circular and structurally sound.

See you tomorrow!

More information about Love Art by Po Drums

watch Video on Youtube
📧 Portia@loveartbypo.ca

2 responses to “Drum December Day 10 | How to Glue Before Clamping Drum Frame”

  1. Professional Archive: Projects, Research, and Artistic Practice by Portia “Po” Chapman, Kingston Artist – Love Art by Po Avatar
    Professional Archive: Projects, Research, and Artistic Practice by Portia “Po” Chapman, Kingston Artist – Love Art by Po

    […] Day 10: Gluing Before Clamping […]

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  2. Drum December Day 11 – How to Clamp a Drum Frame – Love Art by Po Avatar
    Drum December Day 11 – How to Clamp a Drum Frame – Love Art by Po

    […] Welcome back to Drum December! Today, we are diving into one of the most transformative stages of the process: using my innovative dry-bending technique to compress and clamp the drum frame. This method is born from my preference for non-polyurethane glues, which we explored in our Day 10 tutorial. […]

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Behind the Art, Behind the scenes, Drum December, Drum Works, How Po Makes Hand Drums, Kingston Artist, Po's Drum Making Process, Portia Chapman, Uncategorized

Drum December Day 9 | Trimming the Drum Frame to Size

Portia "Po" Chapman
Kingston Artist Po pointing to the trim line. The white oak steam-bent drum frame sits on the chop saw awaiting the first trim.
Po trims the white oak to the desired drum frame size at her Kingston Art Studio

Kingston Artist, Portia “Po” Chapman trims the white oak drum frame to size at her studio.

On day 8, my trusty assistant compressed the dry bent oak to the size that I wanted for the finished drum to become. As he held it in place, I marked the board with a pencil. Day 9, also marks the mid stage of drum frame creation.

Once we cut off the white oak at yesterday’s pencil markings, we will see the drum frame coming into its drum shape for the first time. I have a smaller trim miter saw, but I prefer using my 12″ chop saw with a trimming tooth blade installed. The larger blade alleviates the fiddliness of cutting the large hoop with a small blade.


Oh, and this trim will remove the breakage that we found on day 6. Phew!

Come back tomorrow, Day 10, when we move on to our next stage of drum frame creation: gluing and dry-bending. The next couple days are going to be exciting; we are on the homeward stretch now.

Come back tomorrow for Day 10 – when we apply the glue. There are 4 types of glue that we can use, I will explain the options on Day 10.

New to the blog? Read more about Po and her art here.

See you tomorrow!

watch Video on Youtube
📧 Portia@loveartbypo.ca

2 responses to “Drum December Day 9 | Trimming the Drum Frame to Size”

  1. Professional Archive: Projects, Research, and Artistic Practice by Portia “Po” Chapman, Kingston Artist – Love Art by Po Avatar
    Professional Archive: Projects, Research, and Artistic Practice by Portia “Po” Chapman, Kingston Artist – Love Art by Po

    […] Day 9: Trimming the Drum Frame […]

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  2. Drum December Day 11 – How to Clamp a Drum Frame – Love Art by Po Avatar
    Drum December Day 11 – How to Clamp a Drum Frame – Love Art by Po

    […] trimming the frame on Day 9, you are left with a piece of wood that has a massive 16-inch gap between the ends. It looks like a […]

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Behind the Art, Behind the scenes, Drum December, Drum Works, How Po Makes Hand Drums, Kingston Artist, Po's Drum Making Process, Portia Chapman, Uncategorized

Drum December Day 8 – Compressing and Marking the Drum Frame

Portia "Po" Chapman
On Day 8 of Drum December, at the Love Art By Po Kingston Art Studio, Po's assistant compresses the bent oak drum frame while Po marks the board where she will cut it on Day 9.
On Day 8 of Drum December, Po’s assistant compresses the bent oak while Po marks the board where she will cut it on Day 9.

Thank you for watching along as we engage on this drum making adventure. This is the first time that I have made a white oak drum frame and as you can see, it has been an adventure.

On Day 8 of Drum December, my assistant and I prepare the steam-bent white oak which is to be cut off in order to create my preferred drum diameter. The reason I mark the wood this way is because the best sounding drums have the least glue. So by marking it with both ends overlapping, I can judge how large the completed joint will become. I aim for a 2″ drum frame joint when the drum is complete.

For more information about Love Art by Po drums see here.

The Art of Compression Without Snapping the Frame

The process of compression without snapping the frame is exceptionally nuanced and requires much attention. This is the reason why I prefer dry-bending the final bend. The stunning personality of every piece of milled and bent timbre is felt as the compression reaches its limit. I have tried mechanical bending methods but those methods remove the connection with the fibres, and this process needs to be gentle and understanding.

Hugging Drums is Like Hugging Trees

Just because a tree is cut down and made into lumber, it never stops being a tree. I grew up listening to trees. For 18 years of my life, they sheltered me, comforted me, and taught me ancient lessons of beauty and strength. I met my ancestors as they stooped down, inviting me to sing as their branches drummed a beat for me to follow. In my second year of my BFA, the apple tree, that I used to climb as a child, died and began falling to the ground. In a way, I felt to blame for its loss of health.

You see, I left it in the field when I went away to University. So for my first large sculpture installation, I gave it back its voice by sculpting it back to its life giving form – even with birds nests and robin eggs. I could once agin hear it whisper. In the spring, when I returned to the field, the apple tree, at the very top, was growing leaves reaching to the sky. Today, as I make frame drums, it is my way of giving back to the trees – to hear their voices sing again. For me, I feel blessed to be a drum maker. It is a calling. It is LIFE! When shaping drum frames, I hug them just like I hug trees still able to stand. Every drum frame is realized out of love and respect.

To read more about Indigenous relationships with trees, follow this link. But please come back.

Gentleness Guided the Bend

For the compression, you will notice in the video, my assistant has rested the white oak on his lap. By doing so, he makes full contact with both sides of the new drum frame shape. He can feel the oak tighten and relax. He makes it look so easy after many years of woodworking, but this critical step truly requires inner stillness. After all, I learned to hug trees because of him. As he bends it, he can hear the oak say when it has coiled enough. Just as it reaches its chosen limit, I can sense it too.

This white oak, has required understanding more than the other hardwoods. But, when it reached its bend limit, instead of screaming out, it gave a relaxed sigh of relief, like it said: “Finally back home.”

Marking the Board

Due to the length of the video, it is unclear where I marked the piece. In this case, I marked it in two locations. Often, I do one continuous mark across both edges. Again, this is not a science. I wish that I could give a clear instruction, but it really is again about… Knowing the right spot(s).

To read more about my art practise, please click this link:

When I set out to write this post about this seemingly simple bend and mark, it was not my intention to share the spiritual, soulful relationship of bending drum frames. I guess, the ancestors thought that it was a good time to remind us that drum frames and drums are just as much part of this life as they were as trees. Please know that when you buy (adopt) one of the drums that I make, your drum has been nurtured into existence with care.

Come back tomorrow for Day 9 – the painful moment of cutting the frame to size.

See you tomorrow!

watch Video on Youtube
📧 Portia@loveartbypo.ca

3 responses to “Drum December Day 8 – Compressing and Marking the Drum Frame”

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    Professional Archive: Projects, Research, and Artistic Practice by Portia “Po” Chapman, Kingston Artist – Love Art by Po

    […] Day 8: Compressing to Frame Size […]

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  2. Drum December Day 10 | How to Glue Before Clamping Drum Frame – Love Art by Po Avatar
    Drum December Day 10 | How to Glue Before Clamping Drum Frame – Love Art by Po

    […] To solve this, I developed a proprietary dry-bending technique. The wood is pre-bent and shaped before the glue is ever applied. You can see the foundation of this technique in my previous posts: Day 5, Day 7, and Day 8. […]

    Reply
  3. Drum December Day 9 | Trimming the Drum Frame to Size – Love Art by Po Avatar
    Drum December Day 9 | Trimming the Drum Frame to Size – Love Art by Po

    […] day 8, my trusty assistant compressed the dry bent oak to the size that I wanted for the finished drum to […]

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Behind the Art, Behind the scenes, Drum December, Drum Works, How Po Makes Hand Drums, Kingston Artist, Portia Chapman

Drum December Day 3: Po’s Bendy Wood Reveal

Portia "Po" Chapman
Po Chapman holds a freshly sun-steamed hardwood plank in her backyard studio, demonstrating how flexible the wood has become during Day 3 of her Drum December drum-making process.
The Bendy Test — Po checks the flexibility of her sun-steamed hardwood before shaping it into a drum frame.

Today, Po reveals the next step in her innovative sun-steaming process — the moment when three days of sunlight, water, and patient preparation finally transform kiln-dried hardwood into a material that is ready to bend.

Testing the Wood After Three Days of Sun-Steaming

Today marks the moment when Po checks the results of the full three-day sun-steaming cycle. In yesterday’s post, we watched her begin this method by sliding the hardwood into the long ridged tube and filling it with water to let the sun do the work. By this morning, the fibres within the wood had warmed, expanded, and begun to relax. Now it was time to see whether the wood had softened enough to become flexible — or whether it needed more time in the sun.

After pouring out the steaming water, Po slid the hardwood out of the tube and laid it gently on the grass. The board emerges from the tube hot, ridged, and stiff — the opposite of what you might expect from a piece of wood that will soon become a circular drum frame. But this is where Po’s ingenuity comes in.

Still too hot to handle with bare hands, Po begins a technique she discovered through experimentation: walking on the wood. Wearing proper shoes, she carefully steps along the length of the board, back and forth, allowing her weight to massage the fibres into motion. The grass protects the surface from dents and provides the perfect soft foundation for the wood to ease into its new flexibility.

For about five minutes, she continues this rhythmic movement — a sculptor’s touch expressed through her feet rather than her hands. And then comes the test.

With one foot still grounding the board, Po gently lifts the opposite end.

In today’s video, you can see the moment the wood answers.

It bends — cleanly, smoothly, willingly.

This once rigid hardwood is now supple enough to be shaped into the elegant circular frame of a drum. What seemed impossible only days before becomes possible through Po’s blend of patience, innovation, and the natural power of the sun.

Tomorrow, Po will continue the transformation as she prepares the wood for its first bends toward the circle it is destined to become.

Drum December unfolds one authentic, beautiful step at a time.

Stay tuned for Day 4.

Watch the Drum December Day 3 on YouTube
📧 Portia@loveartbypo.ca

2 responses to “Drum December Day 3: Po’s Bendy Wood Reveal”

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    Professional Archive: Projects, Research, and Artistic Practice by Portia “Po” Chapman, Kingston Artist – Love Art by Po

    […] Day 3: Bendy Steamed Wood […]

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  2. Drum December Day 21: Drumming in the New Year 2026 – Love Art by Po Avatar
    Drum December Day 21: Drumming in the New Year 2026 – Love Art by Po

    […] how beautiful the Drum December drum turned out. This where we started with Drum December. You can learn exactly how we crafted this instrument by visiting the previous 20 days of the […]

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How Po Makes Hand Drums, Portia Chapman, Uncategorized

How to Make a Painted Drum: Kingston Artist Portia Po Chapman’s Method of Painting a Drum Face

Portia "Po" Chapman
How to Make a Painted Drum: Kingston Artist Portia Po Chapman’s Method of Painting a Drum Face
Portia Po Chapman Painting the Face of 14″ Elk Rawhide Drum: “Knowledge.”

Link to Phase 1: How Po Makes a Drum Frame
Link to Phase 2: How Po Works with Rawhide – Stretching and Stringing
Link to Painted Drum Page

Phase 3: How Po Paints the Face the Drums She Makes

Painting the face of a rawhide drum sounds much simpler than it is. The artist must keep in mind the nature of rawhide. Rawhide stretches and shrinks depending on humidity and temperature. Rawhide vibrates and flexes when it is drummed. Rawhide, is not smooth and sometimes has scars, hair, and wrinkles too. Most of all, each rawhide drum has its own sweet spots – where the drum sounds its best when drummed. Some drums even have multiple sweet spots and a couple locations whereby it makes a quiet sound when drummed. Therefore the paint needs to be thin, flat, translucent, and able to stretch. Po’s drums have addressed all of these issues in order to assure/improve longevity while enabling the drum to be drummed in both interior and exterior environments. When meeting the public at drum shows and art shows, Po is frequently told stories of paint cracking on drums made by other drum makers. Rest assured that Po drums every drum before selling them. Po also encourages clients to drum the drums before purchase as well. As far as the paint longevity – so far so good. Although many of the drums Po makes are sold to clients seeking works of art, Po still seeks to make beautiful drums that can be drummed. In short, whether you want to hang the drum on the wall or take the drum to a drum circle, the same amount of love and time is spent creating your masterpiece – and in so doing, every drum made by Po can be drummed. Po views drum making like this: “Why make a drum if you cannot drum it?!”

Po’s Phase 3 Drum Face Painting is as follows:

  • The image creation stage can happen overnight or as much as 3 months, it depends on the drum.
  • Usually Po will see an image in her mind while drumming the drum, but sometimes images visit her in her dreams.
  • Again, as strange as it sounds, Po says: “I just wait until I see what the drum wants me to see – and each rawhide is different.”
  • It is something like suddenly knowing what one will knit with the fleece that one has cleaned, carded, spun and dyed – each time is different – and so too is the sheep/goat that offered it in the first place.
  • Nature has a way of reaching through the noise and smiling upon us.
  • The image is sketched with a marker and then refined using a light table.
  • The flow of the lines begin to take over and the image you see appears.
  • The image is digitally cleaned up and a template is cut using a Cricut.
  • Upon the dry face of the rawhide drum, the template is traced using a 4H graphite pencil.
  • It is worthy to note that rawhide is a textile that varies widely in flexibility, texture, scarring marks and amount of hairs still present. This means that each drum is painted using a slightly different method.
  • Using a very special, flexible acrylic paint the images are lined (free hand brush painted) with “black” (if at all). The “black” is usually a deep, earthy purple.
  • Po thinly paints the images using #1 to #3 professional grade round acrylic or equivalent watercolour brushes. The images are not stensilled, stamped, or air brushed. The images are not stickers, which some people think because the painted images can appear to float due to the depth of the rawhide’s transparency.
  • Using Po’s innovative colour-blocking style, Po pulls apart the shades and hues. The result is an unblended image that invites the mind to seam together the colours in its own way. The images shift in different lighting conditions and when drummed, the image appears to leap off the face of the drum.
  • The image is briefly held up to an intense studio light, enabling Po to see where a second or third coat of paint is preferred.
  • Once dry, the painted face is lightly sprayed with a mist of archival UV resistant varnish.

I exhibit and sell the drums I make. Please contact me to purchase a completed drum of to discuss a custom hand drum made just for you. I am happy to paint you a drum with the image you choose or one that I create just for you. Custom images are from $250. Drums, with painted and not-painted faces, range from $200-$2000.

I look forward to fitting you with your drum.

Po Standing with Drum Booth
At the Gather in the County – Modern Textile Market – Picton, ON
June 15, 2024

Contact: portia@loveartbypo.ca

How Po Makes Hand Drums, Portia Chapman, Uncategorized

How to Stretch and String a Rawhide Hand Drum: Kingston Artist Portia Po Chapman’s Method

Portia "Po" Chapman
How to Stretch and String a Rawhide Hand Drum: Kingston Artist Portia Po Chapman’s Method
Po Stringing Her 24 Inch Elk Rawhide Drum Entitled: “Nature in Me.”

Link to: Phase 1 of Drum Making is Making the Drum Frame
Link to: Phase 3 – Painting the Drum Face
Link to: Painted Drums Page

Phase 2 of Drum Making is Working with Rawhide: Soaking, Stretching, Stringing

In order to make a drum, there are 3 basic stages of working with the rawhide: Soaking, Stretching and Stringing. Although these stages can be rushed, to achieve a premium drum that sings beautifully, it takes a lot of time, care and love. Hence, from receiving the rawhide to completing a playable tuned instrument, it takes about 1 month, sometimes longer. In my studio, I do all of the steps below. Please note that I do employ a shop hand to help detangle sinew when I am stringing large drums, like the one in the above image, because a 24 inch diameter drum requires a 100+ feet long continuous strand of sinew .

Phase 2 of Drum Making: Working with Raw Hide

  • Purchase sustainable rawhide that supports Indigenous communities across Canada.
  • Build relationship with the hide.
  • Humidity condition hide in the hide room.
  • Po waits for the hide to “speak” to her – it may sound strange but the hide will choose to make a drum or a drum will not be made. Working with rawhide requires patience and a lot of love.
  • Once the hide is ready to make a drum and make its voice once-again heard, Po introduces the hide to the frame options – this is a beautifully mystical step in Po’s drum making process whereby a holistic, earthy bond is made between wood, rawhide and drum maker.
  • With the marriage of drum frame and drum skin, Po designs a drum skin template with the number and placement of stringing pleats marked.
  • The rawhide is rough cut to match the shape of the template.
  • The rawhide is cleaned, scrubbed, pealed , rubbed and polished.
  • Sometimes the rawhide requires a sunshine bath or controlled UV bath.
  • Using a galvanized wash tub, Po soaks the rawhide for 24-48 hours in a rain water bath as the rawhide is kept submerged using special quartz and/or citrine rocks that she found while diving in her childhood lake.
  • Once the rawhide has become thick and pliable, it is removed from the water and rubbed with a soft terry towel. It is then cut to the shape of the pre-designed template.
  • String holes are punched (Po’s premium drums have between 16 and 30 pleats).
  • Of synthetic and waxed sinew, Po measures out about 5 feet per pleat – yes 80+ feet.
  • The frame is laid onto the underside of the rawhide and Po begins the lacing process.
  • As you can see in the above photo, generally, Po strings the drums by putting the string through two holes (to make pleat) on one side of the drum and then does the same on the exact opposite side of the drum. Po uses more decorative / ornate stringing patterns when stringing Po’s non-circular hand-bent drums.
  • Using a darning needle to string a drum, it takes Po between 2 hours and 8 hours of hand stitching, winding and wrapping the sinew as she pulls the rawhide into place. It can be tricky, when stringing large drums, because the hide begins to dry and become stiff within 30 minutes of being removed from the water. Aligning the timing of stitching and drying is possibly the most difficult thing for a drum maker must grow accustomed.
  • At this step, Po has found that the hide wins the tugging process. No matter how even the rawhide edge is originally made by Po, the rawhide will pull it to where it wants – resulting in a less uniform rawhide edge around the frame. Synthetic skin head drums do not present this challenge.
  • It is also worth noting that each animal and species’ rawhide pulls differently – and the spinal ridge pulls differently from the belly region. This takes a long time to get used to. In the case of working with rawhide as a textile, Po has had to relax and work with the rawhide, rather than demanding that it behave as she may want it to.
  • The drum is placed on the drum drying racks and is dried in a 50% humidity controlled space.
  • Once the drum is dry, it is taken out into the sunlight and drummed.
  • Po sings, chants and drums the new drum as they both rejoice. It is a seemingly miraculous happening.
  • Sometimes the general pitch of the drum is determined by drumming it beside a well tuned 1950’s Heinzman piano.
  • You cannot get use to the moment when the rawhide seems to come back to life and express its own voice and connection with the drummer.
  • The drum’s pulse throbs upon the breeze.
  • The ethers rejoice and the heart smiles with an air of wellness.
  • The central sinew knot at the back of the drum is then waxed. To try the drums, Po has people use nitrile gloves. When the drum is paid for and drummer is ready, the drummer’s glove is removed. At that time, the drummer & drum imprint. Their bond is marked by the drummer’s hand print pressed into the beeswax.
  • The drum is then cared for and sung with in the humidity controlled studio until it is to have a painted face (if it is ever painted – some drums refuse to be painted while other drums seek to be painted).
  • Another phenomenon then occurs – the drum picks the drummer at exactly the same time as when the drummer picks the drum. The moment of bonding is nothing short of magical.
  • Premium drums made by Po are very, very special – and premium special drums cannot be rushed.

I exhibit and sell the drums I make. Please contact me to purchase a completed drum or to discuss a custom hand drum made just for you. Drums range from $200-$2000.

I look forward to fitting you with your drum,
Po

Po Standing with Drum Booth
At the Gather in the County – Modern Textile Market – Picton, ON
June 15, 2024

Contact: portia@loveartbypo.ca

Art Print, Artist Portia Po Chapman Mural, Artist Portia Po Chapman My Creation, Portia Chapman, Portia's Adventures, Uncategorized

A Process of Art Planning Creation by Portia Po Chapman Kingston Artist

Portia "Po" Chapman
A Process of Art Planning Creation by Portia Po Chapman Kingston Artist

We all have our own method and strategy to create our art pieces. For me, I start with 2 things:
1/ An idea notebook that I enter flashes of visions, ideas, concepts, and sketches of possible cool things to do in the future. I also include inspiration quotes and sometimes reflections about my experiences. I keep sheets of paper on my bedside table to record dreams too. When one idea doesn’t float at one point, it may in the future.
The following image was eventually painted in 2022 as a mural for Queen’s University’s Kingston Hall Reflection Room but I first created it in 2018 for my 3rd year BFAH class and it was rejected by the professor because the prof said that, “It looks like something you’d paint in your garage.” The thing is, it was the beginnings of my current art style and landed me several commissions when I finally finished it outside the course.
“My Creation” mural took 4 years before it was commissioned and mounted. It began with a simple sketch and grew for years. The mural was created because the ASUS executive adored the original digital image and had been awaiting the chance to have it painted. This is often how commissions work. The organic growth and development of art concepts can take many turns until it reaches its destination. I still find the journey amazing.

“My Creation” Mural in Kingston
2022

“My Creation” Mural Complete in My Studio
2022

“My Creation” Mural Size Planning
(we chose square)
2021

“My Creation” Published as Cover Image
(the cover is more intense the photo is faded)
2019

“My Creation” Digital Journal Cover Proposal
2018

“My Creation” Began as a Sketch and Then I Painted
a Trial Image Which was Rejected by My Prof
2018

2/ The second thing I do for art creation is take photos or have photos of me in the environment. I like to catch a moment – the nuances of life that happen in a moment in time. The following digital image is a current idea that I am working on as I consider the painting medium and final expression. The piece is entitled, “My Drum and Me.”

“My Drum and Me” Digital Draft for Painting Planning
2023

“My Drum and Me” Stone Lithograph Art Print
2018

“My Drum and Me” Hand Drawing Lithographic Stone
2018

“My Drum and Me” Original Photo
A Family Member Took this Photo When I Was Drumming Outside
2017

Again as one can see, a beautiful moment in time captured by a photo and/or inspiration notes and drawings can lead to some really beautiful art pieces in the future. If anything, their journey materializes as life takes its own twists and turns. An art concept never gets old, it simply waits for its time to shine, but as it waits, the inspiration weaves itself through one’s career and the creation of other pieces. Art is not created in a vacuum – it lives and breathes through us as artists and art enthusiasts. Art is alive, even as it awaits its birth.

Never Ever Toss an Idea or Beautiful Life Moment

Art News, Portia Chapman, Portia's Adventures

Portia Po Chapman’s “Drumming Sounds of Colour” Exhibition is More Than Inspired by Nature

Portia "Po" Chapman
Portia Po Chapman’s “Drumming Sounds of Colour” Exhibition is More Than Inspired by Nature

“Drumming Sounds of Colour” exhibition is being displayed by the Parrott Art Gallery in Belleville Ontario. The collection features 15 hand drums that Po made and hand painted. It is the first drum exhibit of its kind.
In a recent press release ( Intelligencer local paper ) it is written: “…an exhibition by local artist and drum maker Portia “Po” Chapman, called “Drumming Sounds of Colour” located in our corridor cabinets. This painted hand drum exhibit and sale, displays fifteen drums. Most of the drums feature elk raw hide stretched over white cedar forms and are painted in colourful acrylics with designs inspired by nature…” 
Although it is true that the imagery is “inspired by nature,” it is truly inspired by Po’s experiences growing up with Nature. The 15 piece collection is inspired by Po’s personal relationship with Creation as she grew up in the woods west of Tweed, Ontario. Accompanying the drums are 6 poetic verses that Po and her family wrote together. They tell Po’s story – the story depicted in both the painted images and the size progression of the drums. As such, the exhibit delves into the life and mind of a girl, reclaiming her Indigenous heritage, growing into womanhood as she is guided by Creation. It is a story of the preservation of innocence as revealed in Nature.
The simplistic images, in Po’s characteristic style, are of creatures in relationship with each other and the human experience of that relationship. In this case, creatures seen and unseen. The exhibition also includes 3 drums focusing on virtues: “Love” features a mother and child beneath the watchful , loving protection of a Bald Eagle; “Knowledge” features two people sharing stories around a sacred fire beneath the wing of a Ravine knowledge keeper; “Truth” features two people standing on Turtle Island as Creator lifts the turtle above the turbulent sea.
The poetry features a telling of the drumming pulse of Creation and how it awakens us when we notice it throbbing through our individual and collective pulse. Here is an example:



The drum exhibit is an amazing feat, as it is the first of its kind, at least locally. As a mixed media visual story teller, Po created the exhibit with two things in mind, to share the beauty of her Creation experience and to inspire viewers to tell their stories and share what they see. The exhibit is an amazing experience to take time and to take in.
The exhibition runs until December 1, 2023. If you would like one of the drums for your personal collection, some of them are available for purchase. You can contact gallery staff and they will assist you.