If you have ever had the chance to dine at Carnal, a downtown Bellingham restaurant, then you might have noticed a large wall covered in marrow bones. This wall is one of many pieces of art made by Carnal chef and co-owner James Zamory.
The idea for the wall started during the COVID-19 pandemic when Zamory had been trying to brainstorm design ideas for the restaurant on a budget.
Marrow bones are used heavily for Carnal’s signature dish: slow-cooked bone-in beef short ribs. Marrow from the bones is rendered to a liquid state and brushed onto the ribs to create a unique buttery taste.
After a rough learning curve of trying to make the bones art-ready, Zamory found someone who offered a unique service: cleaning bones using beetles. He would send the bones to the beetle farmer whose bugs would naturally clean them. Then the farmer soaked them in potent hydrogen peroxide and sent them back.
Zamory also makes paintings using various leftover materials such as pigs’ blood, red wine, charcoal powder, herbs and more. Some of these pieces were recently shown in the Geheim Gallery downtown.
“I didn’t realize that I would ever be going in an art gallery, and that was never my intention,” Zamory said. “I was just trying to figure out ways to design on a dime essentially.”
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