By Dan Olson

Minnesota Public Radio News

LEECH LAKE RESERVATION — When you’re an artist working in porcupine quills, pain comes with the palette.

The quills — needle-like animal hair— are sharp and barbed. “When they go in,” says Mel Losh, “the stinging is so bad when you pull them out.”

Happily, most of Losh’s quills work their way into his art, not his fingers or the roof of his mouth. His intricate work — quill boxes and ornate bead work creations —has found its way into museums and private collections around the world.

 

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