Ben Gaboury, of Scrimshaw Pottery, is a New England artist who grew up in Massachusetts, and received a fine arts degree studying ceramics in Portland, Maine. After developing skills for wheel throwing, he began experimenting with combining the 2 dimensional with 3 dimensional by adding illustrations to his pieces. He began thinking of his vessels as a canvas rather than just functional objects. Immediately he began portraying imagery that told stories. Never living far from the ocean, Ben saw scrimshaw as an easy and appropriate art form to combine with his contemporary wares. His work follows a utilitarian necessity that is artistically refined to be elegant and present a sense of splendor to the user.