At some point, Reed got hold of an elephant's tusk in an antique store and, taking a cue from scrimshaw artists, sliced it up on a band saw, sanded it smooth and began painting insects on it. Aside from being a lush, welcoming medium for acrylic paint, it lent a strong, organic tone to his early work. He made dozens of these paintings, and snapped up old ivory whenever it crossed his path, as new bans on its sale worldwide made it scarce.