Dem Bones

What a fun bony song.  It should provide a pleasant aural wallpaper for this story of deer bones.

It’s a short story, really, not too exciting but I like the pictures I took of the process so here we are.  The photos are connected to my fascination with connections.

This skull was brought to me by a new client who was referred by a friend who I suppose heard of me through someone else and that’s how that chain of connection went.  He had a deer skull in a plastic bag, in multiple parts, for years.  My job was to articulate it  which I did and you can see below:

What I’d received was the  skull, top vertebrae and jaw bone which was split in two pieces.  After boiling and giving the parts a rough cleaning, I adhered the jaw bone together with glue and lined it up with the skull.

It’s kind of beautiful how the jaw slips under the skull like that, just behind the eye orb.  Looking at this made me think of sinuses and how if one part of the face is compromised the entire visage suffers.

Because it’s all connected.

After lining it up, I made marks where I’d need to drill holes and proceeded.  Carefully.  Once the holes were made I ran steel wire through and “knotted” the ends.

The same went for connecting the vertebrae to the skull:

And that’s it for the bone zone.  Hope you liked this.  I hope you can appreciate how cool our insides are.

Getting out of the Rut.

A week or so ago, a local hunter contacted me via my Yelp page (speaking of which, why don’t you stop over there and leave some feedback about my services, guys and gals?  I’d really appreciate it) in search of some professional help with a European deer skull mount he was just about finished working on when the antlers plumb dropped off.    Apparently , the buck was just coming out of rut when he harvested it, and somewhere in the skull cleaning process the antlers decided to fly the coop.

Full disclosure:  I am not certain that I am using the term “rut” correctly; conversations with hunters and the internet tell me it refers to the period of time when a buck is on the prowl; he beefs up (this much I know from seeing the thick mountains of line-backer neck muscle on trophy mounts caught mid-rut) and makes a lot of noise and fights and all the carnal things that go along with finding a mate.  I think the word rut can also refer to when their antlers fall out, which happens every year around late Autumn to early Winter, depending on climate and location.  If I am speaking out of term, please let me know in the comments section.  Perhaps, I could incorporate some posts from guest bloggers, as I’ve always been interested in hunting but remain outrageously uninformed.  Rest assured, potential clients, my ignorance should inspire confidence in my work!  It serves you well to hire a taxidermist who doesn’t spend all her time in a tree stand when she should be working on your trophy mount.

All that said, here is the almost European mount, in three pieces.  The orange you see at the root of one antler is glue residue from a prior attempt to re-attach them, which proved unsuccessful.

Skulls are so beautiful.  Treat yourself and take a moment to marvel at how amazing this feature of our anatomy is.

The bottom of the antler.  The english-muffin-like texture of the break points makes sense; it facilitates the release of the horns instead of them just falling out with roots like some bloody teeth.

 

I drilled holes at all four connection point and inserted a steel bracing rod into each of the two on the skull.  After securing with epoxy, I shimmied the antlers onto the bracing rods, forming a perfect union.

It took some measuring and finesse to ensure that the antlers would “land” in the correct placement in relation to the skull, on top of that, I made pencil notches along the outside which would line up when everything was in place.

Now that the mount was back in one pice, I had to address the rough transition point between horn and skull.

I used some top secret taxidermist sculpting clay to create a transition surface and blended it all together.  While it dried I applied texture to match the natural surface of that particular part of the skull.

After it was set and dried, I painted the clay to further blend it all together.  Here is the finished product.  Unfortunately  the fuller picture I took came out blurry but this gives you an idea.  And the customer was satisfied which is all that matters in my book.

 

Happy hunting (what’s left of it)!

 

Twenty for Twenty #7: Cherie Lily

Behold the goddess known as Cherie Lily.  I have been an admirer of hers since I first met her, briefly, in the ladies room of some bar in Austin during South by Southwest, 2010.  (Which, technically should make her ineligible for this project since it’s about folks I’ve never met but nobody cares so there).  She was wearing a spandex get-up not unlike the one you see pictured below, and washing her hands. I walked in with my friend and exclaimed, “Great outfit!  You look awesome!”, to which she replied, “Hey thanks, I’m performing upstairs if you’re interested!”, and I was too embarrassed to tell her I had no money to see any ticketed shows; I was only there to catch the free performances on the outskirts of the SXSW event…so I just peed and left it at that.

Cut to two days later when my friends and I went to see the free GWAR show, and among the day long line-up of performers, there she was!  Cherie Lily, onstage with Andrew WK, aerobic dancing and looking like a neon spandex glamour queen.  In between songs, the audience was treated to multiple aural doses of positivity, feeling good, loving yourself, and being beautiful no matter what anyone says.

Does that sound hokey?

Well then go fuck yourself.

Sorry, harsh.  What I mean is, if that sounds hokey it’s probably because self-acception/celebration is an unfamilliar concept to you.  And that is sad.  Forget what your family/acquaintances tell you and embrace your body, your dreams, all of it.

YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL.

This attitude in mind, I started with a felt hat from a vintage collection I received as a gift from a friend (more about that in the future), a bright kelly green one because of the strength represented in that hue.  It had some wear and tear; I re-pressed it ad gave it a new shape, but some of the small pock marks couldn’t be erased.  That’s ok, I thought, they’re the small imperfections which document a full life lived.

I placed the taxidermy accent pieces under a studded flap on the side of the hat; chicken feathers, red squirrel tail, dyed deer tail, and some blue dyed feathers which I acquired with another vintage hat. When worn, this would be the straight-on view:

It’s on the small side, meaning that it’s more like a fascinator since it won’t fit snugly on the head; it will need to be set in place with combs or a hair pin.  I sewed two combs on the inside, envisioning her pulling it back over her thick hair and it resting in place.  But, this is an unsolicited gift for a woman I can’t even say I know, so all I can do is touch wood and hope it works out on her head.  I did get a thank you email from her this morning, all full of kind and gracious words, but I can’t help but wonder if maybe it didn’t fit well enough.  Alas, she said she can’t wait to wear it so I’ll eagerly await any possible sighting of her in this little ditty.

Finally, as a detail, I incorporated an old wrestling pin I rescued from the trash heap in my brother’s room.  The ten year old in me can’t help but chuckle at the homoerotic-ness of these two spandex clad men in such an embrace, and I thought, as a gay icon, she would appreciate it.

As a gay man with lady parts, I know I can.

Let me know if you see her wearing it, New Yorkers!

And thanks Cherie Lily, for inspiring self-confidence in little freaks like me who never felt they could possibly fit into any of the factory modeled forms provided.

20 for 20 #2: Turd is the Word

I got a sweet note from my newly minted overseas pal The Fashion Turd, so it’s safe to post about what I sent her:

The Turd received a custom created, larger than life, bird talon hair stick!  Based on photos from her blog, she’s got a head full of colorful locks, which made the job fun to the power of awesome because 1) dread locks are thick and strong, and therefore can hold pieces with a bit of heft, and 2)someone who deliberately works their hair into this style is most likely open to wearing items that are less than conventional.

That said, I felt free to go bonkers.  I started with the talons of a very large chicken (sourced from one of my farmer friends) clutching a chunk of electro-formed copper with a crystal embedded in it.  Once this was mounted on the hair stick, I embellished the base with dyed deer tail, rabbit fur and pheasant feathers.  I felt free to get as far out as my heart could carry me, knowing this gifteewould appreciate the outlandishness of it all.

Due to the size and weight of the claw end of the stick, some balance was needed both for aesthetic and functional purposes.

This was achieved by running a large link chain from the top, to a cap which would attach to the bottom, so the stick could be worn securely like so:

I’m sure she’ll make it look even better than I am in this photo.  Now that it’s in her little paws, I am excited to see how she wears it.  I imagine it could even serve as a unique sweater/kilt/cape/shawl closure clasp, not to mention sharp pointy self-defense mechanism for those late night crawls home from the bar, er…pub.  Mind the gap, ye!

xoxo, BB

ps: I don’t mention it in every post but it should pretty much be assumed that all product shots seen on this blog, as well as on my etsy and website, are done by my on site photographer and husband, Jim Coughlin.  He also is a musician and painter; check out his stuff here: SnapBlamSplat

 

Up next: a client update or two

Coming soon on the 20 for 20 project: girl hunters, drag queens and another fashion dragon from the UK!

Pretty feet, pretty face

I’ve had these three deer feet from the first deer I ever skinned all by myself, way back last year while I was up in school.  The cape, unfortunately, had some bacteria from exposure (by the time the doe got to me, she had been expired for some time) but I managed to salvage the legs for future use.  I found inspiration in the form of a gift for a couple of dear friends (har har) up in NY who have a deep appreciation for all things art….including the art of looking good.

What we’ve got here is a  deer hoof with a miniature mirror mounted on the front.  It is to be hung near the door so as to provide one last check yourself spot before heading out for th evening.  Spinach-free teeth?  Check.  No crusty eyes?  Check.

 

I capped it off with some copper tubing and a hen foot (going with the pedi theme)clutching a gemstone.  Garnished with some feathers and voila!  A Christmas present I’m hoping will please.

 

Happy holidays!

Adventures in Home Tanning

Most taxidermist send their hides to a tannery; it makes sense when the skins start piling up and the work looks daunting.  Plus, home tanning takes time and effort.  I figured I only have a couple of green hides though so I’d try it myself.

The process takes about three days, and I diligently checked and stretched my raccoon and deer cape each day at the same time.  The coon skin, being thinner, took less time and I was exceptionally pleased with the final result:

Here he is, drying out in our bathtub.  This situation right here has me convinced that I will have to employ a professional tanner in the future, as my house is tiny and the bathtub meant for people.

Here’s the deer cape drying out the next day.  Unfortunately, I must’ve skinned it after some bacteria had taken up residence, because the fur was coming out in clumps.  I was somewhat beside myself seeing as this was the first deer I’d skinned all by myself and I was really gunning for a A+ hide, so I shoved it in the freezer for me to take out and deal with another time.

At least the raccoon was a success.  I taxied the skin onto the form; it’s in a climbing position with some tight corners.  Sewing was definitely a challenge.  Here’s his face, all pinned and carded up for drying.  This is a piece commissioned to me by my husband and he requested a mischievous sort of creature in the midst of a getaway after a bank heist.  I turned the lip up just a liiiiitle bit to indicate a grin, and the $ bag is almost done and ready to be attached to one of his little paws.

I spent about an hour blow-drying the fur; it seemed to take forever. But he dried very well and is hanging in my studio.  Today I will touch up his face and finish him.  Updates to come.

“Philadelphia will never be the same.”

Today was my last day of class; I did all the finishing touches on my mounts like airbrushing and epoxying noses, eyes, tear ducts, etc.  Mr. B went over all the rules and regulations with me as far as getting the right licenses and permits to be a professional taxidermist.

Here is my coyote, mouth painted and fabulous.

I think he needs a diamond in his tongue.

This isn’t a sex toy.  But it is one of those odd little tools with a very specific function for deer mounts.  What for, you might wonder?

Trade secret, baby.  Mum’s the word.

Here I am stapling the deer hide to the form.  This actually happened a few days ago but I forgot to include this picture back then.  We used staple guns that ran on compressed air and now that I have experienced such power, such FORCE, I have nothing but utter disdain for the manual gun that sits waiting for me in my studio at home.

Since she finished a little early, my classmate brought in a mink to skin, that her neighbor had caught near his creek.  Apparently minks are quite common in the wild (if you can call the Poconos that), but have basically no value as far as trappers are concerned because they are farmed en masse.

Fatty little buggers though.  I’ll bet she had a blast with this sucker on the fleshing wheel!

“Want me to mount him with his eyes shut so it looks like how he did when you shot him?”

This is a playful jab I hear often in the studio between Mr. B and his clients, insinuating that they must have gone sneaking up on a buck while it slept.  This is poaching and it’s obviously illegal, but the more people I talk to up here, the more I hear about it happening.  It comes to mind now because as I sit here in bed at 9pm, reading, I was just startled by a loud rifle shot just outside the cabin. I jumped out of bed and paced around a bit, feeling jarred.  There’s a decent amount of undeveloped acreage surrounding me and I’d be lying if I said the thought of some psycho perv armed to the teeth and lurking around watching me never crossed my mind.  I’m fairly certain though that the shot I just heard was…well, I can’t be sure but I’ll hazard a guess that the neighbor saw a coyote creeping too close to his house.  Regardless, hearing a shot pierce through such a quiet evening-I mean, the sound conjured a mental image of a train hurtling through the forest-leaves me somewhat unsettled and mill undoubtedly keep me up past my usual 9:30 sleep time.

Today I finished my second buck; I experimented with positioning the ears in an alert, listening fashion as though he were hearing something slightly behind him.  Here he is, with carded ears and stuffy nose.

I’m getting pretty good at the eyes, as far as the lid creases and positioning.

I cleaned up my coyote’s mouth a bit; not much interesting going on here but I was amused at how dentist-like this looks.  My mouth started watering just looking at him, imagining the saliva building up in my mouth during a cleaning and just dying to spit.

As the nose skin dries out it tends to shrivel so it gets a little coat of epoxy which will be painted later.

I got home to find Mr. M had invented his own cozy little kitty den.  I’d piled up the duvet on the guest bed while the cover was being laundered….and can you find the cat in this image?

Tada!

Poor little guy is getting as much rest as possible and barely eating.

I spent my evening watching more Honey West.  I discovered the “vintage commercial” feature on the discs and found some of the adverts amusing.

My favorite is the Mennan shaving lotion ad which starts at 2:53 in the video below.  I don’t see anything refreshing about the way those paws are manhandling that guy’s face.

“Have a donut.”

Today is Fasnacht Day, a Dutch tradition in which everyone eats donuts.  I have never heard of this but my instructor brought a box in and insisted we eat.  The origins of this tradition have something to do with emptying the pantries of  all things dough-related before Lent begins (while in Philly and everywhere else it’s Mardis Gras and we’re busy boozing it up) but these days it’s kind of a fund-raiser thing for the local schools.  Regardless, I was happy to contribute to my  expanding waist line with some delicious fried dough.

I got started on my second buck trophy mount; this one is in an aggressive pose whereas the first one was a semi-sneak.  I found the aggressive to be a little bit more tricky in terms of claying up the face but all in all I’d say I did a fair job.

Before getting the hide on the form, I had to sew up some holes.  In Pennsylvania, hunters are required to tag their deer on the ear and many of them cut through quite haphazardly which results in more work for the taxidermists.  I’m learning more about the love-hate and obviously symbiotic relationship between the killers and the stuffers.

Another thing common in deer is ticks.  I found several while fleshing out the initial “green” (raw) hide, but was quite surprised to still find more even after it had been tanned!  They were dead, of course, but are often still quite alive when on a green-hide.  Lyme disease is something taxidermists have to be on the lookout for, but Mr. B tells me that no one he knows has ever gotten it.  Oddly enough, I know at least three people with it and all of them live in the city.

Here’s the hide on the form.  I think they all look like Eeyore the sad donkey at this point, before the face is set.

One of the details in setting the face is the tear ducts.  They must be opened up and then properly set into a groove which the taxidermist has carved into the form.

I went home that afternoon and took a nice walk around the hills behind the cabin.  One of the boys stuck around to watch over Mr. M, and we enjoyed a lovely dinner together.  We had a fantastic conversation about allowing oneself to deserve good things in life.  “Eliminate that which does not serve you,” were his closing words.

“We’re gonna jazz it around a bit.”

Today I finished my first buck trophy mount; I’m ultimately pleased with my work.   The ears are carded and need a few days to dry, and then I’ll detail the face with a little air brushing.

I got home from school to find Mr. M, the house cat, resting up after an emergency trip to the vet.  Apparently some feral cat (or coyote?)  had sunk its teeth into Mr. M’s back and the bite had created an abscess which got infected.  I recalled feeling a small lump on his back but by the time Sunday had rolled around the boys told me it had opened and was leaking puss.

Ew.

So the vet had to stitch up the one bite mark and insert a drainage tube in the other.  When I walked in that afternoon, after sewing up deer hide all day, I looked at Mr. M for a moment, admiring the stitches and not mentally registering what had happened to the poor little guy.  “Frankenkitty”, the boys called him.  Following over the next few days were the inevitable comments about what happens when one leaves their pet in the care of a taxidermist.