Ahoy!

It’s been embarrassingly long since I’ve posted, I feel a little ashamed about that but here is me dipping my toe back into the taxidermy blog waters with a quick little ditty about a pirate bunny for a client of mine who waited over a year for it!

I think the photos speak for themselves; my client had dropped off a rabbit for mounting some time ago but upon skinning the specimen I found  significant bug infestation and had to dispose of it.  I offered to replace the rabbit with one of my own and for no particular reason decided to make him a pirate.

Wooden peg-leg, check.

Eye patch, check.

Pipe, hoop earrings, anchor charm and shark bit ear, CHECK.

Happy client, CHECK.

 

I promise to have more posts up next week; soon enough I will have some very exciting projects to tell you about that will completely make up for my shameful blog negligence!

Taxidermically yours,

Beth Beverly

 

Keep your skull and jaws close to your skull and jaws.

This is a short and sweet little post featuring four new pairs of joined earrings (also known as “continuous earrings”, “earclaces” and “necklings”- I’ve been making these for 10+ years and have yet to find a way to properly market them for lack of a better name) which are being sold exclusively at Wilbur Vintage on Fabric Row in Philadelphia.  Available in person or on the shop’s Etsy page.

These earrings are surprisingly easy and fun to wear; they’re lighter than they look and give the wearer something to fiddle with, talk about or just enjoy the movement of.

I struggle to find a tag or reference name to go with pieces like this, as bone art is not actually taxidermy.  The term “osteopathicraft” was recently suggested to me but it’s a bit of a mouthful so I’m going to go with “Osteocraft” for now.  If you can com up with something better, please tell me your ideas in the comments!

First up: Rat Skull filigree earrings joined by black silk fringe:

The skull and fringe are both pleasantly lightweight and easy on the lobes.

Next: Pearlized Grey Fox jawbones earrings joined by a double strand of pearl beaded chain.  These are just a tad heavier than the rat skull earrings but completely wearable nonetheless.

I painted a pearlescent paint on the jaw and left a stripe untouched, just for fun:

Thirdly, we have a pair of pearlized grey fox jaw bone earrings with filigree detail  joined by white silk fringe:

Last but not least, Pearlized Grey Fox jaw bone earrings joined by a single strand of pearl beaded chain, with added chain and pearl detail:

Ding-a-ling-a-ling!

I am constantly producing these so if you want something you’re not seeing please contact me for a custom order.  Otherwise, get yourself to Wilbur Vintage ASAP and scoop up a pair!

pssssst: hi.

What’s that I hear?  Is it the pitter pater of little hooves in my studio?

Behold Lambie, the extremely young baby Katahdin lamb whom I had been referring to as a baby goat until last month.  Clearly I need to do some boning up on my animal husbandry.

Here is Lambie in tanned skin form back when he still was a goat to me:

I’m also not sure if Lambie is a he or a she.  I don’t think I properly sexed him when I skinned him (“what kind of taxidermist IS this chick?” I can almost hear you thinking…) but I like to think of him as a tender little boy who prefers the color pink.  This is why he chose to wear the vintage pink velvet flower cage veil to keep the shivers off his delicate tresses.

Lambie was part of a brother/sister combo, born together but one thriving more than the other, the latter being my guy here.  The famer-lass who tended to this flock opted to donate her specimen to Diamond Tooth and for that I am eternally grateful.

Since no lamb forms are readily available, I used a fawn form which I then altered drastically in size and head shape.  I used glass cat eyes which I turned sideways to mimic the sheep’s horizontal pupils.

Lambie has become something of a mascot around the studio; he’s even slated to be the subject of a painting next month.  So proud of my little guy!  Eventually he’ll need a forever home though; please contact me if you or the luckiest person you know might want to love this little darling forever and ever.

The Great White Pheasant

A local hunter brought a gorgeous white pheasant over a couple of months ago which he’d harvested on a hunt in Pennsylvania.  Until I held it in my hands I’d never even seen a white pheasant but I didn’t let him in on that.  Not just yet, anyway.

It’s a reminder to me how majestic this species of bird is though, and to think I’d never even seen one of these creatures until embarking on my journey into the world of taxidermy!  Pheasants might just be the world’s most underrated birds.  A fun little anecdote:

In a land rich in symbolism and imagery, the Chinese pheasant represented light, virtue, prosperity and good fortune. Good fortune indeed came upon one hunter in Burma who noticed a precious stone in the gizzard of his recent kill. The discovery inspired him to search for the origin of this stone, and after visiting the rooster’s old stomping ground, sure enough, he found an emerald mine!

 

My cursory online research tells me that white pheasants are quite uncommon in America and now I don’t feel so green for not having seen one before.  To mount it was an honor; and the meat it provided my little felines nourished them quite well.

 

I set up a hanging environment of white birch and some Spanish moss, neither of which I’m guessing coexist with this breed of bird but I don’t care because it compliments the pheasant, who is the star of the show.

Along with the possibly inaccurate setting, I made another executive decision to mount it with an open mouth,  as though it were calling.

There’s a little rearview shot for you, to show the feet.

My client came by yesterday to pick up this piece, and I’m fairly certain he was pleased.  In my experience, hunters don’t tend to emote the way my other clients do (squealing, crying, flowery heartfelt emails the next day, etc) so I just have to take their word for it when they say they like their mount.  I know I would be happy with this beauty hanging in my home.