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.

Foxy Lady

Well, hello.







This sassy little dandy doesn't have a name yet but he's the manifestation of what happens when I ask myself, "if my client were a fox, what would she look like?"



Another commission for Kiki Hughes, one of my fave rave patrons, I was given carte blanche basically,with this piece.  The parameters I was asked to work within were that it had to be a fox, posed luxuriously with some flair.



 







It took almost 8 months to source the right specimen while staying within the ethical boundaries I have set for myself and my practice, but I think this piece was worth the wait.  More important, my client did as well- in spades.  She was simply over the moon with joy upon finally meeting her little dandy, and looks forward to incorporating him into he shop window displays.  If you're in the Philadelphia area, by all means take a stroll down 21st street (259 21st street to be exact) and say hello to Kiki and her fox!



 



 

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.

And I'm TALON You...

Time has been skipping and speeding up quite magically over here at Diamond Tooth.  Maybe I'm not tapping into the voodoo magic of these new chicken talon charms correctly; it would be behoove me to figure out how to slow things down a bit.







Perhaps you'll have more luck.  Behold a slew of new charms; photographed yesterday, while the remaining batch continues to cure on the vine.



[caption id="attachment_1532" align="alignnone" width="1024" caption="Large talon with vintage locket"][/caption]



[caption id="attachment_1533" align="alignnone" width="1024" caption="Fully functional locket whose photo would YOU slip in?"][/caption]



[caption id="attachment_1534" align="alignnone" width="1024" caption="Large talon with original ID cuff still in tact"][/caption]



[caption id="attachment_1535" align="alignnone" width="1024" caption="Small talon with real jade stone"][/caption]



[caption id="attachment_1536" align="alignnone" width="1024" caption="Large mega-feathered talon with glass bead"][/caption]



[caption id="attachment_1537" align="alignnone" width="1024" caption="Look at those feathers!"][/caption]



[caption id="attachment_1538" align="alignnone" width="1024" caption="Medium talon with vintage pink sparkle charm."][/caption]



[caption id="attachment_1539" align="alignnone" width="1024" caption="Medium talon with antique unicorn charm"][/caption]



 



Although I have no magic training and make no claims about the voodoo potency of these charms, I'm a firm believe that teh energy I'm putting into these pieces (and all my creations for that matter) can only bring positive vibrations to the recipient.  It's the same concept as never serving food to someone when you're angry for fear of poisoning them.  Bad vibrations, man.  Just for fun:



"The chicken foot is traditionally used in Southern rootwork and "New World Voodoo" (ie, New Orleans Voodoo) for protection with an undercurrent of "scratching back" against those people, entities, or energies that would harm you."



I'm a believer.



All of these feature chains ending in a lobster claw fastener, to easily secure it to your necklace, hair doodle, rearview mirror, purse, window, etc.  If any of them strike your fancy, don't hesitate.  Your voodoo charm is waiting for YOU!