Vampyra the Winged Domestic Feline

Meet Vampyra.  She is the beloved feline of a local Philadelphian and has been posthumously winged as per his request.  I think it was a brilliant idea.  She has a very gothy feel.

In life, she seemed to wear a mildly surprised or curious facial expression so I did my best to recreate that.  I wish I had spent more time on her pillow seat, though.  It could use some tassels, for sure, and also tends to want to lean a little bit.

I used wings from a chicken; at first I wanted to use a black rooster but after noticing all the subtle browns and reds in her coat, a pitch black pair of wings would have looked very flat so I opted for a bit more texture, color wise.



Many measurements and carcass casting to make a custom form.

A progress shot of her ears drying.  Despite the carding the ears still gave me some grief.

 Here she is, eternally poised for preflight.

It was an honor, Vampyra.  Charmed, indeed.

From the For No Particular Reason File:Chicken Head Glass Votive Holder

 Here we have a chicken head mounted trophy style onto a plaque, a glass votive holder dangling from his beak.  While burning a candle in this vessel would obviously be a terrible thing to do, it would make a great spare key holder or place to keep your favorite trinkets.  Maybe he can hold some salt for you to pinch off a little bit each time you need to throw some over your shoulder.

 If a luminary element is what you're hell bent on, batter operated LED candles are a wonderful option.

 He is ready to serve you.  Just don't fill this thing to the top with spare change or gold bullion; you may beak his neck.

Ashley's Wedding

Ashley approached me almost a year before her wedding date to talk about bridal & bridal party head pieces.  I believe her words were, "OK, I'm engaged, now I have to go talk to my taxidermist!"-she may or may not have used the word "my" but I like to fancy myself as providing such an intimate service to people that they would refer to me in a possessive fashion, as though part of me belongs to them.  Honestly, after the literal blood sweat and tears that go into each piece I make, part of me literally does belong to them.

Ashley wanted to wear a white lamb head on her wedding day. I told her that I couldn't guarantee it, as I basically work on a "whatever falls into my lap" modus operandi.  We agreed that come March, if I hadn't been able to source a dead or stillborn white baby lamb (perhaps a morbid task to some, to others just another day in the office), then we would start to concoct a backup plan.
March came and went, and just as I was about to chew my nails down to the bed, I sourced a 24 hours-lived lamb from a farm in Colorado.  Things really do always work out if you just let them. For me things always seem to work out literally at the last possible second, every time.

I got to work immediately as soon as Lambette arrived and skinned her, then made a mold of the head:

The mold was then cast and I test fit it on a head form.

And of course then the skin is taxied onto the form:

I use steel headbands for these types of head pieces; even still, bobby pins or clips are needed to keep them in place.  It's not your conventional tiara & veil, ladies.

She wanted very minor embellishment so I harnessed myself and limited the gems to just a few around the eyes. 

I sewed a silver plated comb into the lining for extra security, and used a very special out-of-production brocade that I reserve only for brides.

I wanted to see how it would look with hair so I attempted to give this mannequin a wig up-do, but it falls short. I suppose it's time I got some live models back into circulation.

Oh!  And there were bridesmaids!  Two of them, to be exact.  Both of them totally cool with wearing chickens on their heads.  My kind of gals.  Here is the first one:

There was a color palette that played off the country/farm type of setting where the wedding was held and I incorporated that by selecting birds with all those hues.

And the second one:

I'm having fun incorporating deveined and shaped feathers into my work these days, expect to see much more of it in the future.

Congratulations, Ashley and friends! And thank you for the honor of being part of such a tremendous moment of your life.

Ciao Ciao

Arriving in my studio from Italy by way of Philadelphia import, this Borsalino hat is a classic.  I received it from a painter in my building and held onto it until inspiration struck.  I love men's hats, I love men IN hats, but I also find designing for them to be challenging.  Us gals can get away with anything, in my opinion.  Men still seem to be held up to certain gender expressive fashion standards and are subject to judgment in a sense that women just aren't.  Perhaps one of the only ways we aren't.
This is all simply to say that I proceed with caution with men's accessories.  Usually.  Who am I kidding, I've only made like three men's pieces in my life.  Who cares?
I grabbed this hat and wove my couture taxidermy wand over it to create something for the type of man (or woman) who would want exactly what I made. And voila:

 I felt inspired last week to dig a raccoon tail off a hide I'd skinned, fleshed and tanned months ago and sew it on.  I accented it with a burst of chicken feathers and a small vintage gem.

 While it is technically a men's hat, it's on the small side (size 7&1/8) so it fits a more petite noggin.  Of course ladies look good in these hats (see what I mean?  We can wear anything) as demonstrated by my lovely model here:

 And here's many more photos of this hat in case you didn't get a clear idea yet:

 Listing on etsy now!

Mrs. Friendly

Oh, hello there:

 Meet Mrs. Friendly, the much loved pet chicken of a client who wished to have her immortalized.

 Apparently, Mrs. Friendly was an ornery, no nonsense hen with an intense glare.  She suffered no fools.

 She also had asymmetrical hips, with a pronounced hump above her right hip bone/back area.  I'm guessing this may have caused a limp which must have only added to her cranky old lady aura.

 I altered a manufactured bird form by adding foam to the back section and carving it to match the size and shape of the hump as seen on the carcass, and posed the body to recreate her gimpy stance as exactly as possible, using photographs from life as reference.

 Hump:

 Don't mess with this chick lady hen.

So long, Mrs. Friendly.  Enjoy the afterlife.