I recently came into contact with the striking and fabulous Kiki Hughes, proprietress of Kiki Hughes Boutique in Philadelphia. Word to the wise: click on that link and check out her store if you're near Philly. There are some truly, truly gorgeous wardrobe pieces in there (like my ostrich feather skirt!!!) and all the clothing is merchandised in such a clever and unique fashion that you'll kind of get sucked into a time warp and forget how long you've been there ogling at the displays.
Anyway, Ms. Kiki has this lovely pheasant head hat from her personal collection which her cat made into a sacrifice one night by ripping the head clean off. What killer instincts!
My cat Frankie, a.k.a the Diamond Tooth Studio Mascot, seems to not care less about anything feathered which makes him an ideal work buddy, provided I keep all things mousey out of his reach. For the most part, he just wants to be near whatever I'm doing. Example:
Upon closer inspection, this bird was more than just decapitated. He was straight ripped.
I started by sewing binding tape over the cracks and along the edge of the head which I then reinforced with an adhesive. This would provide a stronger bond once the whole thing was sewn back together.
Cotton filling back into the head:
Next was the binding tape along the edge of the bottom half:
Finally it's time to sew the head onto the body. This is where curved needles come in handy.
After the head was securely reattached, there was still the job of filling in the blank skin spots with feathers. Fortunately I have an abundance of pheasant plumage on hand and was able to find the right shade/size.shpe to blend in with the originals.
And he's finished! Top view:
Side view:
Other side view:
So the moral of the story is: I do repairs. Please feel free to contact me should an old piece of taxidermy in your collection need some new life breathed into it.
I recently collaborated with fellow artist and compadre Andria Morales on a performance piece titled "Last Ride". Formerly known as Andria Biblioni, Ms. Morales wanted to mark the moment in her life where her maiden name (and previous self) ceased to exist. We both share a fascination with death and how we as humans approach/accept it within our various cultures. Coming from a Puerto Rican background, Andria has personal experience with the practice of posing for photographs "with " the departed at their funeral. Being of Irish and German descent myself, there aren't any notable funeral practices I've personally experienced. I still think the act of embalming is extremely bizarre, and dare I say...pointless?
Which is why I'm all for the outrageous viewing displays created by Marin Funeral home in Puerto Rico:
If you're going to embalm a body, why not make it interesting?
All of this led to us performing a "viewing" for Andria where we transformed the space at local venue the Rotunda to look like a funeral home. This required some manual labor, elbow grease, and the occasional frightening ladder climb by yours truly:
I designed the ensemble and provided the taxidermy mounts scattered throughout the scene for ambience. Here is our subject, looking positively stiff.
We got a decent crowd of friends and relatives flowing in and out to pay their respects; my favorite was dear friend Bailey Hale and Jennifer Cohen who came with the two little ones in tow. I believe she said something about opting for the fake viewing over gymboree that day. The tots were stoked.
This event was several weeks ago and this past Friday the gallery edition of "Last Ride" opened at Air Space which is where Andria currently resides as an artist in residence. We basically recreated the Rotunda set-up with some tweaking, including substituting a mannequin for Andria, who stoically held still like a real body (with my rigging help) throughout the entire two-hour original viewing.
Team Diamond Tooth is back from a whirlwind tour of Louisville and the myriad of Derby-related events taking place there.
We drove through the night, leaving at 9:30 pm on Wednesday and arriving in Kentucky about 12 hours and many rest-stops later.
By sunrise we were coasting through some gorgeous country farm landscapes. We stopped at a gas station for a fill, some coffee, and a bathroom. The lady's room had a tub with a hose for washing the cow crap off your boots.
Just outside of Louisville, we stopped in a Starbucks to change and freshen up for our first appointment in town. Here I am, very sleep-deprived and high on adrenaline.
We caught a celebratory cocktail at a sushi joint just across from Seviche. I marveled at the fish in the tank.
After Seviche we drove across the bridge into Indiana for a tasting at Bristol. Our generous hostess then regaled us with tales of the tradition known as "Thunder over Louisville" while we enjoyed the view of the city from our vantage point. Unfortunately we arrived after the show had taken place, but check out the video below for the action:
We checked into our room and closed out eyes a bit before getting gussied up and heading out to the Barnstable Ball. Unfortunately we were a little early...
like 24 hours early. Rule #1: sleep is important Staying awake for 36+ hours straight can do unusual things to one's perception of time. No worries though, we made the best of our fabulous selves and headed to a local bar on 4th street Live where my serama hat caused quite a stir. We then took a cab back to our room. Rule #2: derby rates apply in cabs during this time of year, meaning that patrons will pay about $10/mile. Your best bet is to bring a bicycle or get a room reserved early enough to secure a spot in the middle of town.
The next morning found us sampling chocolates at Gyhyslain, which isn't a bad way to start the day if you ask me.
Next we moved onto Doc Crows for a bourbon sampling where the owner was extremely generous with his time and knowledge, schooling a couple of newbies like us on the ins and outs of Kentucky bourbon.
We then hit up Kentucky Oaks for some infield action. Meredith fully immersed herself in the experience like the good sport she is.
I hear it's ok to order your wiz wit in any native tongue you please. That's Southern hospitality for you.
Off to the Barnstable Ball, for real this time. Here I am from my patio perch, surveying the madness on the lawn. I'm wearing a hair comb composed of quail feathers and head.
Inside the mansion this book was on display.
I found the title an interesting juxtaposition to our surroundings. Perhaps I should go look te book up before I go getting snarky and whatnot.
Off to the Julep Ball! By the time we made it, the auction was over and three of my pieces had sold!
The comb went to this lovely lady.
What a great smile! Her name was Ryan, but that's all I remember.
I then encountered these stylish women sporting my other two pieces. They were kind enough to permit me to make adjustments.
Gorgeous! I cannot fully express how honored I am that women with such a unique range of style find my work desirable.
Look! My Summer beret!
I want to hang out with these gals.
Oh and by the way that's Mike Mills accompanying this lovely pair. But I'm sure you knew that. Unfortunately in my excitement I completely forgot both women's names which is my loss because they really strike me as potential kindred spirits.
Derby day. It all leads up to this. We dragged ourselves out of bed and proceeded to spackle enough makeup and clothing on as it would take to make us look human.
Or something close to human. I think we embraced our inner 60's secretaries that day.
Mimosas will always take the edge off.
Derby rule #3: Don't even try driving to Churchill Downs.
The pink tractors belonged to Vinyard Vines, a fashion label that has truly enmeshed themselves in all things derby. I'm a fan of the pink whale.
Here's a couple of wild and crazy gals posing in front of Secretariat.
Unfortunately I didn't win any bets that day, but it was the experience of a lifetime, and over before I knew it. We scoffed at the advice given to us by many and left our change of comfy shoes at home. That is why we hobbled to gate 10 that evening and caught the first pedicab we saw:
