sketches, lavender tattoo, ear weights.
finished, one of a kind set, 7/16″
lavender
finished
on my throne
study for a thigh tattoo
halloween and horror arts.
I make a lot of creepy things.
large articulation project: spider pig.
I worked on this today, with help from Hawkins.
It’s a commission for a friend; I was working on it before but they asked me to build a mount for them, and finishing this ended up fitting their concept perfectly. (I do have some things like this for sale, go here to buy those, or see them.)
All that’s left to do is seal it.
Pig skull, deer and coyote jaws, deer, dog, and badger bones- medical-grade gauze circa 1943, and oil paint.
I used bone glue, hot glue, twine, and adhesive plaster to construct it, and to make the joints solid.
It’s mounted on a square piece of maple plywood. It has taken me a few days of solid effort, and a few weeks of concept/articulation research, to make this one. Hawkins helped assort and assemble the structure – having his mind on the project was extremely helpful.
More images after the jump.
Published on: Dec 7, 2011
tender prey: rat spider skeletal articulation
Published on: Mar 16, 2012
Dr. Seuss and childfree artists.
I am childfree, and do not feel comfortable around, nor interested in, kids.
They disturb my mind in many ways. I do not have interest in them.
I do however remain childlike as myself; my life is lived even now as a Ville Villekulla, a bright and giddy place full of friends and art and craft and fun, and freedom. I live now the way I dreamt I would live when I was a child. I have built the life of my youthful daydreams into reality around me like a coiled shell.
It satisfies me.
Dr. Seuss had little interest in children. He found them disturbing to his peace of mind, he stated that he was opposed to the population boom, and he rarely made time for children in his life. He and his wife had no children, didn’t want them.
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(Originally Published on: Oct 26, 2011)
He lived in his imaginary world IN REAL LIFE, and the cares and concerns and woes that a child requires would not allow those things to stand. So he stayed away from children, for the most part.
“Adults are just obsolete children and the hell with them both.””~Dr. Seuss
He did not enjoy the noise and commotion of children, and thought that perhaps if they were encouraged to use their minds and their imaginations instead of screeching and leaping around, they would become more capable and interesting adults one day.
“This book is to be read in bed.”
― Dr. Seuss
Theodore Giessel was a very active man with unlimited skills in doggerel and inking strange creatures to fit. He was childfree- he had no children and wanted none.
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imagine enough werewolves!
Enough!
werewolf cover-up in progress
bucket list tattoo! her first one.
I made something to wear around my neck that would match what I wear in my ears.
and I stuck things in my hair.
New ear weights- these are AMAZING. Boar tusks and suede, with wood.
hand-painting prints
Sometimes I feel like just making prints of a painting isn’t enough.
I feel like- man when I buy stuff, I buy prints because I like the artist but can’t afford a bigger piece- but I always feel like it’s not as good as an original. So I end up kind of going halfway sometimes, and painting over a print of my own work.
I’ll do the painting first.
I did this in watercolor and colored pencil on plain tinted paper,then painted over the prints with blood and white highlights.
If you plan to try this, make sure your original art has decent contrast and a solid area or three where detail or added color would add, rather than detract, from it.
further instructions after the break:
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the trio, bat taxidermy
Three taxidermy bats- two indonesian bats (chemically preserved) and one northwest bat, humanely collected, preserved with salt, disinfectant materials, and time, (completely mummified and sanitary) and mounted on a birch plaque with mouse and vole bones and preserved hawkmoths and cicada shells. All have been sanitized and dried completely, handled with care.
I adore bats. I think they’re amazing, beautiful creatures, and I have been donating to a few projects meant to combat white-nose fungus, which has been killing off bats across the Americas for a while now. It’s really sad because bats keep all insects in check, plus they are ADORABLE.
Ships nestled carefully in protective packaging, to the US only. $200 includes shipping, handling, tracking, and insurance (USPS)
Plaque is approximately 6×15″. Bats are mummified completely, all bones are sealed and odorless.
skulls, bones, dead things, and where they come from.
Originally published on 11/16/2013
I want to talk a little bit about my materials. Mainly because I read a lot of forums and craft and art blogs, and tend to see the same comments over and over about artists that work with taxidermy or animal remains.
Nature isn’t cruel or kind; it’s just hungry.
I get a lot of questions about various things I use- mostly about bones and skulls, but a lot of people have asked about other things too- plants, rocks. Usually people are just being dense- “did you kill all those raccoons?” or “who do you have buried in the crawlspace?” or, even better, “ewwww it’s dead!” A lot of people saying this also eat fast food, buy meat at the grocery store, and let their cats roam outdoors…
I work humanely- in a sense. I don’t kill anything to make my art but yes, they are real bones and skulls. I get them from a lot of different sources. Most of the game animal bones and skulls I get from hunters- I have friends who hunt for food, and who will give me remains to work with. Most of the deer, elk, and turkey skulls and bones I use come from these sources. I also get bones from family farms- chicken, pig, and goose or turkey bones, even a few ostrich and cow remains. Most of these animals are also killed for food.
I don’t use anything from factory farms, just farms where the animals are treated well. I know this is enough to upset some people but since I also eat meat I don’t feel bad about it- I WOULD feel awful using factory-farmed items. However if I came across some, or had a source, I might use them; that piece would probably be pretty damned dark though. I tend to work with the feelings the animal’s remains give me, to make a piece that expresses the creature’s life.
I know a lot of artists who work with animal remains are a bit more humorous than I am, or more light-hearted about it in general. I do see the remains as a medium but at the same time I don’t feel good making jokes at the animal’s expense. Very rarely I get a skull or part which is light, and happy- I will sometimes make a brighter piece with those. Usually though animals live difficult lives, and their bones speak to me about this, so I don’t work very light very often.
I get questioned partly I think because of artists that do slaughter animals in the context of their work. While I don’t do this, I don’t find these artists offensive at all, it’s just not my own way of working. I don’t think it’s horrible. I have hunted for food myself, and been present for slaughtering at farms. Again- I don’t think it’s awful if you eat at KFC, either. I just personally don’t.
Some of my pieces come from road strikes. I have been working steadily on a series of photographs and an extended essay about roadside nature and roadkill, about human safety and how highways affect the animals that live near them. As a consequence of this work I have come across a LOT of roadside remains. I did get a license to collect roadkill in several states (not all states need one, but some do) and have spent a great deal of time working with these remains. A lot of these wild animals are obvious survivors of repeated injuries (fractures and old healed injuries in their skeletons attest to this) and the way they interact with the road fascinates me.
No, I have not used anything I myself ran over.
Most of my feathers come from friend’s farms. Almost all of my plant matter comes from my own place- I live on the edge of the Siuslaw, and not only the yard/forest of my house but the clearcuts nearby furnish most of my lichens, moss, and wood. I do a lot of beach collecting too. I live in Oregon, and it is legal to collect many things here, since all beaches are public. I do refrain from collecting in park areas, since those are restricted. I also don’t collect or mess with the remains of pinnipeds, or vertebrate fossils- just invertebrate fossils, collected in nonrestricted areas.
I have a few skulls and things which I have purchased. A few mink, fox, and beaver skulls which I am certain are fur trade castoffs- these items have a very dark feeling to them, and so the pieces built with them reflect that. I also have used vervet monkey skulls- the importation of these was a pain in the neck, and they are killed as a nuisance animal- so they too have a very dark feeling. Like I said, the horrors of life, death, the hard times most animals go through, are the reason my work is not light-hearted and silly. I don’t use anything illegal, and I avoid using items which may violate CITES or the MBA. (More information on the legality of animal remains is available here, if you are interested.)
I don’t work much with animals that are domestic pets, but I occasionally get some materials this way. Usually these are used for commissions for the previous owner. Some of these are more light and happy. I’ve worked with a very battered stray-dog skull, just making that piece was very upsetting. It wasn’t a joke to me.
I’ve worked with human bones too. This is where people tend to be most alarmed- although in reality it is easier to buy human bone than many animals! I get most of my human bone specimens from places which sell vintage anatomical displays, or from places such as necromance (among others) which sell oddities. Yes, these bones are legal. No, I didn’t kill anyone to get them. And YES, they are expensive for a reason. Again- most of these works are dark. I don’t get silly feelings from death.
I’ve sold work and done commissions for vegans- for people who are animal and conservation activists. My work is intended to speak about the way people are oblivious to the natural world. Nature is full of drama, death, struggle, and strangeness. I try to use the materials I have to portray that. Reminders of mortality are not for everyone. Horrific art is not for everyone. There are people who cannot sit through a horror movie and people who cannot listen to a description of how their hamburger was made. My work is not for these people, really- although knowing that my work may have given them pause or made them think about these things, about the darker side of life, is kind of the point.
Originally Published on: Apr 19, 2012
