Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Finished Pig Skull

As you can see, the bones became lighter in colour after they dried.

I used an elastic band to hold the two halves of the mandible together. A LOT of connective tissue was lost through boiling, Many of the bones that seemed fused before boiling, came apart after.

Now it's glued back together as best as I could. The parts became VERY brittle and cracked easily as I was reassembling them. I think it's because the pig had been roasted THEN boiled. Next time, I'll use a pig's head that HASN'T been roasted first!



Back view

The finished skull.

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Boiling a Pig's Head and Some of My Skull Collection

I was given a pig's head from a pig roast that I had attended with my boyfriend.

I removed the skin and as much soft tissue items I could with a knife and by hand.

Then I put the skull in a pot and boiled it for around 3 hours.

I didn't photograph the icky job of removing the sinuses, brain and other lovely things......but the bones fell apart while I was doing this. So, I'm going to wait until they're dry, then glue the parts back together.

Here are some other skulls I have acquired in the past. on top is a brown bear, which I purchased, but had to soak in liquid dish soap because it was greasy. Beneath that is the cow moose I was given many years ago, then below is a female deer and a Jackal! The jackal I bought from a shop that deals in such things. The tiny skull is my Striped Skunk "Bone Clones" replica skull. I ordered it from the Skulls Unlimited website.

Here's my male deer, complete with antlers.


Some people think I'm strange because I collect animal skulls, but I think they look beautiful, and I am an artist, so I learn more about form by studying their structure.

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

New Camera with Macro Lens




 The above were all taken yesterday with my new camera.
This image was taken a couple weeks ago with my old camera. I always hear people say, "it's not the camera, it's the photographer"....but trust me...it's the camera! It's very difficult to get exceptional images with a cheap camera. My new camera is of the Canon Rebel series, but the old one was just a Canon Powershot.

Monday, January 27, 2014

Needle Felted Grizzly Bear

My cat has to give the bear a sniff of approval.

Using photo reference is imperative.

He's getting a face

He's about as tall as a computer speaker.

Now he has plastic "teddy-bear" eyes.


He has a nice profile.

And now he's all fuzzy....like a bear should be!