Is It Art?

I went to the auto wreckers with my boyfriend to get some parts, and I couldn't help notice all this interesting stuff on the ground. I knew I had to take this stuff home and do something with it. Here is the final piece that I have decided to call, "Driving In Toronto"

Froggies and Other Backyard Sights

One of the Green Frogs living in my Mom's backyard

Damselflies laying eggs in the fish pond

A lovely yellow Iris

Another Damselfly

Japanese Iris

My Mom's cat, Nubie

The Green Frog was sunning himself on the rocks for quite a while

Damselfly

Nubie

Another Green Frog

There are three living near the fish pond.

Sign in my Mom's garden

Needle Felted Dog I Made

This is the first time I've ever done a specific "pet portrait" type needle felting. The friend I made this one for has done me so many favours that I offered to make a miniature version of her dog who had passed away earlier this year. I only had a few photos for reference, but she was very happy with the result!

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.

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.

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.

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!