Bless Your Bones

I create art made from or about the remains of critters passed, with a particular focus on the processes of taxidermy. These creatures are all beautiful and I work to preserve and share the art of their existence and celebrate the wonder of the natural world.

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Empty sketching

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Death within the flower beds. 

My personal favorite from my work this semester. This is a silk floral wreath with a coyote skull nestled within. She is missing most of her teeth, so I have filled in the empty roots with gold. Her story is unknown, but she retains a delicate beauty about her. 

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Coyote skull flocked and gilded. The gold wire connects the main entry/exit wounds in his skull, the pearls and gold mark the shrapnel. 

Died like a dog, remembered like a king. 

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Tiny juvenile rabbit skull lovingly housed in a vintage music box. This poor baby died under my porch a number of years back, and he has provided me with lots of incredible inspiration and art since he’s been cleaned. Just another cottontail dead, but may he represent the hundreds of bunnies that perish and are forgotten. He had a life, and now his body lives as a precious jewel.

Gilded nasal cavity, python skin on top of skull, flocked soft nasal bones, and small jewels placed where his teeth were lost. 

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Coyote/wild dog teeth, jaw, and nasal bones all lovingly painted and pearled and placed within a thrifted jewelry box. This particular feral dog was shot on a farmer’s property, and he donated the skull to me so she could be something more than a mongrel. May she rest in peace, and know she will always be special to me. 

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More rabbit bones. Femur and vertebrae decked out in gold and jewels, placed lovingly into a thrifted jewelry box. Accompanying these little gems are two sections of farm-fresh egg shell with monitor lizard skin and pearls highlighting the curvature of the egg. 

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The rest of the rabbit. 

Pelvis and tibia from juvenile cottontail rabbit decorated with monitor lizard skin, pearls, and gold wiring.

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Deer vertebrae nestled into a ceramic hanging planter stuffed with quail feathers. 

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This adult Snapping Turtle was a mother, then she was dinner, and now she’s a tacky piece of art. Funny how things turn out. 

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Hornet’s nest gilded in gold, with pearls placed where dead baby hornets were found and sea shells nestled into place. The grave is now a shrine.

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Hornet’s nest covered in snake skin, embedded with jewels. Every one of those stupid nasty cavities had a baby hornet in it. The crib is now a shrine! 

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Juvenile rabbit vertebrae in thrifted valentine’s display. Painted with nail polish and pearls, the baby bunny lives on. 

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Gar fish scales (from ShadyUFO) in thrifted frame. Left with room to shift under the glass, the scales create ever changing composition and make it a fun interactive piece.