When the winds blow!

April fools!  We awakened to 30 mph winds and gust of winds up to 45 mph!

It was snowing and sleeting at the same time and looked like a whiteout.  When we did chores we gave our slices of hay in strategic positions so the hay wouldn't blow away.

Whew was it cold.  Just a few days ago it was 50 some degrees.  I just can't get with these wild temperature changes.

The girls were doing there thing with their butts to the wind and gathered together like the little herd they are.  Every once in a while someone would jostle another and they'd resort themselves in some predestined order that only equine can understand.

Sunday we are supposed to start out the morning in the 20's and reach 65 by mid afternoon.

I tell you, the weather is crazy!

The cold temperatures and winds kept me inside most of the day.  Outside it would snow, sleet, rain, and then the sun would come out.  And the winds kept the trees shaking and the pines did the hula dance.

I got out some of the skulls I'd been working on.  There was an old deer skull that I'd found.  It was in poor shape and had been chewed on by mice and other animals.  I looked at it as a challenge and wondered if I could paint it up to put on the garage or the outhouse as a 'country' decoration.

I had spent the morning cleaning out the back room shelving and packing it away.  The back room will be one room that will be completely replaced when the remodel starts.

Anyway I thought a bit of quiet time was in order.

I took some Antique stain and began to stain the skull.

I wasn't sure I was even going to like what I'd done, but it was such an old skull I thought I'd just mess around with it and see what happens.  

I sort of like the color and the way the staining brought out the age in the skull. The areas that had been gnawed on were slightly highlighted.  I set it on a rack to dry.

Then I turned to my new find.  A 'possum skull.

After it dries, I will retrieve the rest of the teeth that I have and put glue them into their places.  

The 'possum has such a flat head compared to that of a raccoon.  

I also had two ground hog skulls.  One with teeth and one without.

I used a 50/50 mix of Elmers Glue to seal and preserve the skulls.

'Possum skull in the middle, ground hogs on each side and raccoon for reference on the wood.

I'm thinking that someone reading this is really curious as to why I collect skulls and paint them or seal them.  My veterinarian and I are huge fans of skulls.  He has a huge display in his waiting room.  Frankly I am quite jealous of his amazing collection.  Of course his skulls are animals from around the world.

All skulls are the result of what I find while hiking in the woods and...

I do it for art.

Some painted skulls can sell for quite a bit of money.  The one with the red dots on it sold for $200.  I've given two others away as gifts. I collect antler sheds also and hope to have enough to make a lamp or something very artistic one day.

This is another old doe skull that had seen better days before I stained it and finished it off.

The really fresh bones are left alone to show off their natural color.  
I can't wait until Spring gets itself sorted out.  I have a garden to plant and outdoor things to do.

Oh yes, and the remodel.  The start date is getting closer!

"Them Bones..."

All my life I've been fascinated by bones.  Oh not a sick weird, strange, fascination, but a curious fascination.

I live in a very wooded area and nature has its cycle.  A deer is killed by coyotes and a skull and some scattered bones are left to find.

I sometimes pick up the skull and bring it home.  Finding sheds is a huge 'sport' of sorts around here too.  Many folks I know hunt antler 'sheds' and sell the antlers.
I collect them.

I wasn't sure for a long time what I was going to do with my pile of magnificent sheds and skulls.  I just piled them next to the out house and took the nicer looking ones and put them on the side of the building.

Then I started to think of things I could 'do' with the skulls.  I started with small raccoon skulls I'd found over the years.  They were in pretty good shape and not too difficult to handle.  Easy to wash and since they were old, all I had to clean up was mostly collected old leaves and dirt in them.

The first one's I did were around Christmas time.  As experiments, I thought they came out pretty cool.

In fact I showed one to my mom who is nearly 81 and she loved it.  I asked her if she wanted it and she immediately put it on a shelf for display.

I painted a black one with gold highlights for my youngest son and put gold 'gems' on it.  He thought it was awesome.

I moved on to one of my rather decrepit deer skulls that I'd found laying in the woods.  The mice had been at it quite heavily and at the time I thought it wasn't worth bringing home.

But now?

Well I think it turned out pretty neat for such a beat up thing.

Then I took a rather nice one that I had and painted the skull white after sealing the cracks with glue and gluing the teeth back in that were loose.

I didn't have the heart to do anything else but preserve this skull as it must have belonged to a magnificent young buck.

After dealing with white as a base for the skulls, I wondered what it would be like to have one look primitive or more natural...or even antique.

So I stained and old doe skull rubbing the stain in and wiping it off until I got the effect I desired.

This is probably in some ways my favorite after I painted the 'line' drawing of a deer on it.

I did some reading up on what to do with weathered antlers and came up with my own idea.

This was a broken up antler with the ends broken off.  It was scarred and chewed. So I used the same method as before to add a bit of wood like stain to it.  I liked it because it brings out the weathering and the cracks in the antler.

I didn't want to fill the cracks with wood putty and try and reconstruct the antler, I wanted it as I found it.  Cracked and imperfect as mother nature made it.

I intend on finishing a couple of more of these wayward antlers and mounting them on a board with the tines up.  They will adorn the space above the new windows and hold white lights [you know, the Christmas kind].  Or they will become hangers, or curtain holders.

I may even take my group of antlers and construct a lamp base out of it.  

And then there is my prize possession.  A complete coyote skull.  I just preserved it in its natural bone color.

I have another very old skull that is full of lichen and moss.  The skull is badly damaged and the old oddly shaped antlers have been chewed on.  But it looks like it will be a nice challenge.

And it is shed hunting season again.  The bucks start to drop their antlers about now and it just gives me another reason to walk trails and look for more odd things.

Who knows?
Maybe I'll find some cool bones.

Variations on one Photo, Coyote Skull

I'm a fan of bones.  I like finding skulls.  I'm also what is called a 'rock hound' ~ hunting cool rocks and bones is a great past time.

Last year I got a coyote skull that still was quite nasty as far as in the form of decay.
Other coyotes don't eat there own.

I placed the skull tied up with twine in a brush pile, hoping to let the summer bugs do most of the work.

I took the skull and placed it is soapy warm water and let it sit out in the sun for a few days.

Anything that was left on the skull I was able to remove easily.
Now I had the lower jaw in pieces and a bunch of loose teeth.  

I used some clear Elmers Glue to seal the bone.  Since the skull was not 'bug' cleaned it was a bit yellowed, but to me that looks more natural.
I glued the teeth back in place and after taking care of sealing the rest of the skull.

I then I used clear nail polish to 'shine' up the teeth.

Here is a photo of the complete skull after cleaning.

Photographed on a piece of black velvet on a folding chair.

The skull in this state is quite beautiful.  Since I haven't figured out how to attach the lower jaw properly, I have it just resting in place.

Next I adjusted the skull I wanted a black and white image with no yellowing of the skull.

I like this image on its own merits.  It is more like a museum display shot.

So I thought I'd try to do something different.

Wow.  I used Topaz Adjust and a preset I've never bothered with before. Polarize.
I didn't expect this as a result at all.

So I decided to go one step further and use Topaz Glow.
I didn't like the color streaks that it produced so I desaturated it.

Lastly I overlapped it with some grunge brushes and a photo of cracked mud.

I like all the versions but this last unexpected result is something I really like.