Blue Lake Outing

Here are some photos I took recently on a roadkill-salvage outing in Blue Lake, California. The side of the winding 299 was riddled with deer carcasses. Antlers were missing and some bodies were found in game bags, indicating these were hunted, not hit by cars, and the bodies dumped.

Parakeet Hair Fascninators

I recently worked on two parakeets that were the pets of a friend of mine. They died when smoke from a neighbors barbeque suffocated them. She wanted something to remember them by so I decided to make her some hair fascinators from the tails.



for small projects I generally work on my dining room table, which also functions as my operating table. Notice my awesome room mate unphased by the project, enjoying his burrito in the background.



At this point I think my room mate finally left the room:

After treating the tails and drying them for a few days I completed the hair fascinators.

Current Project--Parakeet Tail Hair Fascinators

A friend of mine had two pet parakeets that tragically died recently, I'm making hair fascinators from the tails so she has something to remember them by. More photos to come.

Germany was an amazing experience and I've come back completely inspired. It was taxidermy heaven over there and I got some great photos. I even brought back a genuine Swiss taxidermy squirrel missing both his eyes. I call him Griswald Grindelwald, after the town of Griswald he came from.
I also attended Burning Man this year. Here's a photo of me ringing the virgin bell at the gates.


I've been working on some small items recently that will soon be up for sale in my Etsy shop. So far I've completed a pair of rat-paw earrings and a hair fascinator made of a parakeet wing.

Summer Updates

Hello All,
I'm getting ready to head to Germany for a month so my Etsy Shop is in vacation mode. I should be back the first week of August.
I will be working on preserving baby octopi when I get back and will be selling them on Etsy and at Eureka's monthly Arts Alive.

I'm also working on some taxidermy jewelry pieces using rodent parts.
Hope you are all having a wonderful summer!

~{Simone Smith}~

Updates

So it's been awhile. A long while. Life happened, changes were made, and I feel I've come a long way. My artwork has changed direction, almost on it's own. I started to put down the paint and camera and started making jewelry more and then suddenly decided that I really wanted to pursue my passion in taxidermy. (This has alarmed family members and confused friends but is a great party topic when trying to scare off strangers).

I'd like to update more often and document my adventures and misadventures in taxidermy, as well as my other art and life in general. So many interesting things are happening in my life right now that I've love to share.

April Arts Alive!

Hello everyone, just a reminder that tonight (Saturday, April 3) I will be opening my studio for Arts Alive. I will have hot tea and wine available and will be showing works in progress as well as selling prints of past works. I will be open from 6-9pm in the Art Center building, 207 G St #214, Old Town Eureka. Hope to see you there!
{Simone}