Friday May 26, 2006

I have been pretty busy this week. I mounted a customer's deer and finished up a boar for another customer. The customer came and picked up his boar head last night. He was very pleased with the mount....something I like to hear. I am attaching a pic of it for y'all to see.


I am going camping this weekend. When I get back Monday, I'll have alot of work to do. Next week, I plan to mount 2 deer heads and 4 ducks. The good part is that most of the prep work is already done. I really enjoy the mounting and finishing phases of taxidermy. Its that whole skinning, fleshing, and form prep thing that I don't like. I don't really dislike those things; they're just not my favorites. Anyway, as promised, here are some pics from the Surry Minicourse. The first pic is my cinnamon teal. The others are mounts that won big awards or mounts that I just like. I wish I could put up more, but space doesn't allow it. That's it for now. Y'all have a safe Memorial Day Weekend!

Monday May 22, 2006

The 1st Annual Surry Communtiy College Taxidermy Mini Course was held this past Thursday through Saturday in Dobson, NC. This event was previously held at Piedmont Community College in Roxboro, NC for 31 years and is well attended by taxidermists from across the country. The events of the mini course included classes taught by nationally renowned taxidermists, a trade show, a competition, and general networking with other taxidermists. I got to see some old friends and made some new ones. The classes I took included turkey anatomy, deer head mounting, a business class, skinning and mounting a largemouth bass, and molding and casting deer mouth parts. I entered a cinnamon teal in the professional division of the competition and received a second place. I got alot of constructive criticism from the judge and from a fellow taxidermist. I am going to mount something different for the NCTA show in August.

I still need to edit the photos I took to make them more "web friendly". Otherwise, they'd take forever to upload...especially for my readers with dial-up. Once I get them resized, I will try and post a few here for y'all to enjoy.

Monday May 15, 2006

Well, here it is...Monaday again! The weekend seems like it flew right by. On Friday, I had a couple of clients bring in six ducks to be mounted. Three of the ducks will be mounted in the "dead game" or "hanging dead" pose. I usually can't talk customers into this pose, but these guys asked for it. The hanging dead pose is one of my favorites and I'm sure these mounts will reflect that. I also made a run over to the tannery on Friday to pick up some capes.

On saturday, my wife and I went out to the flea market at the NC State Fairgrounds. My wife wanted to sell some of the designer flip flops she makes. So, we got a booth and set up shop. We sat there from about 8:30-3:00 and she only sold about 5 pairs. It seemed like people were just browsing and not spending money. The only vendor in our area that did good was the lady selling hanging baskets. Ofcourse, it was Mother's Day weekend.

After we left the flea market, I went to work in the shop. I mounted a boar head for a customer. It is not due until June, but he asked if I could have it ready for Memorial Day weekend...so I'm going to do my best to have it done by then. It is drying right now. Over the next couple days, I will check and adjust the eyes, ears, lips, nose, and hair patterns. I will continue to groom the hair as well. Then, I'll let the mount hang on the drying wall until the hide has completely dried out. I will then take and brush the hair to remove any clay or hide paste residue. Next, I'll use an epoxy putty to blend the lip skin to the gums of the artificial jawset. I will also use the epoxy putty to fill any gaps around the eyes and I will blend and fill the nostrils. I will then paint the bare skin areas (nose, lips, eyes, ears, and brisket) to match a reference photo of a live animal. I will remove any paint overspray from the hair and eyes. The last step before the mount is complete will be to install the articicial tongue and give the mount a final grooming.

Yesterday, I went and had lunch at my grandmother's house. Then, I came home and worked on skinning out some birds. I skinned 9 ducks. I had also laid out 2 geese to thaw, but they were still frozen pretty hard last night. So, tonight, I will skin those two out and I will also skin another pintail.

The Surry Minicourse starts thursday. I have to do a little finish work on my competition piece before then. That's what I'll concentrate on on tuesday night. That's about it for now. I'll probably update this as soon as the Surry minicourse is over.

Tuesday May 9, 2006

Last week I was on vacation. My wife and I went on a cruise. I really needed to get away. I got back saturday and got back to work. I am currently working on a piece for an upcoming competition. I really don't have the time to do an elaborate piece. So, I am doing a simple cinnamon teal drake standing on one foot. Competition pieces are judged for anatomical accuarcy, not intricate habitats, etc. I think this will probably be my best competition piece to date, but we'll have to see what the judge says about it. I will post results and pics after the competition is over.

Coming up this week and part of next week, I am going to be mounting a boar head and two deer heads. These are customer pieces that have just come back from the tannery.

I didn't post pics of the slatwall before I left for vacation, so here they are.







And lastly, here's the view from Paradise Point in St. Thomas.