All of the woods we use come from down & dead trees, shrubs and plants - which the Sonoran desert provides in great abundance. Seeds & seed pods, pebbles and bones are among the miscellaneous
items we joyfully collect on our treks (aka "going shopping"!).
items we joyfully collect on our treks (aka "going shopping"!).
A contributor to the art!...
Aware of his God-given beauty (lol - VAIN, according to owner Beth!),
"MyBird" - a 32-yr-old lilac crowned amazon - frequently donates feathers
for our artwork & readily gave his nod of approval to post his photo on the site :)
Aware of his God-given beauty (lol - VAIN, according to owner Beth!),
"MyBird" - a 32-yr-old lilac crowned amazon - frequently donates feathers
for our artwork & readily gave his nod of approval to post his photo on the site :)
Rattlesnakes
Although we use various offerings from rattlesnakes (skin, rattles, ribs, vertebrae), we do not actively hunt
them for the purpose of art. Most of the rattlesnake materials we use come as donations from individuals
who "killed one on their porch".
Thankfully (!) we invented our own "snake snare" and have used it on numerous occasions to
successfully (and safely!) remove both venomous & non-venomous snakes from our property - like the
Mojave rattler I nearly ran over in my electric wheelchair last year.
Although we use various offerings from rattlesnakes (skin, rattles, ribs, vertebrae), we do not actively hunt
them for the purpose of art. Most of the rattlesnake materials we use come as donations from individuals
who "killed one on their porch".
Thankfully (!) we invented our own "snake snare" and have used it on numerous occasions to
successfully (and safely!) remove both venomous & non-venomous snakes from our property - like the
Mojave rattler I nearly ran over in my electric wheelchair last year.
For the record: we DON'T use tarantulas in the art! LOL!
- they just fall under the category of "nature"...
July 19, 2011
Nearly stepped on a tarantula this morning while retrieving the newspaper! The 1st video clip below gives an idea of the spider's size as it walks next to a woman's shoe. ( the audio - "Please, Lord! Don't let it go up my pants leg!" was muted:) The 2nd clip shows the tarrantula ambling along amid fallen mesquite beans. |
Such incidents give us the opportunity to tease friends who've never been to AZ; sending CLOSE-UP
photos along with the tale of how we TRIPPED over the darn hairy thing & sprained an ankle :)
photos along with the tale of how we TRIPPED over the darn hairy thing & sprained an ankle :)
A neighbor suggested that a video clip of the spider walking down a pant leg would've been pretty awesome - and hooked by the idea, we were determined to do exactly that with the next visiting tarantula... (and another one DID come to visit on August 4, 2011).
Oh my! - in preparing for this clip, what we didn't think about was the spider
coming out of the container headed in the wrong direction...
The audio was left in this time (lol) & we call this short video clip: "It Serves Us Right" :)
Oh my! - in preparing for this clip, what we didn't think about was the spider
coming out of the container headed in the wrong direction...
The audio was left in this time (lol) & we call this short video clip: "It Serves Us Right" :)
NOTE: no tarantulas were injured in the filming of these video clips.
(the HUMANS, however, were left a bit shakey and "feeling things on 'em" for the next couple hours :)
(the HUMANS, however, were left a bit shakey and "feeling things on 'em" for the next couple hours :)
prickly pear cactus - we make a homemade wood stain from the fruit to periodically use in our art work
cactus blossoms - the bold color seems almost surreal