MACABRE MASTERS
A fascination for the morbid and bizarre led a local couple to create The Blackened Teeth, which started in a garden shed and has been outgrowing workspaces ever since
By Lisa Evans
R
ebecca McDonald’s exploration into the world of death-orientated décor began because her grandmother was an avid collector of urns, and she remembers seeing these beautiful objects housing entities now passed, and appreciating them. “I admired how the precious remnants were rehoused in a symbolic beauteous ornament,” says Cardiff-born-and-raised ebecca. “Death’s remains had been adorned in these urns and served a powerful, reminiscent sight while embellishing my grandmother’s mantle. An exquisite reminder that death can have a resplendent, halcyon presence in one’s home.”
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The mission of Rebecca’s business, The Blackened Teeth, which she set up two years ago and runs with her partner Lee Arnett, is to replicate that notion and shed a beautiful light on objects and subject matter often deemed as ‘morbid’. In 2018 Rebecca’s grandmother gave her a cheque and told her to spend it on something ‘practical’, so she bought a shed – what’s more practical than a shed? From there, Rebecca and Lee began experimenting with materials and it became a small hub for the messy things that couldn’t be made in their house. “The idea hub soon became too small (and cold), so we moved in to a small unit,” says Rebecca. “Within the next year we upscaled to a workshop six times the size. During lockdown we outgrew our Cardiff-based workshop and
CLOCKWISE FROM FAR LEFT: Owners Rebecca
and Lee; teeth trinket holders in the making; dolls’ head candles BELOW: Lee creates these skeleton lamps from start to finish
