Taxidermy Magazine #05

#taximag

#5 October 2015

K #5 October 2015

A Curious Kanna Publication www.curiouskanna.com #taximag

Hello…

Failure is important

I have discovered that excellent work is often preceded by failure. Except that the people who become successful see it as an opportunity to do something better next time. It sounds obvious, right? But when last did you give up because you didn’t feel you were good enough?

Robert Reed is an experimental taxidermist. He openly encourages people to “have a go” and stand a chance of being fabulous rather than just produce work “sitting on a stick”. He talks openly about the importance of trial and error and the fact that he has produced a few “monsters” in his time.

Mark Mills is a life-long creator of automata. One of the reasons his amazing collaboration with taxidermist Amanda Sutton worked out was because he had tried unsuccessfully to do a similar thing years before. And this taught him what he needed to know to be successful.

Embrace failure. All the successful people are doing it.

Kanna x www.curiouskanna.com

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Inside 4 - 11

Stick your neck out and try something

32 - 35 Trophy Taxidermy

12 - 15 Face to Face

36 - 41 A Moving Experience

16 - 21 The Changing Face of Fish Taxidermy

42 - 43 Two Continents. Two Cultures.

22 - 25 Story Tellng Through Taxidermy

44 - 51 From a mouse to a t-rex

26 - 31 Why Taxidermy?

“Stick your neck out and try something” Story by Kanna Ingleson/Photos by Katherine Edden and Robert Reed Contemporary taxidermy, and colour in unexpected places, are the constants in in an evolving and utterly controlled artistic landscape that comprises Harriet Horton’s creative career. Her clever trademark use of bright neon transforms her work into beautiful sculptural pieces that are unmistakably original.

Robert Reed is not one to have his taxidermy “sitting on a stick”. His ability to side step the ordinary, and his willingness to experiment regardless of the outcome, has always motivated his taxidermy hobby.

Robert specialises in magnificently articulated small mammals that capture a split second of action. His stoats and weasels are tough but delicate creatures mounted with a lightness of touch that stand out by a country mile.

Groundwork is an important element of Robert’s work. His magnificent water effects make his work instantly recognisable and is fast attracting a fan base of aspiring taxidermists who connect with his work and can relate to his creativity and persistence.

Robert doesn’t pretend that its been a walk in the park. He has been doing taxidermy for about 4 years following a successful career in the music industry. Many of his mounts have been thrown out along the way and he insists that he sometimes still creates “monsters”. His mindset is to “rather try and have it not work out than do normal things” . He says if it doesn’t work out, it is important to just let it go and move on.

Coming up with fresh ideas is not easy. Robert collects pictures of animals capturing that instant of action, and then he figures out how best to recreate that effect. He says it is important to plan and envisage the final piece, right down to the last detail, before you even start.

A grounding in animal anatomy is essential. Robert explains that many Victorian pieces have been poorly articulated and the shape of the legs is very often wrong. He explains that for the angles to be right in a mammal mount, the leg bones have to be retained.

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Robert uses the traditional bind up method for anything smaller than a rabbit. He carves the head out of foam and uses decorator’s caulk to define shape and capture muscle tone.

Getting the tail right is critical to a successful mammal mount.

He typically uses a hot clue cast, with a wire running through, made out of a bathroom silicone mould. Recently Robert showed me how to cut and use a stripped feather quill for a tail. Robert explains that there is always more than one way of doing the same job and he likes to explore, and even push, those possibilities.

Robert creates water effects with lots of clay, bathroom silicone and resin. He makes the base in clay about a quarter of an inch thick. Then he shapes the clay to form ripples and textures.

The whole lot is then covered in ordinary bathroom silicon and left overnight. Once it dries, the silicone can be separated from the clay and the resulting mould is ready to receive the resin.

The small splash details that make his work so recognisable are created and added separately.

Robert says that unless you experiment and take the time and effort, its not going to work out. He says his best work is yet to come and that is definitely something to watch out for.

He firmly believes that the best way to ruin a great hobby is to turn it into a business. He is happily retired from his previous life as a professional saxophonist and is enjoying the quiet life in his his Sussex workshop. Robert also enjoys teaching enthusiastic hobbyists and recievng creative commissions.

Robert runs two day workshops for taxidermists who understand the basics and want to improve their mammal mounts and create his trademark water effects. For full details of his game changing workshop, contact: hello@curiouskanna.com Get in touch: Email: robreed7@btinternet.com Facebook: Robert Reed Instagram: @sussextaxidermy

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Face to face Story by Charlotte Hess I began working on portraits a few years ago. Although I have always admired the Golden Age of Dutch painting, a contemporary energy inspired my project.

Our present era enjoys the immediate access of the snapshot. In our computers, cell phones, and digital cameras, we possess a multitude of scattered pictures. But we do not look at them enough and we almost never frame them. Thus we don’t have proper portraits of ourselves or the people close to us. The true family portrait has disappeared, as well as its honourable function of preserving history and memory, and it’s position in the home as decoration.

My project arose from a desire to revive the significance of the traditional portrait image and to recreate the context of the portrait sessions in which subjects take time to think about the image they want to present.

Then the idea of inserting a stuffed animal came to me. Indeed, just as my photographs serve the function of preserving history with pictorial codes borrowed from vintage portraits, taxidermy appears from the renaissance as a way to preserve heritage endangered .

The notion of memory becomes a key point in my photographic approach.

Besides that, the face-to-face, man to animal that my portraits present, refers to the bond between the two species. In some cases, the viewer’s eye wanders not knowing which one is most alive. In each portrait, the choice of animal is chosen in a very intuitive manner so as to symbolise the person photographed and the energy he offers.

For this project, I was graciously supported by “La Maison Deyrolle”, the historic french institution of taxidermy. I wandered room to room in their incredible collection of stuffed animals searching to find the piece corresponding to the image I wanted to give my subject.”

Get in touch: web: www.charlotte-hess.com facebook: Charlotte Hess Photographer 12

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The changing face of fish taxidermy Story by Kanna Ingleson Chris Elliott is a making his own impression on a 200 year tradition of immortalising trophy fish behind great paintwork and bow fronted glass cases.

Despite an increased public appreciation for ethical fishing and catch and release programmes, 99 percent of Chris’ work is for fish mounts that are almost always special or somehow personal. These range from the traditional to the downright imaginative, like the brown trout that was retrieved from a freezer several decades after it had first been caught by a young boy. Once Chris had preserved it, the angler received this unique childhood memory back from his mom on his 40th birthday.

Chris has always been his own man. At school he ignored advice to join the army or become a lifer at Kodak. Completely unmotivated by the job security that seemed to preoccupy his careers officer, Chris instead followed his heart and went to Harrow art school. He left for a job at the renowned Rowland Ward taxidermy enterprise where he became a good all-rounder and first developed an interest in fish taxidermy.

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As world famous specialists in big game mounts, fish weren’t key to the Rowland Ward business. The best they did was to produce plastic reproductions of trophy fish and Chris decided to discover the real deal in Canada. Here he learnt the fundaments of carving bodies and painting skin. He quite rightly refers to this as artwork. A dry fish skin loses all colour and literally becomes a blank canvas for the taxidermist. Clues and cues will come from previous experience, from picture references and, ideally, from looking at live fish. Chris explains that the natural colour will briefly lift back up in a defrosting fish and offer some insights into its natural state.

While a lot of the basics of fish taxidermy are exactly the same as they always were, great progress has been made in the way that eyes are made. Chris explains that fish eyes are bulbous during life and deflate almost as soon as they die. Taxidermists wouldn’t necessarily have known that 100 years ago and they would go on to produce flat unrealistic eyes. Chris has come across a painted nail head used as an eye during WW2 when glass eye imports from Germany would have been suspended.

Another change in the fish taxidermy tradition is in the clientele. More collectors are willing to buy pieces with which they have no personal connection. Others will ask Chris to reinstate the paintwork in his own style on existing pieces. Then there are interior designers who are always on the lookout for striking, good quality, one-off artistic pieces. There is also a trend is for anglers to measure and photograph fish that are then turned into models of the released trophy fish.

Having spent his life perfecting his craft, Chris is motivated to do his own thing and to create recognisable work in his own distinctive style. He no longer has an interest in competitive taxidermy where judges peer into the mouth and examine the work for things that would never be noticed under any other circumstances. Chris feels that he has “been there and done that” and is now happy to do what he does best on his Nothants workshop.

Get in touch: Email: info@taxidermist.uk.com

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Story Telling Through Taxidermy Story by Tul Swwannakit Photo by Jake Reeder I’m a visual artist, taxidermist, children’s book author and illustrator based in Melbourne, Australia. The installation and sculptural works combine my background in story telling together with taxidermy, in creating staged narratives that explore the notions of dislocation, alienation, adaptation and mimicry. In the uncanny and imaginative world of mine, nature is stylised, juxtaposing between reality and fantasy that are used as creative expression. The process of my work often begins with preliminary sketches of rough ideas used as previsualisation of scenes, similar to creating of storyboards. Before skinning of the specimen can take place, I usually spend a great deal of time manipulating and fiddling with the actual anatomy and form to see how it will fit with the rest of the composition. Finally, timing of the viewing experience and unexpected encountering of the work play crucial roles in the narrative of the story, as they provide immersive connection between the viewers and the subject matter.

Taxidermy has always been a fascinating topic for me ever since I was a young child. When I was given a taxidermy civet for my 8th birthday from my dad’s friend, I remember how confronting it was, and yet fascinating at the same time. There was a sense of awe and wonder seeing something that was dead, looking ever so alive. So when I moved to The United States, the curiosity world of taxidermy opened up, and I would spend countless hours in the Ackeley Hall of African Mammals at the American Museum of Natural History in New York sketching and studying bones, fossils and taxidermy animals.

But it wasn’t until I enrolled in Masters of Fine Art in Melbourne, that I began investigating the hands-on process of taxidermy in details as part of my ongoing research. Initially, I was experimenting with silicone and clay in re-creating life-like animals, before gradually incorporating fur, feathers and horns into the work to give it a level of realism. Soon, I was working more with natural elements than with fabricated materials that I began to wonder, “why not try taxidermy?” But there weren’t really any taxidermy courses offered in Australia then, so I self- taught myself by referring to online tutorials and old manuals borrowed from libraries.

I attempted around a dozen mice or so before successfully accomplishing a descent mount. It took me almost a year to get the hang of the process of small mammals and birds taxidermy.

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Gaining enough confident, I began working on larger specimen from foxes to full grown feral pigs. I tend to look at taxidermy as a form of medium like acrylic paint or watercolour, rather than simply a practice. By doing so, it gives me the freedom to experiment and explore the medium beyond the scope of traditional taxidermy. The subject becomes a part of a dialogue within the narrative that I find to be the most potent part of my work. With the growing interest in taxidermy in Melbourne, I share my skill and passion in taxidermy by offering classes to adults and university students at my art school, Malvern School of Art. Students not only learn the traditional method of taxidermy, but also how to apply their own individuality and creativity in representing nature. I have been exhibiting my works for 4 years now, from small artist led exhibition spaces to larger galleries in Melbourne, Thailand, and recently at the National Museum Sezeccin, Poland.

Currently, I am working on my new body of taxidermy works for the upcoming exhibition in Melbourne, polishing up my skills for the next World Taxidermy Championship and developing a picture book about cabinet of curiosities.

I get most of my specimen from reptile shops where they are often used as reptile food, through population management program and farms. Quite frequently, I obtain animals that die of natural causes.

Get in touch: Website:www.nomadicfoe.com or www.malvernschoolofart.com.au Facebook: Malvern School of Art

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Why taxidermy?

by Lindsay Jameson The first thing George Jamieson asks me when he shows me into his workshop is, why taxidermy? It’s a good question. When I was a little girl I was fascinated by the taxidermy pieces we had in our infant school which would be used to practice drawing still life. I remember going to the York Castle Museum and being amazed by a stuffed lion. I have always loved animals. Growing up our house was a veritable menagerie, with dogs, a cat, birds, fish, mice, rabbits, guinea pigs… I rode horses and tried to befriend every wild animal that I came across. It never occurred to me that the goat which followed me around Argyll Wildlife Park was more interested in the food purchased at the entrance and stashed in my pocket than me.

When I discovered taxidermy classes in mid 2014 something just seemed to click. The rise in popularity of taxidermy in the last few years, and that of rogue taxidermy, has meant that classes have sprung up all over the country. However, when I attended a class I realised there was more to the art form than was being taught in some of these workshops. I sought further tuition from more credible teachers, who shared a genuine love of taxidermy and animals, and attended classes with Sammy and Sarah of Mole & Dove and The Curious Menagerie. When I left my job in October last year the concept for my taxidermy shop, Mousquerade, was born. I wanted to explore my new - and old - love and open a shop selling pieces, both traditional and anthropomorphic, by artists whose work I admired.

When I was little I dreamed of running a shop with my creative mum where we would sell things we made - I didn’t know what then, but now it seemed like the obvious thing to do.

I also wanted to further my own knowledge and skills and, after scouring the Guild website for an accredited teacher, I discovered the name George Jamieson. Perhaps it was the surname that jumped out at me - I can hear my dad’s voice telling me he must be trustworthy if he’s a Jamieson (the additional vowel notwithstanding). Obviously George has taught other established taxidermy artists such as Polly Morgan and Harriet Horton, so further research confirmed to me that this was where I must go.

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So here I was, standing in George’s workshop at Cramond Tower, surrounded by no end of tools and equipment as well as beautiful works in progress and pieces drying. I had a week of tuition ahead of me, and nothing had quite prepared me for how exhausted - but how happy - I would be at the end of it.

even begin skinning. And, when I eventually do so, to continue to observe the musculature, to draw around the flesh of each leg, which has been removed from the body at each ball and socket joint, and note the muscle groups before removing the meat from the bones. I also draw around the skinned carcass, noting the position of the hips, shoulders, and neck.

I would work on a squirrel, a jackdaw, and a red-legged partridge. Day one started with preparing the squirrel and I quickly realised, despite having done a couple of classes, how little I actually knew. The main thing I took away from my first day is the importance of empathy; empathy for the animal and having a clear understanding of the animal as a living thing and not just as a carcass on a table waiting to be cut open. Skinning the animal is merely a process one has to get through in order to actually recreate as accurate a representation as possible of a living thing.

The important thing to remember when skinning anything for taxidermy of course is that you must remove as much of the flesh and fat as possible to stop decay. And it seems obvious, but I learn that when it comes to mounting you need to replace what you have taken away. I discover that taxidermy is less about stuffing and more about sculpture. It is truly an art form, and one at which I will need lots of practice.

With the first day complete the squirrel skin will go into a pickle of salt and formic acid for 24 hours, meaning that on day two we begin on the red-legged partridge. Again the focus is less on technique and more on what the animal looks like as a living thing. There are key points to remember of course; for example I am taught to notice things like the colour of the skin under the fat as it is fleshed. I am very slow and there are many times throughout the week when George takes over, both to save on time and show me how it’s done.

As I set to work George concentrates on mounting a stag’s head, stopping only to show me the next stage or check on my progress when I ask. This happens frequently and I work slowly, constantly asking if I have done it right, am I in the right place? But, he says, there are no stupid questions, and I would rather spend the entire week learning how to do one animal correctly than barrel ahead thinking I know what I’m doing just because I’ve done one squirrel before.

During the week our conversation covers many different topics, but one subject we often come back to is integrity. George tells me it isn’t about doing any one particular animal, or valuing one animal above another.

They all deserve the same focus, care, attention and, above all, empathy. Just as I would rather spend the time learning how to do one squirrel correctly, he would rather do a house sparrow to the best of his ability than a more “glamorous” animal poorly. In any one job it doesn’t matter what you do, as long as it is done with integrity. And if you are doing it for the kudos, to be a “celebrity taxidermist”, then you are doing it for the wrong reasons.

Another thing I learn on my first day is that many people think taxidermy is about technique; about doing something a certain way and only sticking to one method. Some will take endless measurements to ensure their mounts are correct but, as George points out, you are measuring a dead body, and it is more important to get a feel for how the animal will look as a living being. He stresses the importance of angles and the way each part of the animal sits in relation to the other. George teaches me to manoeuvre the squirrel into a position close to how it will look when finished, and draw round it. To get a feel for it before I

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We talk about how it took Picasso years of practice learning to draw “properly” so that he could produce work that, for some, look as though a child could produce them. It is the same with any art form, be it music, literature, or taxidermy.

To George, the rogue movement is a fad that will come and go just as any fashion does, but there will always be a place for taxidermy, as long it is done for the right reasons, and the animal is shown the respect it deserves.

By the end of the last day, which was spent concentrating on mounting the squirrel, I have three beautiful pieces I can’t wait to take home. George is an excellent teacher, and very patient, and it would have been nigh-on impossible to come home with a bad piece. I have been completely inspired and, for the first time in my adult life, never more keen to actually learn and keep learning.

As I write my pieces sit on a spare shelf in my shop waiting for their finishing touches. I have some supplies from JHT winging their way to me, not to mention some pigeons on which I will start my practice. George informed me that if I can become accredited by the Guild this will mean my work is of museum standard.

This, then, is what I resolve to aim for. It might take me a year, or two; or three… it doesn’t matter. What matters is that I am doing it for the right reasons; that, aside from success in my shop with the pieces made by the wonderful people I have met since I started my new hobby, my only ambition is to continue to improve in my own work. To learn and keep learning.

And, if one day I am lucky enough to have them for my own work, make my customers happy. This is the taxidermist I aspire to be.

I learn how to flesh and tan the birds, and how to make the body forms using wood wool and the binding technique. For the squirrel, the form is made using the template of the carcass as a base, and binding the wood wool to that.

There is a lot to take in, and the level of concentration is such that I am exhausted at the end of each day. This may also have to do with the three daily trips up and down the stairs in Cramond Tower, which has done wonders for my calves and thighs. But I am very well fed and watered, and the morning and afternoon tea breaks are most welcome.

As is the endless supply of cake, and as well as a book full of notes that I write up each evening I also come away with a recipe from George’s wife.

Get in touch: Facebook: mousquerade Email: lindsayjameson@gmail.com Instagram: @camdenmouse

It is a wonderful place to work, being so close to the coast and surrounded by wildlife. From here George can observe the animals he so expertly recreates in their natural habitat. We frequently stop to look out of the window of the workshop and see the vixen and crows that come looking for the carcasses George gives them regularly. One day the fox comes into the workshop and isn’t the least bit put off by my being there. To see the animals as they are in the wild, and to be able to get so close to observe them as living beings is, we agree, what it is all about.

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Trophy Taxidermy

Proof of the hunt

by Kanna Ingleson Photos by Will Matthews While things have clearly moved on a lot since then, the Duke’s well publicised hunting escapade made an impression on young Will.

He started shooting rats, rabbits, pigeons and crows; and started thinking about how best to preserve and display them.

Taxidermy was the obvious path to follow but, like many before him, he received terrible careers advice which included first getting a degree. Will took matters into his own hands, wrote to an address he found in a book, and started working at Rowland Ward soon afterwards.

Will explains that work at Ward’s was like a production line where several people did one thing before passing the piece onto someone else. Few people could deal with an animal from start to finish and not many allrounders emerged from the Ward studios.

When Will joined, no-one was particularly keen on skinning the animals and this was where he started and first made an impression. He moved onto stuffing and soon he had added fox, hare, otter and badger masks to his skill set. Ward’s was particularly good with using all parts of the animals and Will explains how they created beautiful table tops from rhino and elephant skin that had been polished until they resembled amber. Will says he is sorry he didn’t acquire one of these for himself when he had the chance.

Driven by the need to be more efficient and competitive, Rowland Ward sent Will to Africa to go and look at the animals first hand to take reference photos and measurements. Here he indulged his love of hunting that had started a a boy and had taken him to the Scottish Highlands as a young man. It was also in Africa that Will acquired a lion skull embedded with a Warthog tusk - proof if ever it was needed that even these powerful predators can be vulnerable to attack in the wild.

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Rowland Ward was hit hard when Kenya banned legal hunting in the 1970’s and Will accepted an offer to go and work for Nico van Rooyen in South Africa. The change was a dramatic one and Will realised that he really knew very little about mounting techniques.

Nico worked to an incredibly high standard and was known for being able to discern and reproduce characteristics specific to a particular animal.

Will can be contacted for big game commissions. The hippo head pictured on the cover of this issue of #taximag is an example of his work.

Get in touch: Website: www.willmathewstaxidermy.co.uk Email: will@willmathewstaxidermy.co.uk

Will’s next move was back to Rowland Ward, but this time in publications. Here he helped produce “Rowland Ward’s Record of Big Game”. This was, and still is, the definitive record of big game measurements, where they were taken, when and by whom. Will did the measuring and recalls being fraudulently presented with a set of the steenbok horns attached to a grysbok skull. This would have made it the biggest grysbok in the universe and was easily spotted.

Will is a man who believes that responsible hunting brings in money where it is needed, feeds people, helps with land management and thins out the weak and the slow to strengthen the herd. More often than not, the most mature male will be selected on a hunt.

This rewards the hunter with a large trophy and the herd remains strong and fertile.

One of the more extreme examples of this practice, at least in the minds of hunting opponents, is the case of an old rhino bull that was shot in exchange for a huge amount of money that would be used to protect the rest of the herd. Will says that once the emotion is taken out of the situation, we are left with a humane and practical solution to conservation funding problems. Will explains that contrary to what many people think, hunters are very concerned about conservation and hunting ethics.

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A moving experience Story by Kanna Ingleson Photos by Mark Mills and Philip GW Smith Mark Mills is an analogue artist making an impression in a digital world.

Having created and restored automata for 25 years, Mark recently created a taxidermy based showpiece automaton incorporating a white rabbit performing a magic trick. This was in collaboration with Amanda Sutton who has a well established reputation for anthropomorphic taxidermy.

Mark and Amanda talk enthusiastically of creating large scale moving taxidermy-base tableaux reminiscent of scenes from Walter Potter’s “Death and Burial of Cock Robin.

If that isn’t enough to get you excited about the immediate future of this collaboration, then consider Mark’s plans for pieces that “make people jump”. These will include mythical beasts made from existing birds and animals, along with some more abstract creatures created from skulls and bones. Mark quite rightly refers to these as works of art and believes that the sky is the limit.

Amanda explained that she had been wanting to work with automata for a long time. “I’ve asked people over the years if they would like to collaborate.

Generally they seemed keen, but it never went much further than that”.

“Mark emailed me one day, saying that a friend had suggested getting in touch with me. He showed me some of his pieces, which were very similar to the style of Roullet & Decamps (French automata manufacturing company around 19th and 20th Centuries) which suit my style of anthropomorphic taxidermy very well. I jumped at the chance to work with him on some kinetic taxidermy, and Mark threw a bunch of ideas my way and I pretty much said yes to everything”.

Mark came up with the white rabbit idea. He briefed Amanda on how to separate and prepare each element so that it could be reassembled later with all the tubes and mechanisms in the right places.

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Amanda explains that the space in the chest needed to be quite large, so it was difficult to make sure that the body would be fully covered in fur. There was a lot of chopping and pasting. Once the arms, head and body were finally complete, Amanda passed them back to Mark to work his magic.

Both Amanda and Mark are easy going people who were happy to listen to each others ideas and thoughts. For future projects Amanda hopes to really push the boundaries. She says they are just getting into the swing of things, but can see this turning into large scale pieces with a few animals involved in a scene.

Mark built the rabbit automaton over the next month. A priority was to ensure that the mechanism was robust enough for the piece, a task that was helped by a similar yet entirely unsuccessful project years before. Mark says that trial and error is very much part of the job and no experience is ever wasted. The final assembled piece was sent back to Amanda for dressing.

“The main thing is, we should both always enjoy creating these pieces, also it’s so lovely to see other people’s reactions, the rabbit turned adults into kids, giggling and gazing at him in bewilderment, it’s so tough getting that kind of feedback these days, and I’m glad that Mark has stepped in to achieve that”.

Mark’s own plans include interactive automata incorporating old fashioned synthesisers that play music based on how the parts are moved.

The sound and movement configuration will be customisable so that every piece will be totally unique.

Mark sent it back to Amanda in a huge box.

Amanda says “it was just incredible to see one of my animals finally moving! The movement was just beautifully fluid, there were several stages of various actions which really brought it to life, all in all it was just breathtaking. He had really created something wonderful”.

Rather fittingly, the white rabbit showpiece has been sold to a professional magician. Mark and Amanda consider this to be the first of many and are happy to accept commissions and to hear from anyone interested in exhibiting or selling taxidermy based automata.

Amanda admits to being a little fussy about some of the decoration already added to the table in the piece. “I don’t like anything I work on to look modern, so I asked Mark if it was OK for me to strip it down and start again. I felt pretty mean about it but Mark was good about it. So I dressed the rabbit in a ruff, which was difficult to do as I needed to make sure that it wouldn’t restrict the head movement, but still cover up any visible joins. I added a red outfit and cloak. I’d like to try and use old sourced material to dress future pieces, to give them a more authentic look.

Get in touch: Amanda Sutton Website: amandasautopsies.com Instagram: @amandasautopsies Mark Mills Email: markjupiter4@aol.com Facebook: Brimstone Studios

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Two continents.

Two cultures.

Story by Emma Brown The fur trade played a formative role in Canada’s history and development. Beaver furs were exported to Europe for felt hats, and this competitive trade opened the continent to exploration and settlement.

Hunting and trapping is still a highly participated sport in Canada and consequently taxidermy is thriving. Vast numbers of hunters preserve and stuff the animals they kill to to show off to fellow hunters. However, this creates the impression that taxidermy is a prize for killing an animal, and it is this point of view that creates a certain stigma that can make it difficult for people like me to get started in taxidermy.

When I first became interested, I went to a taxidermy supply store to get some tips on what I would need to get started. The look I got from the owner when he saw me, a 15 year old girl at the time, made me realise it was going to be hard to be taken seriously.

I also realised that the taxidermy scene was very different in the UK. I could see that this was where the artistic taxidermy culture was coming from. On the internet I would easily find photos of weekend classes on how to prepare a soft mount mouse or rabbit. I also noticed that there were lots of younger women defining the culture, a sharp contrast to the much older male demographic in Canada.

The thing that that the two cultures do have in common is a commitment ethically sourced furs, skins and bones. Both cultures strongly advocate for the well-being of the animal, whether it stems from trophy hunting in Canada or taxidermy as art in the UK. Canada’s taxidermy culture may just be a few years behind the UK. It may turn out that there just wasn’t enough interest. in Canada But what is clear is that people like me are going to have to create our own opportunities. in the meantime we will learn from other artists, wherever in the world we find them, and from magazines like this this one Get in touch: Facebook: art by Emma Brown Email: hello@artbyemmabrown.com Top pic: Trophy taxidermy by Will Matthews Bottom pic: Taxidermy class by Amanda Sutton photographed by Philip GW Smith

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From a mouse to a t-rex And absolutely everything in between Story by Kanna Ingleson Simon Wilson pretty much invented taxidermy based animatronic models on film sets. Up until then, model makers had always used artificial materials and it took a sharp eye and a successful collaboration between the two disciplines to kick-start this now burgeoning market.

Simon’s is a man who can innovate and think big. His refusal to be constrained by what has - or has not- been done before makes him and his vast network of clients and contacts different to most other taxidermists. That is probably why he has created the biggest taxidermy company in the UK. It was after he provided animatronic birds on the Harry Potter film that his public profile was raised significantly - in China. Simon explains that taxidermy is big in China. Really big. Over 200 new museums have opened in recent years and they all need animals. Simon now does a fair bit of travel addressing taxidermy conferences and teaching classes in China.

The demand for taxidermy services is almost insatiable and, not for the first time, Simon is in the middle of the action.

It is this diversity of contacts, skills and interests that makes Simon more interesting than most. His bespoke one-off pieces are in stately homes, museums, auction houses and have even been incorporated into iconic fashion designs and photo shoots. Simon and his team will even design and install museum dioramas, complete with all the animals.

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One of Simon’s collaborations was with Alexander McQueen. This came about after a photographer contact introduced Simon to the fashion designer. During this time that Simon’s life was turned upside down for 3 years after police investigated the legality of a stuffed tiger he had provided on one of the shoots. Simon has always been scrupulous about keeping all the required licenses and permits for his pieces and the case against him collapsed.

Like may other successful contemporary taxidermists, Simon is happy to share what he knows. His advice to anyone starting in the business is to keep on top of the ever changing laws and to find a mentor. Simon explains that with the right teacher, you can gain skills in one afternoon that might have taken years to learn on your own.

A lot has happened since Simon first showed an interest in taxidermy when he was interest 9 years old. He grew up in Rickmansworth where he got a job in a car bodyshop. It was during this time that he tried animals and saw the opportunity to redefine how they were recreated on film.

And when that happened, he leapt on it. This seems to be how Simon has always conducted his life and his business. He might be known as the taxidermist to the rich and famous, and for good reason, but he is also one of the most down to earth people you will ever meet.

Get in touch: Website: www.animatronicanimals.com Email: animatronic.btconnect.com Facebook: simon the stuffa

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Hello…

Failure is important

I have discovered that excellent work is often preceded by failure. Except that the people who become successful see it as an opportunity to do something better next time. It sounds obvious, right? But when last did you give up because you didn’t feel you were good enough?

Robert Reed is an experimental taxidermist. He openly encourages people to “have a go” and stand a chance of being fabulous rather than just produce work “sitting on a stick”. He talks openly about the importance of trial and error and the fact that he has produced a few “monsters” in his time.

Mark Mills is a life-long creator of automata. One of the reasons his amazing collaboration with taxidermist Amanda Sutton worked out was because he had tried unsuccessfully to do a similar thing years before. And this taught him what he needed to know to be successful.

Embrace failure. All the successful people are doing it.

Kanna x www.curiouskanna.com

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#taximag

#5 October 2015

K #5 October 2015

A Curious Kanna Publication www.curiouskanna.com #taximag