Taxidermy is a Victorian art form of stuffing animals. It, however, has found its way into the modern world and became a trend, not only for outdoor lovers such as hunters and natural scientists, but for hipsters, too. It has found its place in home decoration and fashion – and even the web (e.g. digital taxidermy).
Are you a fan of taxidermy? How much do you know about taxidermy? Taxidermy is from the Greek words “taxi” (to arrange) and “derma” (skin). It is an art form that involves molding, casting, woodworking, and sculpting. Thanks to artisanal presence on the web, anything that involves specailized crafting skills has found resurgence.
Here is a list (in no particular order) of trendy and great taxidermy resource, a listing of blogs by professional taxidermists, enthusiasts, hobbyists, academics, and fans who share the passion for the art.
The Ravishing Beasts is a blog by Rachel Poliquin, which began as her post-doctoral project. Poliquin is a curator and a scholar. She also wrote the book The Breathless Zoo: Taxidermy and the Cultures of Longing and launched an exhibition, Ravishing Beasts: The Strangely Alluring World of Taxidermy at the Museum of Vancouver. Poliquin’s work dedication to taxidermy is recognized internationally.
Poliquin’s long scholarly work on taxidermy is an asset of this blog. She may not be a taxidermist herself but as an enthusiast with a strong passion for the art, she earned her place as a go-to person in taxidermy.
Her collection of taxidermy outputs is not a mere collection of finished stuffed animals, but also includes a testament of its history, significance, and scholarly value. Yes, while they say aesthetics is the queen, content is definitely the king. Aside from Poliquin’s scholarly insight on taxidermy, this blog also contains information about taxidermy events, collections, books, and contests.
This blog is a good-read; unfortunately, Poliquin’s relinquishing her duty to maintain the site as she now has a baby on the way. The good news is, she’s looking for someone, who also loves the craft, to continue what she started in Ravishing Beast.
Might you want to save the ravishing beast?
Prey Taxidermy is a well-renowned and award-winning taxidermist Allison Markham who in the 2015 World Taxidermy Championship, Allis received two First Place ribbons and two Second Place ribbons for her four entries in the Professional Division. She also received a 4th place overall Competitor's Award in the Professional Division of the same competition.
Allison Markham holds taxidermy classes and exhibits. The programs she offers can also be found in this blog. In this blog, too, Allison shares her craft and her students’. Her day-to-day quest to quench her thirst for further professional development and love for her craft is also recorded in this blog.
An enthusiast can learn a lot just by reading Allison’s blog. She also answers questions from her readers. This blog is not only informative, but also inspiring. It effectively communicates Allison’s passion for the art, and inspires the enthusiast’s heart.
If you are looking for news and information on the taxidermy industry as a whole, Ken’s Corner is a good place to start searching. Ken’s Corner is run by Ken Edwards who has spent over 30 years in the taxidermy industry.
Ken’s Corner is a blog section in a bigger site Taxidermy Net Forum, which provides vast information and network on taxidermy. The main focus of Ken’s Corner is the taxidermy industry, along with hunting, fishing, and the outdoors, while keeping a more relaxed and opinionated voice. It is a supplementary site for Ken Edwards Taxidermy Net Forum.
Ken’s Corner has a big crowd. Its readers’ overwhelmingly positive feedback is a testament to Ken’s more than 30 good years of experience in the taxidermy industry, which now he shares in his personal blog – Ken’s Corner.
Crappy Taxidermy is a vast depository of taxidermy images. One will not find plenty of articles, and long narratives about a day’s hunt or a week work of taxidermy. What it has is a lot of images of
While you could say that these are ‘crappy’, true artisans and professionals may find gems that people simply don’t appreciate. Taxidermists may find them funny, but true artisans can see something in them.
Jazmine is a taxidermist based in London. She offers her services to galleries, museums, artists, and collectors. She calls herself as the ‘ethical taxidermist’ to describe the ways of her craft.
In her blog, Jazmine shows and describes her ethical way of doing taxidermy. It is a narrative of her personal encounter with taxidermy that stemmed from her love of natural history. She believes that through this blog she is able to share the ‘cultural and scientific benefit’ of this artistic craft.
Since taxidermy involves hundreds of man-hours, details and sometimes precision work, Jazmine’s way of ethically working with animals could be one unique path to walk.
Of Corpse by Margot Magpie is one of the worthwhile blogs on taxidermy out there. Her strong opinions and insights about the art are both moving and intriguing.
In her blog, Margot Magpie not only exhibits her craft but has also touched various matters surrounding taxidermy. Interestingly, she talks about controversial matters such as the ethics of taxidermy, sexism in taxidermy, the traditional and the unconventional aspects of modern taxidermy.
Owned and operated by Rachel Ahern, Weird City Taxidermy offers taxidermy services for mammals of all types. Her blog showcases her experiences as a professional taxidermist and stints at competitions. There are also some events posts taxidermists might be interested to check out, and random personal entries. She also shares and recommends taxidermy resources such as shops and dealers.
Her portfolio showcases mounts of real mammals, and fictional mammals, which shows she has creativity and injects it into her craft. Her customers, readers, and followers’ feedback is testament to her good reputation as a taxidermist.
Has the term “rogue taxidermy” ever crossed your path? Rogue Taxidermy is an art movement that began in Minneapolis Minnesota. An artist and classical taxidermist Scott Bibus discovered the unusual taxidermy sculptures of Sarina Brewer on the Internet, and decided to see her to discuss her works with her. Bibus introduced Brewer to Robert Marbury after realizing their work share the same attribute which will later own define the genre of rogue taxidermy which they all coined in 2004.
This blog is a record of history in the making. It not only contains the ingenious beginnings of this genre of taxidermy, but also the collection of its pioneers’ craft. The art of rogue taxidermy and Sarina Brewer has been featured in various media to date, and it is getting more and more attention around the world.
Taxidermy with Don Sangster is a blog section in BassProShops. Don Sangster is an avid multi-species angler and hunter. He is a professional outdoor writer and photographer since 1999, and is a frequent contributor to numerous North American print and web publications.
He writes for the BassProShops on topics such as hunting and taxidermy. And Taxidermy with Don Sangster is his column in the publication. Sangster is not a taxidermist himself, but he claims to be an enthusiast. He writes about various topics directly or indirectly related to taxidermy, too.
HicksTaxidermy is owned and operated by a lovely couple, Richard and Pixie Hicks. They own a shop in Northport, Alabama and have been in the business since 1979. And for more than 25 years, Richard and Pixie Hicks have worked together to bring trophy fish, birds, and animals back to life for West Alabama hunters and anglers.
HicksTaxidermy is an informative and interactive blog. It serves also as the official commercial site of their shop, HicksTaxidermy. In here, they showcase their craft and their services. There is also much to learn from this site as they both share professional taxidermy tips.
Richard and Pixie’s blog is also a heartwarming and an inspiring blog. It recollects how their passion for the art made them find each other, and how they both grew to love doing what they both love together. It is also a record of their everyday adventure in their life with taxidermy.
“People envision that taxidermists glorify death, but in reality what I love most about my job is bringing these creatures back to life,” says Mickey Alice Kwapis, a licensed and professional taxidermist.
“I don’t create trophies for people that kill for sport, and I don’t support senseless killing of animals for fun. I enjoy educating the public, growing as an artist, learning about anatomy,” she says. She travels internationally to teach taxidermy classes for beginners.
In her blog, Kwapis shares her passion for taxidermy and is very generous in sharing what is there to learn about taxidermy. She converses her strong sentiments and commitment to alter peoples’ notion and misconceptions about taxidermy and committed herself to educating the public.
Death + Glory is a London based company creating wearable and decorative taxidermy. Exploring their site and their blog, it can really be said that Death+Glory is the marriage of fashion, art, and taxidermy.
The company also maintains a blog, The Death+Glory Blog, where it keeps narratives of the ‘behind-the-scene’ story of their craft, the inspiration of their products, and commentaries on interesting topics on fashion and taxidermy.
Watts Taxidermy is owned and operated by Richard Watts. He’s been a professional taxidermist since 1979 (the year he received his license) in Iowa. Although long before getting his license, Richard has been practicing taxidermy for his own fulfillment.
Richard never intended to make taxidermy his professional career, but as his friends noticed his work, they began asking him to mount their trophies, too. And it was the beginning of Richard’s career as a professional taxidermist. Richard’s site has received overwhelmingly positive feedback owing to the quality of his work.
Harvest Taxidermy is a taxidermy studio in Georgetown, Indiana owned by Danny Johnson. Working with him is Rose Dulaney, a professional taxidermist with 18 years of experience.
Harvest Taxidermy’s blog is the depository of Danny’s documentation and narratives of how he makes his craft. Whenever a client asks for his trophy be mounted, it is here where Danny updates everyone about the status of the project. So, you’ll pretty much get the idea of what how he does his work. A more interesting part of his blog is his narrative of his dedication to his craft.
Kami Garcia’s Pinterest collection labeled “Taxidermy: The Southern Art of Taxidermy” is a fine collection of beautiful taxidermy crafts. It has over four thousand follows and over a hundred pins.
Going through her pins, Kami’s obvious fascination with taxidermy in its various artistic application and form will keep you pinned on her beautiful compilation of taxidermy crafts.
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