Monday, January 31, 2011

Playground Skull

Nick Ilton from Melbourne, Australia sent us this skull piece. "Here are some photos of my little girl Lola being all cute while riding her dad's 'monster ride'. We went out and installed this in a playground at the end of our street. She eventually preferred the swings and slides."


I took this photo from his website, so you could see the spring under it that made it a ride.

These are the times that I want to be a kid again. This clearly means that we need an adult sized version of this. The style of the skull reminds me of an older cartoon, which is perfect for it's application. I'm glad this is in a park for everyone to enjoy.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Sunday Simulacra - Version 4.35

Today's skulls were found in the snow.


Kristin "Artzy Diva" from Millbury MA sent us this snowy skull. "My husband and son found this on our front walk when they went out this morning. I love it when Mother Nature leaves a skull gift!"


Mike Webber from London, Ontario, Canada sent us this snowy skull. " This is a photo of the hood of my car early on Monday, January 3rd. I found this skull on my car after a light dusting of snow. I'm not sure how the pattern occurred, but I thought it was pretty cool. Nothing bad happened during the day, so we can rule out the whole "evil omen" thing."


While I was outside taking photos for My Daily Nature Photos, I found this snow skull on a leaf of my Camellia bush. It's not from white snow, like the above two are. It's from the snow melting into an ice/snow mixture.

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Custom Carved Skull Plugs

It seems as though a lot of skull lovers are also lovers of body modifications(go figure, right). Today's skulls are a couple of creatively carved custom skull ear plugs made by Tom Kushida an Inupiat Eskimo custom carver from Alaska for Skull-A-Day fan Camel...






I'm no expert but if I had to guess I'd say those were a 00 size or something close. Excellent work on the one of a kind lobe adornments, Tom. They look like they were made from real bone.

See more of Tom's work HERE

Friday, January 28, 2011

Snow Skull

Ashley Taylor from Richmond, VA sent us this: “Here is my snow skull that I made recently with the 4 inches or so of snow that we got. My fiance helped me make a big pile of snow and I carved it out with my hands and finished it with a spoon from the kitchen.”



Dreary C says:

Another week another snowstorm here in the Northeast. Today’s skull is expressing how I am feeling about winter this year. I wish it would become a memory already like your work probably is. Thank you for submitting this wonderful sculpture done with an uncommon element in your part of the world.

Since it is a Flashback Friday around here let me share these pieces from the Skullmaster 373. - 374. - 376. , Tatman, and myself who were also inspired by past snowstorms. Every so often I see a news story about a 18 foot snowman somewhere in New York, wouldn't it be awesome if the next time it was an 18 foot skullman? If it happens make sure you send us pictures and the link to the newscast.

[BONUS] Skull Poetry

I'd like to take a moment to introduce something a bit different than our usual world of visual skull creativity here on Skull-A-Day. Poet Kim Roberts just shared this piece with me and gave me permission to pass it along to you. It appears in her Pearl Poetry Prize winning book Animal Magnetism...

THE SKULL OF JOHANN GASPAR SPURZHEIM (1776-1832)
The Warren Anatomical Museum, Harvard University, Boston

Spurzheim’s skull
                       is sliced through the brow,
           completely around,

a perfect cap, then bisected
                       down the middle.
           If you put hinges on either side,

above where he once had ears,
                       you could open him up
           like a treasure box.

Spurzheim made a study of brains,
                       an atlas of 36 “organs”
           (Amativeness, Veneration, Marvellousness)

which controlled morality and intellect.
                       His brain, one of the heaviest
           ever recorded,

would have been a source of pride
                       if he only had known.
           He got so much wrong.

Tell me: is a life wrestling
                       with a single misguided theory
           a wasted life?

The brain is indeed
                       a treasure box:
           a little space here for perception,

an area there for volition,
                       a communications center,
           a music box

with gears and flywheels,
                       a pirouetting ballerina.
           The skull is a beautiful receptacle

and Spurzheim’s skull,
                       held upright
           on a pronged stand,

shelved behind a plate of glass,
                       a slice of history,
           glows.



Folks in the DC area can actually meet Kim at her book release party
on Sunday, February 20 @ 4:00 pm
14th & V Streets NW, Historic U Street neighborhood
202.387.POET
Free, but donations accepted.

For more of Kim's work visit her site HERE.

[Flashback Friday] #38. Quoth the Skull

Welcome to another addition of Flashback Friday.** This year the guest editors, Citizen Agent, Tatman, and myself, Azurafae, are taking turns counting down our personal favorite 17 skulls from the Original 365.25 Year. So please join us as we visit the archives and add our additional commentary on some of the original pieces.

1. #38. Quoth the Skull


To talk about this piece, I should mention how I found out about the project. In March 2009, I was on vacation with my husband and daughter. We went to the book store, because I love books. I was looking through the art books and found "Skulls" by Noah Scalin. We looked through it and were amazed at the variety of skulls. This particular one drew me in the most. See, I love Edgar Allan Poe. I have since I first learned about him as a child. The dark macabre nature of his work was what attracted him. I also like ravens and all carrion birds (scavengers). I'm not sure when I started liking those, but probably when I read his poem "The Raven". I immediate said, I need this as a tattoo. For a reason I don't recall, I didn't purchase the book then.

When we returned from our trip, I found the blog and started following it. I became a frequent commenter and started making skulls. Something about making skulls solved a creative block that I had for years. A few of them were posted on the blog, which is great. In June, was my birthday. We had a big celebration at a local club. As I'm talking to my friends, I turned around and there was Noah. I was pleasantly surprised. He is a member of the same club and because I had been talking about my party so much on Facebook, which we are friends on, he wanted to come find out who I was. We talked a bit then. I was wearing a skull print 50s style dress, which of course he loved. Later, my best friend Kit McSmash gave me some b-day presents. One of them was the "Skulls" book. How convenient was this timing? He signed the book for me. We talked a bit more and then I went off to enjoy the rest of the party...which I don't remember much about...hey it was my birthday.

Afterwards, I kept on following the project. Fast forward to March 2010. I had been talking to Noah, Tatman and Citizen Agent for about a year now. The fourth year of Skull-A-Day was rapidly approaching. I got an email from Noah asking me to join the team and become a co-editor, like Tatman and Citizen Agent are. Of course, I said yes...or I wouldn't be writing this. I have learned a lot from them since then and have expanded my creative repertoire.

As a "welcome to the team" gift, Tatman made me this glass with the quoth the raven image etched into it. It sits in my grandmother's record player cabinet with some of my Dia de la Abby skull art pieces. The photos don't do it justice. It's a really great piece.

Remember the part about me saying I wanted to get this piece tattooed on me, well Noah knew that I did want to. Fast forward to December 2010 (yep, that is a long time in between wanting and this point in time), I had been putting it off for some unknown reason. My husband and I had been talking about it for a long time, but I had yet to get it. Noah asked when I was going to get it. I finally set an appointment with an artist, for the next day. I currently have it tattooed on my left upper arm. Photos will come in a separate posts.

It's interesting to see how one piece of art can change your whole perspective on art. It's not just the one piece, either, it's the whole project and the guys. I have never worked with an team as amazing and helpful as they are. The project means so much, that no matter what may come years from now, I will always have it with me, on my arm and in my heart.




**Flashback Friday was a weekly countdown of the fan selected top 52 skulls of Skull-A-Day 1.o. Each week during year 3.0 The Skullmaster posted the original skull along with some additional commentary in order from lowest to highest rated, with the #1 skull appearing in the last week of year 3.0, all 52 can be found here.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

The Skull Quilt Project: The Vibrant Dead Cat

Blocks have been coming in for the Skull-A-Day and Becky's Fund Skull Quilt Project. Brenda from Felis Creatibus sent us her quilt block entitled "The Vibrant Dead Cat". It is machine sewn and hand embroidered. I really like the use of color, prints and that it's a cat skull vs. a human one. Remember, I just said "make a skull", I didn't specify what species. Kitties need skull love too.



Speaking of quilt square making, I noticed some concerns about sewing ability. I realize that not everyone knows how to sew and that is certainly not a requirement of this project. You can paint, fuse, felt, glue, melt...use what ever mediums you want to use with your 12"x12" fabric square. I'll be using a variety of techniques to make mine...for which I will give you all a sneak peek of soon. Take this opportunity to experiment with different things to see what works best for your block and to your liking. This project is also about you all having fun with it.

Also, if you are a teacher, scout leader or parent, this is a project you can get your students, scouts or children involved in too. I'd love to see a variety of blocks from all different skill levels and places. It's a fun project with a deeper meaning and for a great cause. You, like Brenda, don't need to make a human skull, it can be any type of skull. I'll be looking forward to seeing your works.

Send your finished skull quilt squares to:

Skull-A-Day
PO Box 73236
Richmond, VA 23235


If you have any questions about the project, feel free to email me at abby@skulladay.com

The deadline for the skull blocks is Saturday, May 28, 2011, Skull Appreciation Day. We are currently working on a Richmond, VA event for this, which should have the quilts displayed. Afterwards, the quilts will be auctioned off and the proceeds will go to Becky's Fund, which is an organization that helps victims of domestic violence.

Dia de la Abby #35: Charcoal Skull


I've been drawing since my parents let me have a crayon and have worked with many different mediums since. I've had charcoal in all of the many different art kits that I've had, but oddly enough, I never worked with it. This is my 1st time doing anything with it. The medium seems similar to graphite pencil, but darker, which was nice for shading.

I watched two video tutorials to learn how to use charcoal. They were about using charcoal to draw a skull, which I thought was appropriate given the subject matter.
Charcoal Drawing of a Skull Part 1
Charcoal Drawing of a Skull Part 2

I used my handy skull model to draw from. It was back lit towards the left with the only lamp in my living room. I could have moved it around, but I liked the heavy shadow because it made the skull more eerie. I used a soft charcoal pencil for the outlines and shading, a white charcoal pencil for the highlights (which still ended up gray), a rolled paper smudge stick and normal smooth sketch paper. It took me about an hour to do.


Every week in the 4.0 year, I will post my own Dia de la Abby posts as well as a tutorial with instructions on how I made my piece. Hopefully you feel inspired by my posts just as I was by Noah's Skull-A-Day 1.0 daily project. Need more of me than just a weekly dose, follow me on Facebook.

Insane Filigree Skull

Chifo♣Freak sent us this filigree inspired skull entitled, "Skull Insane".


This immediately reminded me of Noah's Ornamental Skull (which is also our site wallpaper). It's different style skull and equally beautiful. I love the use of the curves in the filigree to created the shape of the skull. It would be great to see this sort of design turned into ironwork for a gate, jewelry, or wooden gingerbread for a house. I also like the use of the Skullphabet #1 for the spelling of "skull insane".

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Skulliday Card & Ornament

As we are packing up some of the finial items from 2010 I came across this pair of holiday skulls to share with you. (Remember we work 4-5 weeks behind.)

Josh Higgins told us: “ I made this card for friends. Thanks for the great site.”

Angie Zacharek from Bend, Oregon said: I wanted to submit one of my sugar skull ornaments I made with candy cups.”

Storage C says:

Josh and Angie, thank you both for submitting your wonderful work for us to share with our readers. Angie I saw that you have similar candy cups for sale on your Etsy page, and Josh if you have any cards left of and want to connect with people who want them let us know and we will try to connect you.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Reflective Skull

The image of a skull can cause one to reflect on the life that skull might have led. It might cause reflection of one's own self. To feed those thoughts Chad & Brandy Danathar bring us their "Reflective Elements" of stone, wood, and water. A photoshopped skull for you to reflect on.



If history is destined to repeat it's self then perhaps we should all take time to reflect on it. That is, after we take time to enjoy this skull again. Thanks, Chad & Brandy!

Monday, January 24, 2011

2010 Skull of the Year Winners Announced

Designers Skulls' 2010 Skull of the Year winners have just been announced!




Since I won last year I decided to lend my services as a judge this year.

This year's first place winner is Andreas Ivanof. His entry was a very impressive interpretation of an aerial view of the German city of Ulm which he first outlines and then transforms into both a robotic and realistic skull illustration. The images take a while to load, but are worth the wait.

Congratulations to the top 9 finalists as well, including our friends Dan Springer (who won first place in 2007), Charlton Yu of Everything Burger, and Camel who is part of the Mailart365 project.

See all of the winning skulls from this year as well as previous winners HERE.

Buried Treasure Skull

T-Bone sent us this photo, "from the Big Island of Hawaii".


This looks like the skull and crossed bones are made of white lava rock, which is a nice contrast against the black lava rock. I think this could definitely be marking some great buried treasure...skull treasure perhaps? Though I don't recall any tales of pirates voyaging to Hawaii, I guess anything is possible. How would one dig through lava rock to find treasure? A jack hammer? I think the only treasure under here might be more lava...which I don't want to go hunting for, so perhaps this is a warning to not dig and to venture on to the beach.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Sunday Simulacra - Version 4.34

As our skull hunters continue their search high & low we follow them on their never ending quest for those hidden skulls among us...

Eike Beck of Designers Skulls found one on this public ashtray by a bus stop. He writes that it, "May be the daily reminder that smoking could kill you. So I keep on drinking."



Our next two hunters follow Eike's idea and find their own floating friends. Jean-Baptiste Bellon found this wickedly, frothy fellow hanging out at the pub.



And Addy from Milwaukee, WI found this skull in her glass of P.B.R.- A.S.A.P.!



With today being a big day for American football, I think I'll follow suit to my nearest pub today and keep up the good hunt. If you capture a skull simulacra of your own then please submit it to us to share. Just remember that since we do this only once a week it could take a little while to get posted. Thanks!

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Super Fun Super Funboy Saturday Skulls

When you think of the weekend you usually associate it with fun times, so let's relate this Super Saturday post with Funboy and let him bring the fun time skulls to you.











Thanks for the super helping of Saturday skulls, Funboy. I'm sure it'll set the mood for the rest of you to get inspred and get creative on this skullacious weekend!

Friday, January 21, 2011

Bike Skulls

Today we feature a collection of skulls made with bikes.

First up is Don Martin from Olathe, KS who told us: “When I was in grade school is saw a picture of a bull skull made from a bicycle seat and handle bars by Pablo Picasso. It cracked me up and I never forgot it. I found an old stingray bike and made my skull. My wife hates it and makes me hang it in the garage unless it's Christmas and I add the red light as a nose.”

Next is Frank from Germany who showed off art he did for his bicycle.

And lastly, Rod Moran from Canada showed off the front art he did for his dirt-bike.

Dual C says:

No matter where you live in the world, it looks like skulls and bikes are natural friends. Thank you all for being loyal readers and for your submission.

[Flashback Friday] #109. Jumbo Lace Skull

Welcome to another addition of Flashback Friday.** This year the guest editors, Citizen Agent, Tatman, and myself, Azurafae, are taking turns counting down our personal favorite 17 skulls from the Original 365.25 Year. So please join us as we visit the archives and add our additional commentary on some of the original pieces.

2. #109. Jumbo Lace Skull


I'm very girly, I love lace. Lace is one of the most beautiful fabrics and trims. It can make something basic into something very elegant. Of course, when I saw this piece, I was in love. This was made at the Etsy Labs in NYC. If you're not familiar with Etsy, it's a online shopping site with goods from artisans. Noah's skull fascination (for which we all share), fits in well with their aesthetic. If you all would like to see Noah create this piece, view the video below. He starts making it about half way through the video. The rest of the video is inspirational information about the project, which is also good to watch.





**Flashback Friday was a weekly countdown of the fan selected top 52 skulls of Skull-A-Day 1.o. Each week during year 3.0 The Skullmaster posted the original skull along with some additional commentary in order from lowest to highest rated, with the #1 skull appearing in the last week of year 3.0, all 52 can be found here.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

The Skull Quilt Project: Amperskull

If you all don't already know, we are working on a group project to make a quilt for Becky's fund. We are requesting that you all mail us 12" x 12" quilt blocks decorated with any kind of skulls. For more information on the project, here are the details. The deadline for me to receive them is May 28th, 2011. In June, we will be auctioning off the quilts containing the blocks we receive. The proceeds will go to Becky's Fund which is an organization that helps victims of domestic abuse. I will update you all weekly with the new blocks we receive and any new information I have about the project.


The 1st one that I received was from Allison Schumacher, from Richmond, VA. It's a skull in the shape of an Ampersand, hence the name "Amperskull". This one contains three different fabrics, lots of stitching and beading. It's even more beautiful in person.




I look forward to see all the lovely blocks. I will be making my own quilt using different fabrics, beading and stitching to make my blocks. This quilt will also be available for purchase and the proceeds will also go to Becky's Fund.

Etsy Success Symposium - February 8, NYC

I've been asked to present a workshop at the Etsy Success Symposium in New York City on February 8th.


The event is a full-day of workshops designed to inspire and educate Etsy sellers! My event, Generating Creative Energy, is about helping people experience the benefits of daily practice. I will talk about my own experiences with the Skull-A-Day project and lead a fun hands-on exercise based on the types of activities found in my book 365: A Daily Creativity Journal.

Additional speakers/workshops include...
Vanessa Bertozzi: Beyond the Comfort Zone: Presenting Yourself Professionally

Dave Brown: I'm Tweeting This: Confessions From a Social Media Junkie
 

April Bowles-Olin: Attract Your Target Market — You're Not Walmart
 

Sarah Feingold: Insider Secrets to Copyright and Intellectual Property


Lorrie Veasey: The Greedy Crafter: Getting What You Want 

Michelle Ward: Ascertaining Your Awesomeness & Articulating It 


Steven Zelin: Intro to Bookkeeping for Creative Entrepreneurs 


If you're an Etsy seller in the NYC area I hope you'll come out and say "hi"!

The Etsy Success Symposium
Etsy Labs, 55 Washington St., DUMBO, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
9am to 6:30pm

More details about the event can be found HERE.
And tickets can be purchased HERE.

Dia de la Abby #34: Pop Art Skull

This was inspired by the works of two of my favorite pop artists, Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. Warhol did screen prints of popular culture items of 1960s, the time period he was doing his most famous work. Lichtenstein did cartoonish paintings using a dot method found in printed comics. I also recently watched "Exit Through the Gift Shop" and was interested in Mr. Brainwash, who used Photoshop to create colorful work. I wonder what Warhol and Lichtenstein's work would look like now with the aid of technology like Photoshop? I'm glad that technology wasn't around when they were working, or I don't think I would enjoy their art as much.



I would normally write a tutorial for this, but I didn't take photos of the process since it was a lot of not so pretty experimentation. However, here is a basic description of how I painted it.

I tried to combine the two. I don't own a screen printing system, so I took one of the images I created in Photoshop (the third one) and used it as a reference for shading placement. I was playing around with layered effects in Photoshop to see if I could create a pop art image that would work well for this painting.

I painted the entire canvas in two layers of hot pink paint. The small kitten paws you see were due to my kitten stepping on the canvas while the 1st layer of pink was drying. They were too cute not to leave. I painted around them when I made a second coat of paint. The paint I use is non-toxic, so she wasn't harmed by the paint.

I used bright green acrylic paint to paint out where I wanted the different shaded areas. I suppose this is called under painting. Then, using a darkened green (bright green with a few drops of black) I painted the dark green areas you see. Using black, I painted the black parts. I made sure to make defined outlines of the skull details, as is would be for a cartoon.

Using the other end of the paint brush, I dipped it in the paint to make the dots. This was the most tedious part and is inconsistent in spacing. There is probably a better way to make even dots. The dots are in bright green for the dark green sections and dark green for the bright green and black sections. After all the dots were placed, I re-outlined details in black, because they were obscured by the dots too much for my liking.



Every week in the 4.0 year, I will post my own Dia de la Abby posts as well as a tutorial with instructions on how I made my piece. Hopefully you feel inspired by my posts just as I was by Noah's Skull-A-Day 1.0 daily project. Need more of me than just a weekly dose, follow me on Facebook.

Skull Painting and Drawing

Michael Lado from Maryland submitted us these two pieces. The first one is a painting and the second is a drawing.


I like the contrast between the blue skull and red background. The barbed wire goes well with the terrified expression on the skull. The use of colors makes me think this is a frozen skull sinking into a pit of lava. Definitely a tortured demise was the fate of this skull.



This one depicting a deceased baseball pitcher and his skull ball, makes me think of the legendary baseball players of the past. Are they playing baseball (skull ball?) in the afterlife? I wonder if you throw a ball too hard as a corpse, does your arm rip off and follow along the path of the thrown ball? That would be quite the shock to the batter, catcher and umpire. I wonder if you get three strikes, can you be out or is it a perpetual game with unlimited innings. I like baseball, but not enough to play it for eternity.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Life Savers Skull

Rebekah Hollins from Richmond, VA was inspired after a visit from our very own Skullmaster. She wrote: “Thank you for visiting the Curiousness class recently! I really enjoyed hearing more about your skull-a-day project. I made a few Life Savers skulls for Project 54 (the Life Savers blog project) after you visited our class.”

(This skull was photographed through a red gummie Life Savers candy.)



Starboard C says:

SKULL OVERBOARD! Thank you for submitting your inspired work for us to share. I think the one that you photographed through the red one is a wonderful composition. You have inspired me to try that sort of technique next time I am playing with my camera.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Skull-A-Day Press: Ten Minutes of Awesome

I had the great opportunity to chat with my friend Paul Overton of DudeCraft and Every Day is Awesom on his new podcast Ten Minutes of Awesome!



Listen to the entire episode HERE.

Grim Reaper Skull

If you've ever contemplated the transition of death then perhaps you've imagined meeting the Grim Reaper. Deran Wright brings us his version of the collector of souls with this wonderful illustration.



No matter what your idea of life after life consists of you have to admit that Deran's work is amazing. Plus, it doesn't stop there. Deran's 3-dimensional views of his art translate beautifully into numerous bronze sculptures that come to life with their realistic details. I would highly recommend you checkout his site...before the Reaper comes for you.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Sugar Skull Make-up

Blue Coble from Phoenix, AZ sent us this photo. "I love Dia de los Muertos and finally decided to dress as a sugar skull in the Halloween of 2009. Still my favorite costume."


I'm always a fan of the make-up submissions we get. Most, like this one are not only influenced by Dia de los Muertos and sugar skulls, but also the artwork of Sylvia Ji. For Blue's costume, I like how she the colors of the flowers compliment the colors of the make-up. The overall make-up design is well balanced with placement of details and colors. The aubergine makes her green eyes stand out. For this Halloween, I too went as a sugar skull. I will agree with Blue, that my costume was my favorite too. There isn't any costume that compares quite like a sugar skull one. It's a good mix of beauty and scary. I've never liked being the gorey scary person. I've always liked being a pretty dead person.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Book Talks & Signings - Charlottesville, VA

I've been asked to talk on two panels as part of the upcoming Virginia Festival of The Book in Charlottesville!

The Festival is March 16–20 and I will be speaking at the following events:

Wednesday, March 16th – 8:00 PM

with 
Ashley Bryan (Words to My Song's Life), Sophy Burnham (The Art of Intuition), 
and David Baggett (Tennis and Philosophy).
605 E Main St
434.970.3113

AND

Friday, March 18th, 2011 – 2:00 PM

with 
Phoebe Potts (Good Eggs) and 
Christaphora Robeers (The Quiet Voice of the Outer Banks)
605 E Main St
434.970.3113

I hope if you're in the area you'll stop by and say "hi" and get your copy of Skulls and 365: A Daily Creativity Journal personalized!

Sunday Simulacra - Version 4.33

We have been told the walls have ears, but today we see their skulls.

First up is Kerosene long time fan, Sin-in-Linen winner, and a posted submitter from Montreal, Quebec, Canada who wrote: “I see this skull simulacrum whenever I go to my studio; it puts a smile on my face as I go into the building. I've taken other photos of it, but it seems waiting for the snow was a good idea.”


“R V” sent us a picture of a dilapidated bathroom wall that shows perhaps a skull of a vampire


Last for the day, Emily said: “He's faint, but I found this screamer spackled onto the wall in the
garage at our new place in West Seattle. I think he's rather cute.”


90ยบ C says:

It brings me great joy to see the wonderful contributions that appear in our in-box every week. Thank you all for submitting such wonderful finds and being such great readers.

Keep sending those pictures in to our submissions address. Just keep in mind that since we only post simulacra once a week it might take a little longer than normal for it to be posted.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Ceramic Skull Cups

Nicole Pangas makes ceramic skull cups and sent us a few photos of her work.

Tumbler

Mug

Mug

These bring back great memories of my mom's friend who made us beautiful bowls and mugs. I enjoyed admiring their beauty while using them. I love the rough and sturdy shapes of these cups. I like the variation in colors and patterns. It gives them an aged appearance that adds to their beauty. These would be a great addition to any skull lover's home.

Friday, January 14, 2011

[Flashback Friday] #117. Doily Skull aka Skoily

Welcome to another addition of Flashback Friday.** This year the guest editors, Citizen Agent, Tatman, and myself, Azurafae, are taking turns counting down our personal favorite 17 skulls from the Original 365.25 Year. So please join us as we visit the archives and add our additional commentary on some of the original pieces.

3. #117. Doily Skull aka Skoily


This brings back fond memories of visiting my great aunt and great grandmother. They had crocheted lace doilies on the back of ornate parlor chairs and couches. They also used paper doilies under glasses to protect the table. Ever since then, I've loved them. For this doily skull, I like how Noah used the circular details in these doily designs. With Valentine's day coming up, doilies are available in abundance (mostly in heart shape), I challenge you all to buy a pack or two and make something unordinary with them. Or, find a crocheted doily pattern, and alter it for other purposes.


**Flashback Friday was a weekly countdown of the fan selected top 52 skulls of Skull-A-Day 1.o. Each week during year 3.0 The Skullmaster posted the original skull along with some additional commentary in order from lowest to highest rated, with the #1 skull appearing in the last week of year 3.0, all 52 can be found here.

Geode Skull (Imagined)

Musician Christopher Jion created this skull for the cover of one of his albums. He told us: “ It is a digital composite of 2 photos I took. I had been in the market to buy a skull and I took a photo of one I had been wanting. Then took a photo of some geodes (which are equally interesting to me) and altered them both to splice them together.”



Geologist C says:

The concept for this work is brilliant. I enjoyed seeing the results of your imagination. One of the interesting things to note here is that rocks are one of the top items in which many of our Sunday Simulacra are found so it is entirely possible that someday you may just find an odd geode that has a simple skull form to it. Thank you for sharing your work with us, and much success with your music career.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Dia de la Abby #33: Zombie Attack Button Skull

My friends at Zombie Attack let me come over to make a skull out of their buttons.


As you can see, I used mostly buttons with a similar color palette. This was a bit difficult to do, as all the buttons are the same size, so it's not like fitting a puzzle together, like the Shell Skull was, but having a friend who lets me look up an anatomical skull for reference is really great. I don't know how many different buttons I used. I did buy a few to put on my car visors, which has many of their buttons. It's where I display my collection.

No tutorial for this one, as it is an arrangement skull, that just requires objects and time.


Every week in the 4.0 year, I will post my own Dia de la Abby posts as well as a tutorial with instructions on how I made my piece. Hopefully you feel inspired by my posts just as I was by Noah's Skull-A-Day 1.0 daily project. Need more of me than just a weekly dose, follow me on Twitter and/or Facebook.