[BONUS] The Gift of Skulls/Skull in Use

My friend Kris AKA Rakka is on her third yearlong daily project "Stupid F***ing Awesome", in which she's doing a watercolor painting of an object every day. And she surprised me the other day by actually mailing me one of the paintings! It's of a skull which I made for an artshow down here, which she now owns! I think it's quite a nice likeness...

Be sure to follow her progress on her (not safe for work titled) blog HERE.

[BONUS] The Gift of Skulls - Iron Fist

Just had to give one more shout out to the nice folks at Iron Fist who were kind enough to not only give away a couple of packages of goodies to two of our fans, but also sent a bunch of their items to Skull-A-Day HQ! We always appreciate a skull gift, especially when it's such cool stuff! Of course your fearless (and unpaid) editors Tatman and Citizen Agent will be getting their fair share in thanks. And notice there's some lady stuff in there? Well we'll have an announcement related to that soon...

And hey if you want some of  your own Iron Fist gear, be sure to check out their site and use coupon code SKULLADAY to get 15% OFF your order through May 31!

The Gift of Skulls: Hlywd Style

After his recent mention on Skull-A-Day Josh Warner from Good Art Hlywd very kindly sent some of his beautiful skull pendants to the editors here! They are beautifully made and have a satisfying heft, and will definitely be worn with pride. Thanks so much Josh!

[BONUS] The Gift of Skulls - Twins

I recently had a meeting with a friend of mine and his two lovely 6 year-old twin daughters Gracie and Lotti joined us. They were drawing up a storm the entire time so of course I asked them to make some pictures of skulls and skeletons for me. They graciously obliged and even gave me the drawings to keep when they were done! I love how they each had their own unique take on the skull image...

Skulls by Gracie

 Skeleton by Lotti

Thanks again Lotti & Gracie!

The Gift of Skulls: Trepanation

I was recently sent this gorgeous print from Kelly Nelson who teaches at Longwood University. Titled "Trepanation" the media is solar plates on paper and teabags with sewing and punch. She says, "I discovered your skull work when visiting the Mütter Museum's site and watched your interview online. I decided to pull a proof for you and hope you enjoy it." The print is part of a twelve artist portfolio called Anatomy/Anomaly which was curated by Shelley Gibson at Arkansas State Unviersity and was actually inspired by the Mütter Museum's collection! The portfolio will be part of an exhibition at the Southern Graphics Council Conference 2010. Thanks again to Kelly for her kind and beautiful gift, which will have a place of honor on my wall!

[BONUS] The Gift of Skulls - Whimzkulls!

A big thanks to Briannaa in LA, who sent me a box of her fantastic Whimzkulls cookies!



Not only do they each of these thick frosted cookies (which are about 4 x 4.5") have a uniquely funny face, but they are absolutely delicious (like buttery shortbread)! Brianna has just started selling them online so definitely check out Etsy page if you're in need of a one-of-a-kind treat! I hear there may be some holiday themed ones on the way and she'll even do requests.

[BONUS] The Gift of Skulls -Travel Edition

I was given several lovely hand-made skull gifts on my recent travels:

In Sandusky, Ohio my host, Charles T. Mayer not only made a couple of nifty little origami skulls for me...

but he also drew this gorgeous stippled ink portrait of me...


A young friend of his also made this great illustration inspired by the Skull-A-Day exhibition...


And in Philadelphia I was given this cute necklace from Celeste, the daughter of the photographer who was documenting my talk at the Mütter Museum!...


Thanks also to Denny who gave me a skull bracelet he got in Olvera Street in LA and Rich who hosted me in Philly and gave me some vintage matchbook covers with skulls on them!

The Gift of Skulls

A couple more lovely skull gifts I've been given recently...

Our very own Tatman made this terrific etched glass inspired by a recent submission by Shaun Andruck and his own foray into etched glass making. He even customized it with my name on the back! He's making these to sell too, so if you're interested in them expect details soon...


And my friend Jay kindly gave me this large lovely skull. He says, "These jade skulls are called HongShan. But I highly doubt they are that age. The Hong Shan culture of China existed between 4500 - 2500 BC. I do not know the age of this piece, as they have been mimicked for a long time since the demise of the Hong Shan culture. Some of mine look very old, others not. Almost all of the HongShan skulls are hollowed out, and most surmise that it was probably for some form of illumination, during the ritual associated with it. I just think they are cool, as they are hand made, and are jade."

[BONUS] The Gift of Skulls

Here's another batch of skull gifts I've been given lately (definitely one of the nicer benefits of being "The Skull Guy"):

Several friends have given me items they found at the beach during their summer vacations...


Jo Ann sent me a box of lovely soaps! The price tag said they were "skull scented", but I'm not sure what that would really mean...


And Ekkeherd Beck of Germany, creator of the terrific Designers Skulls project, sent me this fantastic T-shirt...

The Gift of Skulls

I just have to show off a few lovely skull gifts I've been given recently:

Caroline Jones, whose work was recently on the site, gave me one of her lovely needle felted skulls in person at a recent book signing!


Tom Sale, whose work also recently appeared on the site, kindly sent me one of his gorgeous skull spoons, the first of his new 3/4 view ones, which were partially inspired by my own Skoon,


And I was given this lovely paper skull, which was made by layering vellum soaked in glue & water over a ceramic skull, by an attendee of my recent skull craft event. Sadly I didn't write down this person's name, so if you're reading this post, let me know who to credit here!...



Thanks again to all of you! I love having such nice hand-made items to add to my personal skull collection.