Introduction

Introductions are always tough for me because I don't really know where to start... I've been picking up "weird" things since I was little. Dead sharks on the beach is only one of the highlights on that list. I've been interested in taxidermy and skeletons for as long as I can remember. My mother would take me to museums all the time when I was little and I would spend hours staring into the dioramas at the still life residing inside of them. I also loved dinosaur skeletons and would spend far too much time staring up at them and questioning how they were put back together and being amazed that animals that walked the earth were really that big. One of her favorite stories to tell about me is how we were at the Roy Rogers Museum when I was 6 years old and came running down one of the long taxidermy display halls screaming, "Mom, quick! There's more dead stuff over here!"

My background is in geology, and my focus is in paleontology. I'm currently an undergraduate student on the west coast that is taking her time getting a degree so that I can work full time and apprentice as much as possible under a local taxidermist. I also work as a gardener who teaches kids about gardening and healthy eating. I wholeheartedly believe that we should move more towards growing and harvesting our own food.

I started seriously collecting bones around my 21st birthday and I collected my dermestid colony around my 22nd birthday. I've been cleaning and articulating skeletons ever since. I would eventually like to end up working as a preparator or curator at a museum, and I have recently decided to get my master's in Museum Studies.

I believe that taxidermy is an art form and I am exceptionally interested in both the history and the art. I strive to breathe life back into every piece of taxidermy or skeleton that I work on. Above all, I try to respect the animal that I am working on as much as possible.

This blog is going to be used to write down my experiences in taxidermy as well as my adventures and small snippets of my life that involves gardening, hiking, exploring, and a million things in between.

Nice to meet you!