Seminars 2007
Southern Seminar
The southern seminar meeting, kindly held at Emily Mayer's workshop in Norfolk, was attended by a few new faces that seemed to enjoy themselves. The day started with a very useful talk by Kim MacDonald, Re: the law on taxidermy with special attention paid to otters, red squirrels and bats, the introduction of license fees and how the Guild is helping to delay/reduce this into a workable system.
Rock making
Dave Dyer showed an interesting technique for making groundwork, or rocks. The process showed a quick and easy way to make undulating groundwork for open or cased display also showing variations on texture and covering the surface. His son brought along a model of an island he had made for a school project (with a little help from daddy) this showed how diverse the system can be and what can be done with this. Dave also brought a grave headstone made with the same technique showing some impressive lettering, after his demonstration there was a hands on have a go yourself, by the end of which, various interesting ground works had been created as well as a volcano.
Tour of workshops
Always a fascinating thing having a quick wander round Emily's amazing workshop. Emily is famous for her erosion molding and also her sculpture using found objects.
Doctor's surgery
Mike Gadd ran an informal critique and help section. Gary Boreham bought a badger and fox. The badger was half finished and Gary had run into a couple of problems. The badger was mounted on a form and with the aid of death masks provided by Emily, Gary was shown how better to fit the skin on to the form. Another problem was one of the foam legs had snapped inside the skin. Techniques for repairing the leg, skin take up, form alteration and attaching a tail, were shown. Gary's fox was an old mount he had done some time ago and aspects of finishing, leg anatomy together with the help of again some excellent death casts from Emily helped to show how the anatomy and structure worked of the legs and face. Gary was very pleased with the constructive help he received and we look forward to seeing his bettered results at the next conference.
Spray silicone rubber
Emily showed an excellent technique using a silicone spray gun. Emily took a pair of mackerel and laid them on a plate with their tails hanging over the edge. Very quickly made a mould wall around the plate and proceeded to make a one piece silicone mould covering the two mackerel. This spray system is a very useful tool and it proved its worth by doing a complex job very quickly. What was more impressive was it was capable of doing a pile of guts that Emily had an order for
Northern seminar
Northern seminar was hosted by Lawrence at his scout hut,
Game Head Taxidermy
The day immediately got under way with a demonstration from Phil Leggett mounting a roe deer's head. This was fascinating for anyone interested in game head taxidermy. Phil showed skin preparation, form alteration, preparing and filling ears at the start of fixing a skin to form.
Bird Taxidermy
Carl Church modelled a tawny owl and talked through the processes of making a manikin, bird anatomy, setting the armature and modelling. Carl is always pushing hard to improve his work. It is always great to see and discuss new ideas and improvements with him.
Small Mammal Taxidermy
James Dickinson for his first time ever demonstration showed the mounting of a small mouse and baby rat. James used a carved manikin for both animals. This was a fascinating and intricate part of taxidermy to watch and by the end of the day James had a respectable looking mouse and baby rat nearing completion. James talked about the different processes of using skinning / injecting with many new ideas being bounced around.
A big thank you to all who did some impressive lectures we appreciate this guys and gals thanks so much.
Mike Gadd.
Credits awarded:
- Tawny owl by Dave Horn book
- Redwing by Dave Horn book
- Salmon by Philly Leggett
- Brown trout by Peter Scott
- Fallow head by steve newcombe
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