Samantha Pleet

I discovered Brooklyn designer, SAMANTHA PLEET through Well Revered. I instantly fell in love with her dandy-inspired designs! I was recently contacted by a fashion event stylist from Los Angeles who is working on a Pop-Up Boutique showcasing Samantha Pleet's line. (Pop-Up Retail is a new retail concept that is similar to an Art Gallery but showcases a range of one-off, hard to find and strictly limited edition products from established brands and emerging designers.) She said she was looking for someone with a jewelry collection just like mine, that would compliment Samantha Pleet's line! What an honor! Unfortunatly, I won't be able to participate...because here I am rotting away in Chicago, the land of mediocrity! The good part is, I feel like the "Powers That Be" just gave me the confirmation I needed to move ahead on the path I'm on! I have a lot of work to do...

Mama Needs a New Stove!

I have an awesome old Universal stove...circa 1950's. The old gal is finally giving up on me, the oven just quit and I can only use three burners on the range. Probaly somewhat dangerous, I don't want my home to blow up! I'm so bummed, this is a really bad time of the to make this kind of purchase! Christmas is coming! On that note, I've just listed some great Natural History items in my Etsy shop! Go check it out and buy something so my kids don't have to eat microwave dinners! xo Lavona

Dior Fall/Winter 2008

I was looking at the runway photos for the DIOR Fall/Winter collection. It's very Jackie O. But I think this one in particular might hint at another influence. It reminds me of The Holy Mountain, the 1973 cult classic film directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky!

Hell Yeah!!!

"This volume contains the names of over fifty thousand metal bands. If one presumes that each of these bands had an average of four members, and multiplies that by the bands, one might figure that at least a quarter of a million humans have pledged allegiance to one of these groups of wandering beasts. Never has a music relegated to the underground of a civilization had so many devotees; no radio need transmit the power of this music, for it is sought fiercely and freely by the doomed and the dispossessed, whose ears are never touched by songs of love and weakness."



"These names are invisible tokens to be spoken aloud, each representing a human quest for superhuman spectacle: shaking floorboards and quivering walls, split ears leaking blood, with faces painted and ornaments pointy, voices uttering eternal truths shunned by woman and man alike."

All Known Metal Bands "The Best Bathroom Book Ever" - Rolling Stone

California Dreaming

So I've been dreaming about leaving Chicago for as long as I can remember. I've always stayed for sentimental reasons...family n' friends. That and the ol' cliches that say "No matter where you go, there you are" and "grow where you're planted" running through my head. Meanwhile I'm feeling the itch to head West again! The fact of the matter is that even though Chicago is one of the largest cities in the United States...it's not very progressive. It's the Midwest after all. I used to Co-own an art gallery here pre-2000 called "Backburner Art" We were basically creating, showing, selling what is now more commonly known as LowBrow Art these days. People were confused...art snobs called us "amatuer artists" and the "cool kids" were like WTF? At that time Graffitti Art had already been sanctioned as a legitamate art movement by the Art World. But what we were doing was a little different...it was still street...but rooted in Alternative Culture...Punk, Goth, Fetish...an Art/Music Mash-Up! We got really positive feedback from people who mattered, so it was worth it. At the time I was making Art Dolls...this is before the handmade Ugly Doll phenomena. My dolls are inspired by European Witch Poppets, Native American Medicine Dolls, Vodou Dolls, and African Effigies. I curated and participated in several amazing Art/Music Events before calling it quits...



A few small windows of opportunity opened for me. My neighbors in the loft downstairs knocked on my door one morning and said "Hey, you know a lot about Voodoo...right?" They did film related projects...and were shooting a music video for a major record label...I think it was BMG. The band was called the Atomic Fireballs...kind of garage rock/swing band, the song was called "Man with a Hex" I met with the set designer who didn't even know where to start. I pulled out a book called Sacred Arts of Haitian Vodou and suggested re-creating a Vodou temple. I pointed her and her team to the nearest Botanica to stock up on Novena candles (prayer candles), the Dollar store for misc. supplies. Everything else was taken from my loft space...my dolls, potions, altar fetiches...they took art right off my walls, two huge boxes of stuff. I showed them how to draw VeVe's (magickal symbols) on the floor with flour. They had a nice budget to work with....but only ended up spending about 100 bucks on blue paint, candles, and yarn which they wrapped old bottles with to look like libation bottles, colored tissue paper to create drapo...flags representing the spirits. Not only did the team get paid a nice hourly sum, they probably pocketed the rest of the budget money. Did I mention that I did not get paid for this? You'd think they could have tossed me a bone! But instead I had to go retrieve my belongings later that evening, only to find my sacred objects cast aside and thrown into the boxes I had neatly and carefully packed them into. Things were lost and damaged...it sucked. I didn't get paid...I didn't get credit...not even a thank you! Here's the video, you'll see my doll pictured above in it! The next day my roomate had her BFA Show for the Photography Dept. of Columbia College. It was a huge event. Some guy sat on the edge of our koy pond and tipped the whole thing over...it spilled about 100 gallons of water through floor boards and soaked all the record companies film equipment. That's what I like to call "Involuntary Voodoo"!

Man with the Hex

Geoff Kinde | MySpace Music Videos



Moving forward about 2 years later, in the fall of 2002 I opened my shop called BELOVED...Spiritual Goods and Mystic Curios. Just prior to opening the doors my friend and co-worker at the nightclub I tended bar at jumped on board and became my business partner. She jumped ship after two years...she suffered a series of nervous breakdowns resulting from a combination of personal issues. Running a business was just too much stress for her to handle on top of all the problems she was dealing with in her personal life. I carried on for a year after that...and decided to close shop after 3 years. I'm really proud of what I offered to the market place through that outlet. I stocked handmade soap and candles, incense, potions, herbs, essential oils, jewelry, Intuitive Art...local and global artists. It was a fabulous Mystical Witchy Gypsy party 7 days a week. I hung a huge custom rusty metal Sacred Heart in front of my shop...and a Vodou Heart VeVe on the front door.



I represented Wicca, Paganism, Shamanism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judism, Vodou, Hoodoo and Gypsy Folk Magick, Santeria, even yes Catholicism...once a Catholic School girl always a Catholic School Girl ;) We even represented good ol' Satan...something for everyone! OneLove Lavonaism! Sequined Vodou Prayer Flags (Drapo) hang next to Tibetan Prayer Flags (Thankas)...in my little Utopia. I offered Tarot Readings and different courses in Spirituality...Modern Witchcraft, Green Magick, Hoodoo. My pal Dj RedLox aka Siri Adi Singh held Kundalini Yoga and meditation classes for a while.



I closed the door in June of 2005...I miss it! I've been coming down from that experience ever since and trying to figure out what path to take next. Is it time to pack up my Gypsy Caravan and head to California? I don't know how the hell I'll going to pull that off...but everything always falls into place!

LYNDIE DOURTHE

"A little botany, a little voodoo, a little anatomy and a hint of superstition...the atelier of Lyndie Dourthe is a cabinet of curiosities." It was love at first sight! Specimens under glass...objects, labeled and sorted in tiny boxes. Her "Boîtes à Trésors" can be purchased through Egg Mercantile.

Intermission: Blue Orchid

I really love this video by the White Stripes...I think it's their best ever! Jack White's other band, The Raconteurs made a great video for Broken Boy Soldier! Not only do I LOVE the psychedelic rockness of the song...but the video features old toys and taxidermy filmed using the stop motion technique...it's AWESOME! And of course the fellas are looking spiffy in their outfits!

Swan Bones Theater

Visit the Swan Bones Theater to explore the hauntingly beautiful Art of Kelly Louise Judd. It's no wonder that she's one of my favorite artists, she sites many of the same sources of inspiration like: the Victorian era, fairy tales, abnormal psychology, and Renaissance Art. This is one of her paintings titled: "To Wed a Beetle"



While I was exploring the Swan Bones Gallery looking for an image for this blog post...I was trying to put my finger on the feelings that were stirring up inside of me. Finally it occured to me that they were the same feelings evoked by the Gothic fiction literature I read at a very early age. (I was in grade school when I first read Edgar Allan Poe's "Tell Tale Heart") Or when I saw/heard Rasputina for the first time. It's the same feeling I get when I stumble upon anything darkly divine and beautiful. Ya know what I mean?

Oh, yes... in additions to painting she also creates fine art dolls, illustrations, jewelry, greeting cards, and sweet little boudoir pillows. She has a few original paintings available through her website. Fine art prints of her dolls and illustrations, jewelry, and other goodies are available in her Etsy shop! Kelly is also a team member of Etsy's Cabinet of Curiosities!

Charlotte Charbonnel

Charlotte Charbonnel is another remarkable French artist. In love these amazing Insect Hybrids! Her whole collection is fantastic!




She also creates other imaginary natural creatures like the mystical tree spirits called Dryads and legendary Mandragora Roots. But the little creature below is my favorite!

Gwen Roch

It's work like this that excites me the most! French artist, Gwen Roch's "Cabinets de Curiosités" explore the relationship between the natural and supernatural world. Each cabinet is a sacred work, a personal mythology.



They remind me of the Catholic reliquiries that house the bones of dead Saints. Devout Catholics carry bits of these bones called relics, they offer protection from the forces of evil. These practices are obviously are rooted in Paganism that pre-dates Christianity. A Pagan Shaman, like a Catholic Priest make amulets and talismans and consecrate them as Sacred objects.



Each Cabinet has a front and rear that are both scenes and sculptures. You can get a closer look on Gwen's Website. In an interview she explains:

Q: Your cabinets all have an element in the back

A: Yes there is a front and rear that are both scenes and sculptures. I always place behind the sharp weapons, knives, choppers ... to kill the fears. It is a way to protect myself, a talisman. There is also something else, the presence of horns on the sides or above. It is a defense against the more Cornu against the forces of evil.

Q: You believe in evil?

A: Yes, but this would be our ability to do harm, our inner violence.


See also: Lucy Harvey

Aldetha {was a witch}

Bella Lugosi might be dead, but he's not forgotten! Etsy seller, Aldetha {was a witch} offers graveyard dirt from the Godfather of Goths resting place. Now you can have your very own Memento Mori of the world's most beloved Vampire. If your not a fan of Bela Lugosi, she has dirt available from the Montparnasse Cemeterie in Paris, France ...resting place of people like Samuel Beckett, André Citroën, Serge Gainsbourg, Man Ray, Jean-Paul Satre, Simone de Beauvoir, and Jean Seberg. And Montmartre Cemeterie home to Alexandre Dumas, Edgar Degas, François Truffaut, Hector Berlioz!



She also offers a delux edition gift set with your choice of dirt! Don't forget to check out her blood spattered, horror themed greeting cards and vintage/antique collectables!

Copied to Death

Recently, a great article about taxidermy jewelry and accessories was posted on the Coilhouse Blog. The article featured three amazing, praise worthy artists: Disce Mori, Custom Creature Taxidermy, and Purevile. All of whom I love!!! The comment forum that followed was a positive dialog between people that I respect and admire like Jessica Joslin, Suzanne of Wurtzeltod...In that forum another designer, "Loved to Death" was highly recommended. Just then my blood began to boil and I followed up with a very emotional but Not Unwarranted Response. I'd like to take the opportunity to apologize AGAIN to Zoetica and the Coilhouse staff, and any of those offended. It wasn't my intention to dirty the otherwise positive comment forum. Looking back, I realize it was inappropriate to air my grievences torward Loved to Death in that Forum.

However, this is NOT an apology to Loved to Death. And I'd actually like to take a moment to clearly explain my views and opinions about this matter. I opened my shop on Etsy about a year ago. It was a way to test the marketplace before I actually launch my website. Little did I know how many wonderful friends I'd make! It's been a very rewarding experience. I work very hard to offer items that are unique to my shop and to Etsy, whether they are handmade or antiques. Perhaps then, you might understand why I was upset when another shop opened on Etsy offering items so similar to my own. When Loved to Death opened their shop (April 2008) with their Taxidermy Mice Dioramas, I was excited at first to see what else they would be offering. I had long since been coveting the Taxidermy Mice Dioramas of Jeanie M for D.L. & Co. Now Jeanie M. wasn't the first to display taxidermy in this manner, but inspired by 16th-19th centuries, Victorian grotesque and anthropomorphic taxidermy art. Jeanie WAS however the FIRST person revision the anthropomorphic mice of Walter Potter and succesfully bring these Modern Interpretations to the marketplace. Douglas Little offered them to the mainstream through his Gothic Couture design house D.L. & Co, which at the time was being sold exclusively at Barney's NYC.

Meanwhile, in my own shop I had successsfully sold several Vintage Grouse Claw Brooches. I'm a huge fan of taxidermy jewelry that adorned traditional costumes of cultures across the globe. Being a student and Teacher of the Occult Sciences I'm particularly interested in the Supernatural powers that these talismans allegedly possess. I have worked with Chicken feet for many many years, creating Voodoo inspired protection amulets. When I came across a dead Crow for the first time I didn't think twice about pulling several tail feathers from it. As you know, I ended up making jewelry with the feet. (I live across the from a large city park. Humboldt Park is a sanctuary to many species of plants, birds and animals...complete with a lagoon.) I was very excited to offer my Crow Amulets in my Etsy shop. Each one sold immediatly...and I was sent many requests of when I'd have more! Since the feet I used were found...I had no idea when more would become available to me. At that time Loved to Death saved me in their favorites. This was in May...less than one month later, Loved to Death launched their Taxidermy accessories line (June 2008) with two items. Below you can see my jewelry pictured on the left and theirs on the right.




I was flooded with a myriad of emotions...the designs were so similar and no other seller on Etsy was offering Taxidermy jewelry. Shortly after that, I recieved a Myspace friend request from them with a backhanded compliment on my bird foot design. I politely accepted their "friend request" but honestly exspressed my concern about the items they were selling, admitting I was quite disheartened at first by the fact that they were creating items unique to my shop and to Etsy. I also said that I had since gotten over it and I wished them good luck in their endeavors in spite of the way I was feeling. However, I was still suspicous of their motives...I knew they were just being friendly because they wanted to tap into my social network and use my comment section as AD space. Moving on to August, I went about business as usual... I was excited to introduce my Black Forest Relic Collections to my shop. I listed an antique ornamental medal meant to be worn on the coat, AGAIN...less than a month later on Sep 6th to be exact they recreated a similar design and added it to their own collection. Also in August, I listed an AMAZING antique hunting charm...a partial skull with little teeth and fangs. It was part of a set I offered. I was really excited to have it available...a unique treasure from 1870's! And AGAIN, Loved to Death quickly sourced out the materials, recreated the piece and added it to their "signature" collection...again this was less than one month later!!!! See pics below...LTD's knock offs shown on the right.





The similarities are uncanny, don't you think? Again LTD recreated these items in less than 1 month's time and added them to their collection. I was furious...at this point! I disregarded any thoughts of this all being coincidental. I immediatly attempted to contact my "friends" on MySpace. But alas, the cowards had already deleted me...I sent them a message anyway, confronting them about the issue. That didn't go very well to say the least...they went on to offer a hoof pendant. I've sold various antique hoofs successfully in my shops. Again, here's a pic to illustrate my point.



During all of this I met an Amazing Designer who's couture taxidermy jewelry line is in it's 4th season. It's being sold in the most prestigious curiosity shops such as Urban Flower and Gold Bug. She's a great person and has worked very hard for recognition in our community and the marketplace. As it turns out, much of their line is knocked-off from her original designs including their bio which was copied almost verbatim from her old website! She was grief stricken about the whole thing. She said she'd prefer that her business name not be mentioned in the same sentence as Loved to Death, so I will leave her name out of this blog, respectively.

I thought however, this situation should be aired out publicly because they might copy YOU next...they have no shame! They have already ripped off soo many. Out of all of these artists, including myself, not one claims the ideas to be their own. Everyone sites the Victorian era, Cabinets of Curiosity, Wunderkammer, Circus Sideshows, ect... as sources of inspiration. All of these people work hard to bring fresh ideas to the modern marketplace. Julia deVille for example has her signature mouse trophy pin. She was the first to bring this idea forth into the modern marketplace...it's one of her signature pieces. It's an awesome idea! I could easily copy this design...or those of other artists. I could easily source out jewelry findings and mice and mass produce the design my own. But I don't do this out of respect for other people's hard work. Loved to Death doesn't care though! Check out their cheap knock off on the right...and they have the nerve to make statements like "This is truly one of a kind piece" or "This is a very unique detailed piece from Loved To Death" They are trying to bank on and brand other people's ideas. I also spoke to Julia who was already aware of the matter and she is pissed!



I know this happens in business all the time...but as I explained to Loved to Death "This is not Starbuck's vs. Seattle's Best or McDonald's vs. Burger King were talking about here....this is a small community of artists...have some respect!" Which brings me to my next point...they have no respect for their customers either.

They state "All animal parts in our jewelry and accessories line come from recycled sources and have all been professionally preserved.No animal has EVER been killed for use in our work." Recycled, really? No, the fact of the matter is that the animals and birds they use are bred in captivity for the sole purpose of being sold to human consumers…labs, pet stores, ect. The ones that don’t make it are skinned or freeze dried and sold as curios to places like Necromance, the Bone Room, or the many online sources. And that's just fine... but I wouldn’t sell such items to my customers and then state “No animal has EVER been killed for use in our work” That's downright misleading! People who deeply take to heart the welfare of animals would not want to purchase their jewelry if they knew the TRUTH. People who who are concerned with the ethics of animals are careful consumers who take all facts into consideration before consuming products in the marketplace...by not stating the facts you are not allowing them to make a decision based on truth, and that in my opinion is a violation of consumer rights!

So there it is...I won't be speaking of this matter again. So for all the questions I got regarding my statement on the Coilhouse blog forum, I think this about covers it!