As we quickly approach Christmas, I'm thrilled to say that so many of my creations have sold already with a few pending "interested parties". It's been a crazy past few weeks of launching my art online for everyone to see - talk about intimidating. But now that all my painted ones are sold, I'm scrambling to finish cleaning the handful of cow skulls I have at the house and the process of acquiring and cleaning is not always the easiest!
Step 1 is acquiring them. We've pretty much exhausted the supply on our ranch leases (thank God - my husband wanted me to specifically point out that the "raw materials" for my creations do NOT all come from our ranch - we're in the business of live cattle, not those that have passed on. But when you don't collect them or pick them up for 8 years, you will eventually find yourself with a small collection. Such is Ranch Life.) As a result, my friends and family have been great about collecting them for me from their own ranches and leases as well as neighbors. "Hey Neighbor, can I borrow a cup of sugar... got any cow skulls laying around". You know, typical conversation stuff.
One of the neat things I've found out through this process of acquiring skulls through friends is how a skull will "age" based on the environment it's in. The coastal skulls stay smooth and almost "glossy" for the most part, where as the ones hailing from the desert are "chalky" or ridged in places. These chalky ones are the most difficult to paint as the brush and paint can't glide as well as it does on a smoother surfaced skull. But, I'm always up for a challenge and have even started sanding out the particularly bad spots on those type of skulls. Waste not, want not.
After a skull is acquired, I begin the cleaning process by soaking them in a huge bucket of warm (not hot or boiling water) with tons-o-soap to loosen up some of the dirt and debris that might be on them. If a skull has a lot of rawhide still on it, I let it sit out for awhile longer or try to pull off what I can using pliers, screwdrivers and even a wood chisel. I'm not going to lie...it's yucky sometimes, but I try not to collect that type. Just let nature take its course on those for a while longer... After they've soaked for a day or two, it's scrub a dub dub time with my arsenal of scrub brushes and baby bottle brushes...and more soap. Then rinse and repeat until satisfied. Since I tend to be Type A, this may take several washing and consequently, several weeks. Then make sure any and all rawhide is completely gone. The last thing I would want is for them to get stinky in someone's home because I left traces of "nature" on there. Then all you have to do is let them dry. I will admit this part is the hardest since it's the biggest test of my patience (I have none). You have no idea how much water bone can hold on to! But unless she's completely "bone dry", the paint will bubble up and she'll be ruined. This may take a few days to a week or so to dry. Then it's prime, paint and go - my favorite part!
So there you have a little window into my "Process"!
Soaking...