The Snake House is open

Phew, finally! I opened my Etsy shop today.

P had the great idea last weekend to photograph the snakes outside, so on Sunday afternoon we found ourselves in the Liz Christy garden on Houston street, peacefully conducting our business amongst the lovely greenery while cars screeched and honked hysterically just feet away on the other side of the gate.

Snakes love attention.

I included the mice in the indoor photo shoot, figuring that if I ever actually do get a buyer, they'll want to know what that rattling mouse-shaped thing in the tail looks like.

I didn't notice the one that toppled over.

I'm a lousy photographer. I can take amusing pictures sometimes, sure, but this experience made me realize how tricky it can be to photograph something. It's all about controlling the light! And understanding your camera! I'm not good at either!

If I'd really thought ahead I would have brought these faux serpents out to California when I visited Frank earlier this month. We spent a day out in Joshua Tree; I could have taken action shots of real snakes beating up on the stuffed ones or something.

Big old rat on 2nd street

Grr-meow

Embroidery by Erica Wilson. Photo: Todd Selby

Snake invasion

I made a couple snakes for the lovely Cat Stat last week and when I woke up the next morning I was shocked to see they'd multiplied. During the day they multiplied further, particularly during the U.S. Open tennis matches.



Some are corduroy and others are cotton velvet. Some have red vinyl tongues and others have pink felt ones. They all have embroidered eyes and none of them are the same. It's kind of freaky.



What recourse do I have but to try to sell them on Etsy? I must warn some of my dear readers, though: if they don't sell, you might find yourselves opening boxes this Christmas containing these mighty slitherers, and have to listen to me explaining how they function wonderfully as neck wear.

Two hands

I came across two compelling hand-related things at around the same time. 

The first was this image from Neilwaukee's blog:

I've never seriously thought about getting a tattoo, and I'm still not, but if I was shackled to a chair in a tattoo parlor and forced to make a decision about what to ink and where, I'd get the word "ART" on the tip of my pointer finger, like it is on the sign Neil made for one of his super cool outdoor art shows.

I just like the idea. But see, in a year's time, maybe sooner, I'd probably change my mind about the wisdom of this decision. Which is one of several reasons I don't have a tattoo.

The other item was this ambitious sight, a woman's entry in a nail painting contest from The Daily Nail. I'm not really sure what I was doing over at The Daily Nail, a blog kept by a woman in Las Vegas who changes the designs on her nails every day, but it's sometimes not useful to ask why.

Amazing, right? I bet those are good caricatures of her family, too!