I have recently had the most incredible opportunity to work with Jonny Poole from Animatronic Birds to ‘feather’ the incredible new animatronic form he has been developing over the past few years.
This is unlike ANY other taxidermy project I have ever worked on before so needless to say I was ridiculously excited about the prospect of seeing my taxidermy work ‘come to life’ on a whole other animated level!
Although this project presented many unchartered challenges for me, I’m SO glad I found new and innovative ways to complete it and I’m now equipped with more knowledge and experience in the ever evolving world of taxidermy. Unlike ‘traditional’ taxidermy, the skull was not retained in this specimen and the skin of the Tawny Owl was mounted directly on to the animatronic form itself. I also had to remove the eyelids to reattach them to the form so that they moved fluidly.
Jonny gave me a thorough demo of the animatronic form before I started work so I knew the basics of how it moved and worked – I was honestly blown away by the attention to detail he has gone to, to make it move fluidly like a real owl, even to the degree that if you move the body of the bird, the head stays in the same place!
Turning on the form after I had mounted the skin on to the form was both extremely nerve-racking AND one of the most exciting moments of my taxidermy career so far!
I look forward to working with you again and seeing what exciting new opportunities this may bring in the future 🙂
Krysten
CITES A10 Certification Number: 594926/01