Skull Waterfall

We saw this skull waterfall on display at the Los Angeles County Fair, and it was instant love! The vendor is The Waterfall Company, based in La Puente, California.


An man standing nearby lends perspective as to the size of the skull

 The skull's eye sockets had recessed multicolor LEDs lighting up the water.

LED lights inside an eye socket

 There was also a mist-maker to create a fog effect and more multicolor LEDs inside the big basin.

 The signs on it indicate that the cost for Skull Falls is $2,999 installed and $500 down would lock in that price.

  Just think, you could have something like Skull Rock and the waterfalls in Disneyland's Fantasyland back until the rock's removal in 1982 during a major remodel of the area:

At night, it was lit from within with green lights, and green lights highlighted the foliage in the area.

A similar one now resides in Disneyland Paris with a less dramatic fall of water:

This is Skull Mountain, which has a massive skull waterfall at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey:

photo by Gary Burke

Try using a skull as part of a grotto near your pool:

photo: Arizonafallslv.com

photo: arizonafallslv.com

 Click here to see a bit of how that last skull was made. 

I imagine a skull water feature would look just as good near a koi pond, too.

Skull Chairs, Skeleton Chairs

Plastic “Souviens toi que tu vas mourir (Remember that you will die)” skull chair from the  “Nouvelle Vague (New Wave)" collection by the French company Pool:

  2) From the Vanitas collection by Vladi Rapaport:  


3: Sensory Deprivation Skull chair by Dutch Atelier van Lieshout:

 

4) Noah Scalin of the wonderful skull-a-day blog created this Very Skairy Skull Chair, by cutting into an ordinary chair with a scroll saw:
  5) Scott Campbell's tattooed leather chair at Bergdorf Goodman:


  6) Skullduggery by Georgina Brett Chinnery for Bombarock:  



7) Nestdallas.com harp chair:
8) Michael Aram aluminum and stainless steel:
9) Hardwood Skeleton Chairs at Olde Goode Things in Manhatten:
10) Resin Skeleton Chair by Medieval Collectibles:
 

Angel of Death

photo by mbpfx.com

Sometimes I feel like such a schmuck. Such was the case this afternoon, when I was happily surfing the web looking at statues like this one at mbpfx.com. It was pricey so I moved on, coming to a complete stop when I discovered this moody photo of an Angel of Death statue.

Photo by Xartez 

My pupils enlarged to take in all that beauty. What a perfect specimen, I  thought. What a marvel of engineering, to keep those heavy wings extended so far upright. Wish I had one of these in my yard, I thought.

Well, I am the World's Biggest Ass.

Further research on this statue revealed I had fallen in love with a sculpture that had become an international symbol of  Russian deceit.

I will make this history lesson very short. One paragraph, in fact.

Turns out this statue is part of a monument to the 22,000 Polish police officers, border patrol agents, intellectuals, soldiers, and priests who were murdered execution-style in the woods near the small Russian village of Katyn, Russia by the one of Stalin's secret police forces in 1940. All of these men had been at a concentration camps with other people and had been duped into registering their occupation upon arrival. Because of their occupations, these victims were pulled from camp early, executed, and all thrown into the same pit that had been dug in the privacy of the woods. There they lay, secretly buried there in foreign soil, and forgotten. An elderly villager eventually told a visitor of what he suspected was in the woods, causing the International Red Cross to investigate. No one expected to find more than a few dozen bodies; certainly not 22,000.  The site was excavated, revealing mummified bodies, many clearly in uniforms. For over 50 years, the Russians denied their involvement, and pointed fingers at the Germans. Great tension between Poland and Russia ensued, and Katyn became a metaphor for Russian deceit. In 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev finally admitted Russia's guilt and a year later released documents showing Stalin had authorized the killings.

This is what the statue is facing: 

photo by Aga

This haunting set of monuments was created by Tadeusz Tchórzewski, a sculptor from Warsaw, and was  unveiled in October, 2000. The statue is located in Wroclaw, Poland.

On the highest pedestal there is a figure of the Angel of Death. In front of it, between symbolic graves, there is a figure of Katyń Pieta (the Matron of Poland) despairing over a body of a murdered prisoner of war. On the granite walls of the graves, the names of the prisoner-of-war camps are inscribed.

Another Katyn Massacre memorial had been erected in the U.S., at Saint Adalbert Catholic Cemetery in  Illinois, by Polish immigrant and sculptor Wojciech Seweryn, whose father had died in the Massacre.
One year ago, this sculptor was traveling with Polish President Lech Kaczynskihis to a memorial service in Russia for the 70th anniversary of the Katyn Massacre. The plane crashed in heavy fog, and all 96 on board perished.

photo by RaKLeZ

photo by Ferran Cornella

Here's more of the statue's facial details, if you look really hard:

photo: dayslikethis on flickr

I really love angel statues, and this one has the most marvelously detailed spread wings. But I am really sorry about the history behind this one.

Gothic Greenhouse Inspiration Photo...and a Skull Scarf

Just another day lounging in my conservatory whilst wearing my bustleskirt, contemplating colouring my hair the shade of one of the blooms on the floor.
 Seriously, NO, that is not me...I just wish it was. Then I'd be better able to see and identify that black-flowering plant that is creeping up the other side of the sofa.  The lovely pendulous datura blooms add a nice touch to this gothic scene, too.

Here I am, with a lovely new addition to my wardrobe--the skull-and-flower scarf made by Kara over at the WickedCrochet blog.

 Isn't it great? It's getting tons of compliments. I went out to lunch and practically the minute I hit the sidewalk a passerby said "I like your scarf!" Kara's blog has a link to her Etsy store, so you can check out her selection of wicked skull scarves and nasty doilies.

The Bell Jar

No, this has nothing to do with Sylvia Plath's novel. It has everything to do with glass bell jars, also known as belljars, also known as cloches, and the way they can make anything inside them look like a curious laboratory specimen.

Designed to protect tender young plants outside during cold weather, bell jars provide a warm, humid environment which can speed a plant to maturation. But because they act as miniature greenhouses, they also can cause a plant to overheat in a deadly way during the summer, so be sure to raise the bottom for ventilation. If you can't find anything prettier, you can use a pair of bricks to do this.

And do you know what bell jars are great for? Holding your precious little carnivorous plants captive in their perfectly humid environment. See how happy this pitcher plant (sarracenia purpurea) is in this bell jar from English Creek Gardens? If an insect-eating plant like this can thrive under the glass dome, just imagine your man-eating Audrey plant inside one of these puppies!

If your laboratory happens to be more anatomical than botanical, bell jars are also extremely effective with a skull underneath. Check out the one above from Dapper Cadaver. Other creepy display alternatives include a hand, a heart, -or heck, a whole baby doll! Naked, like this one.

For year round usage, a faux bird's nest with some blue robin's eggs (also faux) looks nice. These are available from floral suppliers or from craft stores like Michael's. Never use a real nest. You want to imitate nature, not disturb it.

I love versatile items like this, that work so well for gardening and Halloween. You just can't go wrong.