Some might call Beth Beverly, proprietress of Diamond Tooth Taxidermy, a strange bird for creating a hat so lifelike it looks like a squirrel is attacking the wearer’s head. Others might say her work makes total sense in this time and place, when the craze for Victoriana/the cabinet of curiosities/natural history is as strong as ever. Taxidermy has had a presence in the art world for some time, and the art and design worlds influence each other …. but blah, blah, blah, as much as I love attempting to put a design object in context, my first reaction to Beverly’s work was visceral, not intellectual.
[Photos by chriskendig.com]
I couldn’t look away. That’s partly because she made a hat that looks like a squirrel’s attacking the wearer’s head, but I think it’s also because she’s clearly a master of her craft and an unlikely one at that. Though I’ve never (that I know of) met a taxidermist, I’m guessing Beverly, 32, doesn’t fit the taxidermist mold. Check out this video of her modeling the squirrel hat in the Ladies Hat Contest at the recent Devon Dressage Show. (The ladies who lunch ate it up.)
Beverly was kind enough to answer some questions about herself and her line of custom headwear:
DP: What first sparked your interest in taxidermy?
BB: Honestly, I kept finding all these birds on the street that had flown into buildings and died. I thought they were so beautiful and I wanted to preserve that instead of letting them just decay on the sidewalk, so that’s how it all started. [Note: Beverly is an animal lover, and all of her specimens are sourced humanely and ethically.]
DP: Which came first — your desire to design headwear or your desire to practice taxidermy? And when did the two interests meet?
BB: I’ve always loved headwear — hats, combs, clips, anything. As a child I fashioned my own hair extensions by gluing brightly colored yarn to barrettes. Along with that, I was making things as soon as I had the motor skills to do so and I’ve always wanted art to be functional, which is where the hats come in. Wearing art on the head seemed to be the path of least resistance, fashion-wise. It can be rather cumbersome to carry on at a party with a pheasant or squirrel on one’s hip, shoulder or chest…the head seems to be the only sensible location for complex pieces like the ones I’ve created and aspire to create. My obsession with headwear is far from unique, however: The human race has been using crowns, tiaras, etc, to distinguish themselves since as early as 300 B.C. when the Egyptian Pharaohs were donning horns and feathers on their heads. I can’t explain it, but I know I’m far from alone.
[Photos by chriskendig.com]
DP: What inspires you?
BB: I tend to be most inspired by images. I save any page from a magazine that strikes my fancy, or watch certain movies over and over to wrap my head around something that may move me. Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Grey Gardens, and Funny Face are three films that have heavily inspired my aesthetic. As for what actually comes to fruition, I’ve amassed such a large collection of trinkets and treasures that it becomes a matter of fitting one part with another. If the piece is a commission for a client, I do have some guidelines. I try to imagine that person — how she moves her head, the way she carries herself, and just where on the spectrum her sense of humor/style falls.
DP: What did you find most challenging about attending The Pocono Institute of Taxidermy?
BB: While I was in school, my life as I knew it was essentially on hold. I spent entire days interacting with no one but my instructor and the one other student. I lived alone in a cottage house with no TV and no Internet access, seeing my husband and friends only on the weekends. There was one very lonely birthday spent drinking White Russians by myself and writing in my journal. I didn’t know it at the time, but all those hours spent in silence, completely alone with my thoughts or a book and no distractions, accelerated my personal growth in ways I would never have imagined. At the time though, I was just kind of homesick and sad.
DP: What are the pros/cons to being a designer/artist/small business owner in Philadelphia?
BB: Philadelphia is a great city for someone in the creative industry as it’s easy to sustain yourself, your work, and have some quality of life. There’s also a vast network of creative people here who start their own businesses, and the feeling I get is that the general public really supports it. The con would be all the taxes!
Custom headpieces range from $200 to $400 and can be ordered through Diamond Tooth Taxidermy.