Animal Head Art: Valeria Dalmon

I spotted the work of Valeria Dalmon on Etsy the other day - she makes the most intricate, haunting little dolls sporting beautiful animal masks:

Animal Head Art: Imm-Living

More animal head ceramics! This time in the form of cake plates from Imm-Living.com:

(spotted on oh happy day)

Animal Head Art: Amanda Lynch Smith's Songbirds

My dear friend Amanda is a talented artist and ceramicist. Her normal work can get a bit pricey, but in the last few months she has opened an etsy shop featuring some more affordable pieces, including a whole series of songbirds with lady faces. (I know that's kind of the opposite of the way we do things at AHV - we're bigger on animal heads and human bodies - but this juxtaposition is just as awesome). Plus, she uses lots of different vintage molds to make some of her little characters.

These faces just kill me:

Buy your own at Clay Matter on Etsy.

Animal Head Art - Casebolt Design

I loved these screenprinted wedding invites showing an illustrated wooded dance party with bride and groom as a wild pair:

Design: Casebolt Design + Illustration

(Spotted on Oh So Beautiful Paper)

Animal Head Art: New AHV Mascots

I always love picking up beautiful old portraits of discarded ancestors at estate sales or flea markets and have been plotting a few crafts with them so that they aren't relegated to the shoebox where I keep them currently.

I'm no photoshop expert, but I know my way around the program well enough to have a little fun. These are some new mascots I created for the shop and blog from some photos I picked up in Detroit a few weeks back. I think these two would have made quite a pair:

Animal Head Art - Black Apple

I always love whatever the Black Apple has up her sleeve, and she doesn't disappoint with this little round of animal headed folk, painted onto little scalloped wooden plaques. She is putting them up for sale at noon PST/3pm EST tomorrow (Wed, Oct 27), and I am sure they will go like hotcakes, though that won't stop me from trying to buy the birdhead boy for myself.






If we are lucky, she will turn them into a postcard set for all of us to enjoy.

Animal Head Art - Melabo

I've still got weddings on the brain, and my sister sent me a link to the cute little shop Melabo - shake up your wedding desserts with these customizable cake toppers, where the bride and groom are wearing animal heads. I hope your husband-to-be isn't offended when you request that his head be in the shape of a skunk, the lil' stinker.







So much inter-species love! I think the giraffe and unicorn are gonna make it.

Animal Head Art - Retro Whale

Stumbled upon the art of LA artist Retro Whale, whose shop is filled with "random cheesy, cutesy, artsy stuff." You'll find lots of characters with animal faces among the 70’s and 80’s influenced design, rap lyrics, and other oddities.

Animal Head Art: Missed Connections

I've seen this site posted about on a few blogs, and got a kick out of the wonderfully illustrated Missed Connections, as interpreted by the talented Sophie Blackall. (Skimming the Missed Connections on Craigslist used to be a morning ritual until my work started blocking the site. Sigh.)

I decided I had to share this one in particular for obvious reasons:


see more illustrations here.
buy prints here.

Designers to Know: Les Queues de Sardines

Les Queues de Sardines, makers of some of the most creative and fabulous tights, have also got a few animal masks running around in their latest limited edition legwear.

These are MONSTER LEGS, with monster faces to match:


And these are just a few other favorites from past and present collections:









Le sigh. I LOVE tights.

Regretsy - Wing Flapper

I love Regresty, where some very clever folks poke fun at some of the ridiculous things they find on etsy. I know Regretsy might seem a little harsh at times, but man, I LOL all the time when reading it.

I thought I'd share this particular post of theirs, since it combines people wearing animals on their heads, and some excellent photoshoppery of vintage 20s photos, both of which are things that seem particularly applicable to this blog.

(First is the original listing, and then the "inspired" regretsy photography follows, via regretsy)

Animal Head Fashion - Topshop Unique

Spotted on the runway of London Fashion Week ... Topshop Unique. The show was inspired by Woodland Creatures and styled by Katie Grand, and the models all wore fantastic animal hats along with their wild hair and bushy eyebrows. The clothing was pretty fun too, though I'll admit the costuming took the cake for me here:




Word is that in the goodie bags at the show, attendees walked away with a "Victorinox survival kit", which offered 13 tools for fashion week survival, including a two-inch knife. Not your normal lip gloss and bangles, huh?

(images via Zuma Press)

Animal Head Art - Mango Red

Meet Mango Red. Their art is their wild engagement photos. They say "we’d like to describe our work as a tickle in your brain. .it’s not just the quality of the idea, it’s the quality of the execution, the finish. the unique spin in colors, the lines, perspective..when these elements align, they create a visual perfume."

And of course, we are way into the animal heads:






(via Launderette)