Mount Your Maker by Stephan Alexander
An artistic pop of candy paint brings life to an otherwise macabre trophy
When we last caught up with Portland-based artist and designer Stephan Alexander, he had just put the finishing touches on a stunning SS11 collection for Sticks & Stones accessories—a label he co-founded in 2009. While time hasn’t changed his role as the brand’s creative director, Alexander has recently begun channeling his insatiable interest in working with unusual organic materials into a new venture, called Mount Your Maker. Launched today, the side project introduces an assortment of brightly painted animal skulls and bones, taking a playful approach to an otherwise macabre decoration.
Explaining the natural evolution that led to the creation of Mount Your Maker, Alexander tells CH that with sourcing elements for Sticks and Stones accessories, “the goal was to utilize as many interesting and unusual materials as possible, and most of the time that lead me right back to animals. Especially fossils. This newer art and decor work gives these animals a whole new life and pays homage to them. It gives people a whole new respect for them, because most of us haven’t seen them up close in real life.”
To create the eye-catching candy paint brightening up the mounted animals, Alexander uses basic acrylic paints with a thick coat of varnish to seal each piece. The distinct sheen clashes nicely with the naturally dull exposed bone and horn. While we’re immediately drawn to the pop colors, the moose and dear horns painted “cocaine white” hold a certain allure we can’t shy away from. Regardless of your preference, the shark jaws, deer horns and bull jaw bones do well to turn what was once reserved for the walls of hunting lodges and dive bars into a artistic home accessory.
For more information and to see the full range, head to the Mount Your Maker collection through Stephan
Alexander’s personal site. Available as of today, each genuine mounted animal skull and bone sells for between $60 and $1,750. Get a closer look at other available animal options in our slideshow.
Images courtesy of Stephan Alexander
