Alison Atkin
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alisonatkin.bsky.social
Alison Atkin
@alisonatkin.bsky.social
1.4K followers 550 following 2.3K posts
Artist. Osteoarchaeologist. Canadian. Doing creative things with heritage in the NW (UK). Multi-passionate person. Can expect knitting, gardening, ttrpg, nerdery, and occasional hamster content. she/her
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alisonatkin.bsky.social
Last night marks the start of me going bigger every year now until eventually I'm one of those houses that ends up on the local news. 😄

(And @ianatkin.bsky.social is going to love that.)
A house in the dark at night. It's been decorated and illuminated with Halloween decorations. There are ghosts of different sizes, the two largest lit up in blue, and the smaller ones in the flower beds and windows of the house are white. There is a string on candles leading on a diagonal path up to the door. The biggest window downstairs is green. There are orange lot up carved pumpkins.
November 1, 2025 at 1:40 PM
alisonatkin.bsky.social
I'm trying to get photos in between the trick or treaters now it's dark!
A dark scene outside. In the background is an apparently floating fabric ghost lit up blue, three smaller white fabric ghosts with lights, and an orange pumpkin carved with an octopus, sat in a round dish of water, lit up from the inside, but also with floating candles around it.
October 31, 2025 at 6:27 PM
alisonatkin.bsky.social
My last pumpkin for 2025. My sweet summer child. I saw these two wee sunflowers holding on the other day and knew I wanted to use them. Then I saw its face and decided (maybe incorrectly) that he needed a brain on display. Maybe more of a 'some visible' light pumpkin, otherwise you lose the eyes!
A round orange pumpkin with small sunflowers for eyes and a small open smiling D mouth with two pumpkin seeds for teeth. It has a large tall stem on top. A round orange pumpkin with small sunflowers for eyes and a small open smiling D mouth with two pumpkin seeds for teeth. In place of the stem on top is a smaller white pumpkin carved to look like a brain. A lit up jack o' lantern with smiling D mouth with two front teeth, small wide set eyes barely glowing, and bright brain pumpkin on the top.
October 31, 2025 at 4:24 PM
alisonatkin.bsky.social
Does everyone have their tiny potato coffins ready for tonight?
A dark, ominously lit in blue, inside of a woven basket. It's filled with Halloween candy and in the centre in a tiny black coffin with purple velvet lining it and in the centre a potato rests.
October 31, 2025 at 2:03 PM
alisonatkin.bsky.social
For posterity, here's the three photos of the octo-pumpkin: daylight, nighttime, and the inspiration!

I'll take another photo in-situ tonight, because it looks so cool sitting in the bird bath surrounded by water, especially with the pumpkin gradient.
A carved pumpkin on a wooden countertop. The pumpkin is orange at the bottom and green at the top. It's been carved with a Minoan style octopus, so it's simplified and a little goofy looking. It has a big bulbous head, two oval eyes, and eight tentacles weaving up from the bottom of the body and the pumpkin. A jack o lantern, lit up orange, in the dark. It's been carved with a Minoan style octopus, so it's simplified and a little goofy looking. It has a big bulbous head, two oval eyes, and eight tentacles weaving up from the bottom of the body and the pumpkin. The tentacles all have a series of small holes for suckers along the bottom of their length. A large bulbous ceramic vase in a museum. It's a pale tan with black glaze. It's been illustrated with a Minoan style octopus, so it's simplified and a little goofy looking. It has a big bulbous head, two oval eyes, and tentacles weaving up from the bottom of the body. In between the tentacles and in other negative spaces are stylised seaweed.
October 31, 2025 at 12:41 PM
alisonatkin.bsky.social
Sticking with the maritime theme! This time a Minoan octopus vase inspired design. I'm hoping to display this one coming out of water, so I tweaked the angle.

I have photographed this one, but I might wait and do it again tomorrow, because this is a very *wet* pumpkin (unintentional storytelling).
October 30, 2025 at 7:36 PM
alisonatkin.bsky.social
I saw this wee ichthyoid face while searching for ideas and just knew this would be it. An ode to Carter Tillinghast and his season long cry of "FISH PEOPLE!" throughout the @glasscannonnetwork.bsky.social Call of Cthulu show, Time for Chaos. Guys, I think I would die for this pumpkin.
October 28, 2025 at 8:56 PM
alisonatkin.bsky.social
Behold... the 2025 face pumpkin! Inspired by many things, but first and foremost I went back to my jack o' lantern roots with an archaeology reference. The Undine / Vodena Vila sculpture from Lepensk Vir, from 6300 - 5900 BCE.
A carved pumpkin on a wooden countertop with grey tiles behind it. It's a tall oval orange pumpkin with a simple but expressive face; large circular eyes, with semi-circular shapes that curl underneath the eyes towards the nose. The nose is a rectangle that reaches up to join into the forehead and shape above the eyes. It has a wide downturned mouth. It almost looks upset. Below the face is a repeating pattern of vertical diamonds and triangles, almost like fish scales. A tall oval orange pumpkin in the dark, lit from within. It has a simple but expressive face; large circular eyes, with semi-circular shapes that curl underneath the eyes towards the nose. The nose is a rectangle that reaches up to join into the forehead and shape above the eyes. It has a wide downturned mouth. It almost looks upset. Below the face is a repeating pattern of vertical diamonds and triangles, almost like fish scales. A small stone sculpture on an acrylic plinth. It has been carved with small chips to create a simple but expressive face; large circular eyes, with semi-circular shapes that curl underneath the eyes towards the nose. The nose is a rectangle that reaches up to join into the forehead and shape above the eyes. It has a wide downturned mouth. It almost looks upset. Below the face is a repeating pattern of vertical diamonds and triangles, almost like fish scales. The bottom of this rounded stone has been broken off and it is flat on the plinth with a vertex of two faces visible on the front.
October 28, 2025 at 8:52 PM
alisonatkin.bsky.social
👻
A mostly black photo with a window, from outside, with three panels of rectangular leaded glass, lit up from below in bright green. It's glowing up a white patterned curtain. Below it says in the same green colour: Being the change I want to see in the world (aka starting to put up Halloween decorations).
October 20, 2025 at 5:54 PM
alisonatkin.bsky.social
Hey, remember last year when I tried carving oranges?! 😄

Well, I'm still using them, upside down, with beeswax tealights inside *and they still smell like oranges*!
A dried orange, with a hexafoil design carved into it, on a yellow and white honeycomb ceramic coaster. Behind are beeswax candles, one of a skull, and some plants, egg.
October 19, 2025 at 8:35 PM
alisonatkin.bsky.social
Seeking some advice! (And you can presume I've googled and read the same articles as you.) We had a Rowan that was weakened by poor tree surgery in 2021. It died in 2024 and was removed. A few months ago we planted a new tree (Cornus) nearby. Then these sprouted recently, presumably along old roots.
Pale brown mushrooms growing in grass. They have long stems and little button caps. A group of larger mushrooms all clumped together, pair brown or creamy yellow, some so tall they've fallen over. A group of larger mushrooms all clumped together, pair brown or creamy yellow, some so tall they've fallen over. Looking up at the group of mushrooms they have white undersides. A line of clumps of mushrooms in the grass, each about 20-50 centimetres away from the previous.
October 18, 2025 at 8:54 AM
alisonatkin.bsky.social
Henceforth this shall be known as: (vegan) pumpkin pie, so good it made someone cry.

I hosted a potluck last night and in a nod to the thanksgiving season I made pumpkin pie. But I made a vegan version for the first time and it turned out perfectly! (The whipped non dairy cream was also mega good.)
A piece of pumpkin pie, a dark orange brown custard, topped with white cream, in a pastry shell, on a ceramic plate, with a small piece missing from the end and a spoon on the plate.
October 16, 2025 at 8:45 PM
alisonatkin.bsky.social
I bought pumpkins today, because I'm not likely to have time closer to Halloween.

But if, like me, you get home to discover your pumpkin has a dunch, here's a farmer's trick: clean it well with alcohol and then cover the damaged skin with beeswax. It slows moisture/critters from getting into it!
The bottom of an orange pumpkin, with drips of yellow wax on it.
October 16, 2025 at 3:39 PM
alisonatkin.bsky.social
I absolutely *love* my nails! I had them done yesterday to coincide with my first Halloween event of the spooky season (a themed talk I gave) and they are just SO GOOD. I feel incredibly fancy and badass and my nail tech/artist is a bloody genius! Never not delighted to catch a glimpse of them. 🧛‍♀️
A light skinned person's hand on their chest, displaying their painted nails. They're wearing a black low cut top and over the open upper chest is a Halloween charm necklace in gold with little pumpkins, eyes, cats and a big red lipped fanged mouth. Their nails are deep red French tips with some fingers having bloody like drips running down from the ends of the nails.
October 15, 2025 at 1:18 PM
alisonatkin.bsky.social
Today's @theycantalk.bsky.social calendar comic is timely! We planted sunflowers this year and the garden is now a scene of devastation as squirrels launch themselves from the top of the fence to try and land on the stalks so they can chew off the dried flower heads and scarper off with a seed haul!
A three panel comic from a theycantalk.com page a day calendar from Thur Oct 9. Panel 1: horizontal across the top of the page. a mostly simple black and white line drawing of a branch outside and a small wooden box with seeds in it. in more detailed colour is a squirrel hunched over at the seed feeder. two birds in colour (blue bodies and heads, with orange chests) sit on the branch. the leftmost says: he's the worst. he takes all the birdseed and leaves none for us. the rightmost replies: how can someone even eat that much? Panel 3: square, bottom left corner. a close-up of the two birds from behind. they are a bright blue with a bit of the orange chest visible as the one of the right now (the first one to speak in panel 1) says, that's the craziest part... Panel 4: square, bottom right corner. the speech text carries over: he buries most of it. with the squirrel from the first panel, grey in colour, close up, turning around to face the viewer, with wild wide open eyes, pupils akimbo, mouth open in a scream with the word HISS written nearby.
October 9, 2025 at 8:29 AM
alisonatkin.bsky.social
my @artsemergency.bsky.social badge has suffered slightly in the British weather (it's been on this bag for years now).

Time to visit Joe Lycett's online shop to get another and send a few extra quid to AE while I'm at it!
A close-up of a white button badge on a backpack, that says in handwriting: sometimes if you want something to exist you have to make it yourself. The badge has started to rust and there are splotches of red brown on it. Below it is another rusty badge of a mouse or rat holding a flag
October 7, 2025 at 8:29 AM
alisonatkin.bsky.social
My new plan (let's see how long I do it for) is to try and translate the previous @theycantalk.bsky.social calendar page when we changed it, to help me practice.

They are always relatively short, simple sentences! It'll definitely be more transliteration-esque for now, but I'll get there...
A one panel comic from theycantalk.com on a page a day calendar for Sat/Sun Oct 4/5. A simple line drawing created a background of a grassy area with a tree and falling leaves. In colour are three Canadian geese, two together facing one on its own. The two on the left say 'We're going to head down for the winter'. The one on the right says, 'I think I'll stick around and complain about how miserable I am.' Written in pencil above and below the printed text is a basic Spanish translation attempt: Vamos a ir rumbo sed para el invierno. Pienso que me quedarse aquí y quejarse de estoy miserable.
October 6, 2025 at 8:24 AM
alisonatkin.bsky.social
could have used this info before going for a walk earlier and encountering the 100% definitely haunted carving I'd completely forgotten about at the local nature reserve
A wide shot of a green grassy area with trees at the edge of the clearing, it's still mostly green but there are leaves dropping. In the right hand corner of the photo on a slight angle is a carved wooden statue of a little, toddler sized, humanoid figure. It is wearing dungarees, hands in its pockets, but with bare clawed feet, furry arms and chest. It has long fur/hair but a carved area of shorter textured fur over its face with eyes, nose, and mouth, looking stern or angry. A carved wooden statue of a little, toddler sized, humanoid figure. It is wearing dungarees, hands in its pockets, but with bare clawed feet with three toes, furry arms and chest. It has long fur/hair but a carved area of shorter textured fur over its face with eyes, sunken into its head, a nose, and small mouth. It's expression is stern or angry or devoid and haunted. It's a little wet like it's been raining, but the wet areas look reddish in colour. It's in a grassy, wooded area.
October 5, 2025 at 12:10 PM
alisonatkin.bsky.social
We went to a Plant Hunters' Fair today and I appreciated the name of this nursery...

I know the Romans brought lots of plants with them, but I suspect the Normans probably brought quite a few too.
A sign propped against a table with trays of plants on it, on some gravel. It reads: Anthony Norman, Conquest Plants, Nursery. Bosley Macclesfield. Specialist growers of coloured foliage and nursery stock. Please ask for details on talks and plant demonstrations.
September 14, 2025 at 5:21 PM
alisonatkin.bsky.social
sharing with alt text because this is too good not to
A dark green packaged box on an orange self. Pets at Home, Halloween Interactive Ouija Board FOR CATS. There is a picture of a small black and white cat playing on a dark coloured mat, covered in symbols, staring at a floating butterfly. In the bottom corner: Interactive reward-led play & mental stimulation. It's only £10. And apparently USB rechargeable for up to 5 hours of play per charge.
September 1, 2025 at 7:09 AM
alisonatkin.bsky.social
proof that it's not the effects that make a movie great
Animated GIF from The Princess Bride, showing The Dread Pirate Roberts, dressed all in black, speaking to Princess Buttercup, dressed in red in a dark swampy forest. He says to her: Rodents of unusual size? ...I don't think they exist. And then a giant rat, the size of a person (an obviously a person in a costume) leaps onto him from off screen and then the scene changes to show them on the ground wrestling.
August 28, 2025 at 8:43 PM
alisonatkin.bsky.social
The rubber is definitely more opaque and mottled than when they were first made, so there is an ageing effect happening, but they've still got a reasonable stretch to them! This photo is from about a month after the install and so they're already well over a month old at this point.
A long cylindrical, hollow, rubber tube of semi-translucent brown material with a lip at the bottom - an old fashioned condom. On a red shelf. Behind it is a smaller spherical object made of the same material with a circular opening at the bottom, facing the camera. On a black board behind them is white writing about early condoms, though it's cropped.
August 27, 2025 at 11:53 AM
alisonatkin.bsky.social
Hey, remember when I made these rubber condoms for @sicktodeath.bsky.social? I had expected, based on everything I read, that they would start to really degrade after about three months. And while they're *ahem* not 'handled' in quite the same way as intended - they're still going strong!
A mostly cylindrical brown rubber tube looking item, on a red shelf, on a line drawing in black of the same shape. Behind it is a smaller spherical item made of the same mottled brown material. To the left is the edge of a blue phallic demo model. Behind it all on black board is written text in white about the 'just the tip' rubber condoms.
August 27, 2025 at 11:46 AM
alisonatkin.bsky.social
I've seen old forum threads where someone has instead 3D printed like... caps for a standard stethoscope and then added headphone cups to them, which would also work, except the forum thread says they don't have the STL files any longer...
The top end of a stethoscope, but rather than the standard ear buds, there are large over the ear headphone caps attached, with the ear buds pushed into the back.
August 12, 2025 at 9:51 AM
alisonatkin.bsky.social
I'm picturing the balloon like this as you walked around with it. 😂
An absolutely massive daisy balloon with an unimpressed expression doodled onto its 'face' in the yellow centre.
July 23, 2025 at 6:37 PM