Tea Francis
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teafrancis.bsky.social
Tea Francis
@teafrancis.bsky.social
2K followers 390 following 960 posts
Artist- taxidermist/fabricator/illustrator/jeweller 🔪✒️🔨
Arachnologist 🕷
Plant hoarder, appreciator & curator 🪴
Collector of the weird & old 🔮
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teafrancis.bsky.social
Tea Francis @teafrancis.bsky.social · Nov 9
I’m reposting this so I can pin it for any new followers or curious folk.

This thread explains where the animals I work on as a taxidermist come from. I am always open to questions & I welcome respectful discussion from any viewpoint, so please feel free to ask me anything about my work, any time!
teafrancis.bsky.social Tea Francis @teafrancis.bsky.social · Nov 7
This week, as well as the bunny over the weekend, I have stuffed a zebra head and an Ayam Cemani rooster. I’m currently working on another mount that I can’t yet share, but it’s another challenge & I love those.

Please see my coming reply to this post for info re where the animals come from.
Side profile of a freshly stuffed zebra head mount. Against a busy workshop background, it is mounted on a metal stand fixed to the end of a workbench. Currently full of pins & staples while it dries. A pure black rooster, stuffed & standing on a piece of wood, full of pins & clips while it dries.
teafrancis.bsky.social
The BMW project is not without spidery influence… just in case anyone was concerned. I’m hand stitching gold webs for the interior/upholstery.
A car door card panel with hand stitched spiderweb detailing in gold thread on black vinyl, leant up against a wall with clips holding it in place. Another spiderweb panel in progress sits on the carpet in front of the door card, with a clamp next to it. Black leather effect vinyl car door cards leaning up against a wooden sideboard, in various stages of completion/modification. The larger ones still have the original fabric, but the smaller one in front has a gold spiderweb stitched on black vinyl inserted into it.
October 15, 2025 at 6:54 PM
teafrancis.bsky.social
Taxidermy shenanigans from the past couple of months or so… client work, not for sale.
Commission work, pet cotton top tamarins. Mounted on a very beautiful piece of grape wood from the south of France. My resting bitch face working on remounting a really battered old pedestal mounted zebra skin. Nightmare. His eyes are full of orange handles euro pins. Two olive baboons in similar relaxed sitting positions, mine on the left and a student’s on the right. I was tasked with mentoring an intern up at the studio. I think she did very well indeed! Big male olive baboon, recently mounted by me, currently drying and full of pins! He’s gonna be handsome boy.
September 26, 2025 at 12:42 PM
teafrancis.bsky.social
Last Saturday, proper work commenced on my car. Here’s a selection of images of me preparing it to be painted.
Me, with my hair pulled back and glasses on, using a small hand held belt sander hooked up to a compressor to cut out the holes in my unpainted, white front bumper for my indicators. My two-tone grey & white car is behind me with the bonnet open, BMW engine cover visible, with a box sitting on top of it containing said indicator lights. Scattered about the rest of the image are various car bodyshop implements & vehicles/parts. Me, hair down, glasses on, covered in dust & crouched in front of my car unscrewing a bolt that holds the kidney grilles in place, in preparation for painting. In the background are a couple of trucks in various states of disassembly. By my feet are tools and folded sanding discs. Me next to my car which is now fully rubbed down and masked up, ready for painting, parked in the spray booth/oven. I’m rubbing it down with a tack cloth here to get all the remaining dust off prior to spraying. Rubbing down my front bumper before it all goes in to be sprayed. Spray booth/oven containing my car is behind me.
September 25, 2025 at 10:14 PM
teafrancis.bsky.social
Heyyyy! Checking in to say hi, see how you’re all doing, let you know I’m not dead & tell you how delighted I am to see that spiders & chaos reminded some of you of me 😂 Since I last posted, I’ve stuffed countless animals, & done something ridiculous that I’ve been wanting to do for like, 30 years.
September 9, 2025 at 10:01 PM
teafrancis.bsky.social
Im a couple of days late, but Nowruz Mubarak to all of my friends, Persian, not Persian & everything inbetween. May you find small joys amongst all of the chaos we’re surrounded by 🖤
Me wearing a hoodie from independent Iranian designer, Xodafez, showing the standard of the Sassanian Empire on the front, embroidered in gold. Look it up… chances are you’ve never heard of it. Do I look tired? That’s because I fucking am. The back of my hoodie from Xodafez, showing a gold embroidered Farbahar- the Zoroastrian emblem symbolising the core beliefs and teachings of the ancient pre-Islamic religion of Persia. I am not a religious person, but I’ve got a fucking lot of feelings about my ancestral homeland & what’s been done to it.
March 22, 2025 at 9:53 PM
teafrancis.bsky.social
Hello. I’m sorry I’m not very active on here at the moment. Real life is stressful, health isn’t great, just trying to keep busy & keep my brain out of trouble which, frankly, isn’t bloody easy. Anyway, I stuffed a hoopoe. It’s still drying.
A hoopoe taxidermy mount with pins & low-tack tape and clips holding everything in place as it dries. Photographed on a black background and perched on a piece of bare ivy wood on a black base, it is a cinnamon/orange coloured bird with black and white wings & tail, a long, slender, black beak, black legs & an impressive crest of large black-tipped orange feathers. I have given it a praying mantis meal which it holds in its beak. The mantis is one of my pets from about 15 years ago.
March 22, 2025 at 12:23 AM
teafrancis.bsky.social
Today has been really good, but also annoying. I’ve had a full day back in my workshop for the first time since the start of January which felt incredible, and I got a lot done… but I ran into a couple of challenges & disappointments too.
March 7, 2025 at 9:52 PM
teafrancis.bsky.social
Komodo dragon replica paint job. I did all of the colour work & details you see here by hand, including hand painting the eyes & finishing them with clear resin. The last image is a comparison between my reference and the painted cast.
Full size, hand painted replica Komodo dragon on an 8ft trestle table. Closeup of the replica Komodo dragon’s head and neck. Closeup of the replica Komodo dragon’s eye. On top is a photo of a real Komodo dragon’s eye, & underneath it is a photo of the replica I painted using the real one as reference.
March 7, 2025 at 2:18 AM
teafrancis.bsky.social
A few snakey goings on of late… first of all, we’ll start with this guy. Inti, my 4 year old Baron’s racer (Philodryas baroni). I’ve had him & my female for a little under a year and a half. The day he came home, he strike fed, shit & shed his skin, thus lulling me into a false sense of security. 🧵
A green Baron’s racer snake with a pointy little snout, draped over branched, vines and silk leaves in his enclosure. He is yellowy spring green with a paler bluish green back, and his face is darker grey green on top and mint green from his eye level down to under his chin.
March 1, 2025 at 9:03 PM
teafrancis.bsky.social
Nanzome looking stunning. She’s been home for one month as of tomorrow. She’s fed spectacularly well each time she’s been offered. She’s bound to be due a shed soon & I can’t wait to see how she looks when she does! 😱😍
A close up photo of a juvenile Boa imperator (Inca IMG) with a black background colour to her body & cold markings across her head & neck. She is peering out of her current favoured hide, a Spanish style glazed terracotta pot laid on its side next to her ceramic heat emitting bulb which is housed inside a black mesh cage for her safety. Green silk leaves on plastic stems are just in shot.
February 15, 2025 at 10:26 PM
teafrancis.bsky.social
I planted some sickeningly cool plants today. Platycerium ‘Pegasus’, and an array of tropical carnivores.
A staghorn fern (Platycerium ‘Pegasus’) growing out of a moss topped antelope partial skull. Held up in front of my tiled bathroom wall by my hand. A planted display of tropical carnivorous plants, and mosses inside a will lit glass container, growing in and around a hollow cork branch. A planted display of tropical carnivorous plants, and mosses inside a will lit glass container, growing in and around a hollow cork branch.
February 15, 2025 at 1:33 AM
teafrancis.bsky.social
More hoopoe. Did an hour on the tail earlier but my thumb got really bad so had to stop.
An unfinished work in progress drawing of a hoopoe bird in fight, drawn in black ink on watercolour paper.
February 8, 2025 at 11:36 PM
teafrancis.bsky.social
After a month of not being able to do anything in my workshop due to the cold, I have decided that fuck it, I will just force it to work for me and do whatever I can to make it habitable. I have a heater, heated gloves/socks, blankets exist… I have too much to do to be sat about waiting for spring.
February 6, 2025 at 11:35 PM
teafrancis.bsky.social
It’s done. Replica dwarf crocodile paint job by yours truly.
Replica dwarf crocodile head, from the side. Replica dwarf crocodile photographed from above/behind. It’s facing away from the camera so you can see its back, the backs of its legs & its tail. Replica dwarf crocodile photographed from above/in front. You can see the top of its head, the front of its legs and the side of its belly. Before and after composite image of the dwarf croc replica, before it had its feet rebuilt & its paint job, and after three days of work.
February 5, 2025 at 4:14 PM
teafrancis.bsky.social
I did the resin work on the eyes today. To make them nice and glassy & croc-like. Now I’m finishing off colour detailing & applying protective coat as I go. Looking forward to seeing it finished later!
Close up face photo from the front of the replica dwarf crocodile I’m painting. Its eyes are now all glossy and more lifelike. Still not quite finished, but looking decent. Close up face photo from the side of the replica dwarf crocodile I’m painting. Its eyes are now all glossy and more lifelike. Still not quite finished, but looking decent.
February 5, 2025 at 1:33 PM
teafrancis.bsky.social
I don’t know how, but I messed up my neck at some point between 8.30 when my alarm first went off, & 8.57 when I hit snooze for the third time 😂 I didn’t even move?! In any case, it’s bloody painful & I’m miserable. This time of year particularly fucking sucks for anyone with fibromyalgia.
February 4, 2025 at 1:34 PM
teafrancis.bsky.social
Irish elk antlers were assembled & base coated last week. Now I’m finishing them off. I’ve evened out the colour today, & applied texture. Once dry, I’ll be going over the whole thing with a wash to give it a bit of patina & protection & then they’re done! The span of this lot is 9 & a half feet.
Replica Irish elk antlers & skull sitting on an 8ft trestle table in part of the workshop, from the right side. The surrounding area holds foam forms, resin cast heads on the wall, misc machinery, and an old taxidermy cheetah. Oh, and chandeliers… because obviously. The elk antlers are brown and greyish coloured and enormous. Replica Irish elk antlers & skull sitting on an 8ft trestle table in part of the workshop, from the left side. The surrounding area holds foam forms, resin cast heads on the wall, misc machinery, and an old taxidermy cheetah. Oh, and chandeliers… because obviously. The elk antlers are brown and greyish coloured and enormous.
February 3, 2025 at 12:27 PM
teafrancis.bsky.social
I’ve been working with a collaborator on something very exciting for the past year and a half or so, and today we began a new phase of experimentation with this lovely Chinese elm bonsai tree!
A Chinese elm bonsai tree in the process of being trimmed and wired on my kitchen island. Next to it, on the granite countertop, are rolls of bonsai wire and a few cuttings. You can see my mum sitting at the table in the background, some of the kitchen countertops and cupboards, a kettle and a toaster are also visible. The newly pruned and wired bonsai tree set up in its experimental new home. White background, a few mounds of moss at the base of the tree, and a stone effect base that holds the pot. Another view of the pruned and wired bonsai tree and the mossy mounds around the roots.
February 2, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Reposted by Tea Francis
jasonkoebler.bsky.social
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a declassified World War II-era CIA guide to sabotaging fascism in the workplace has become one of the most popular free ebooks on the internet:

www.404media.co/declassified...
Declassified CIA Guide to Sabotaging Fascism Is Suddenly Viral
The World War II-era "Simple Sabotage Field Manual" is full of steps that office workers can take to resist leadership.
www.404media.co
January 29, 2025 at 8:53 PM
teafrancis.bsky.social
After a rough few days inside my own brain, I’m feeling a bit more normal and with it today, so I celebrated by ordering sushi which I have just absolutely fucking demolished. Can confirm, that was an excellent form of self care. 10/10 will do again.
January 29, 2025 at 8:55 PM
teafrancis.bsky.social
Someone said y’all were missing snake content (that someone was me*).

(*and also my assumption is probably not true but whatever)
My moony-eyed mug all smiley and happy about hanging out with my beautiful baby Nazome, the juvenile Inca IMG Boa imperator (snake). I’m in all black, as usual, and she is coiled back in an S-shape, in my hand. She’s relaxed but alert. She is up near my face, but facing across and away from me. You can see a few of my tattoos on my hand, wrist and neck, I have several gold piercings in y face and ears. My snake is mostly black with gold markings along her body. I have a couple of silver chains around my neck which you can just about see.
January 28, 2025 at 3:21 PM
teafrancis.bsky.social
Simon’s studio today: More progress on the Irish elk antlers, and the beginning of making a mould of a full size adult Komodo dragon model. I’m pretty excited about this dragon.
One of a pair of replica (fibreglass) Irish elk antlers, base coated and drying on top of a bin in the studio. The other antler in the pair of fibreglass replica Irish elk antlers, resting on a table surrounded by polyurethane foam taxidermy animal forms, freezers and studio machinery. A very large Komodo dragon model on a table in the studio, a foam board wall has been fixed all the way around it in preparation for application of moulding rubber. A couple of test patches of different moulding rubbers have been applied to its back.
January 28, 2025 at 3:15 PM
teafrancis.bsky.social
Ok, last of the cat, I promise. Bonus fallow buck that I also just completed. Back on replica Irish elk antler duty tomorrow 😎
Front end of the tabby cat on a branch taxidermy mount I recently completed. Shot on a hessian covered wall. The cat is draped over a branch with both front legs hanging down either side of an offshoot from the main branch he is laid out on. His head is upright, his ears forward in a relaxed but interested pose. His front paws at in muffin making mode, with one curved gently inwards and the other extended with toes spread. Full length photo of the taxidermy tabby cat reclining on a branch, mounted on a hessian covered wall. A fallow buck taxidermy mount, just the head and neck, hanging up on a hessian covered showroom, wall surrounded by other taxidermy. He is a uniform greyish taupe sort of colour with a pale chest and darker brown forehead and nose. His antlers aren’t huge, but they are handsome. A fallow buck taxidermy mount, just the head and neck, hanging up on a hessian covered showroom, wall surrounded by other taxidermy. He is a uniform greyish taupe sort of colour with a pale chest and darker brown forehead and nose. His antlers aren’t huge, but they are handsome.
January 26, 2025 at 11:21 PM
teafrancis.bsky.social
More photos of the tabby cat. I’ll no doubt post even more later because we took proper photos of it but I’m too impatient to wait for them 😂
A taxidermy tabby cat on a branch, mounted on the wall. This photo is a close up of the head/neck/shoulder area, taken from the right side. A colourful draped tapestry hangs from the ceiling in the background and some of the taxidermy heads on the showroom wall can just about be made out. A closeup of the tabby cat’s front paws. It’s in muffin making mode with one paw partially curled inwards and the other stretched out with its toes spread. Closeup of the back paws, in a relaxed pose reclining on the branch. Front end of the taxidermy tabby cat on a branch, front legs hanging down either side of the branch.
January 26, 2025 at 3:09 PM
teafrancis.bsky.social
Also made a bit more progress, chipping away at this hoopoe illustration.
An in progress black ink illustration of a hoopoe bird in flight with its beak open. It is drawn on 20cm square Arches watercolour paper and the photo shows one of my technical drawing pens and mechanical pencil resting on the top of the paper block.
January 25, 2025 at 10:04 PM