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
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
I have a vision for this car. It’s always evolving, but it’s coming together and I’m so fucking happy! Next up… engine remapping, accelerator pedal and gearshift tweaks. Then hopefully I’ll actually be able to start driving her. I’ve had her three weeks today! Ok fine, one more pic.
Satin black BMW E30 with wide body kit parked on a brick driveway next to a brick wall, with shrubs behind it.
September 25, 2025 at 10:14 PM
teafrancis.bsky.social
And here are a few photos of what I’ve been up to in the interim, preparing to get her interior sorted out…
A montage image of a few stages of creating custom door cards… starting with mismatched parts in the top left, then with the handles and pockets being sprayed to match. Quick test fit of one of the door cards in my car, then newly blackened handles and pockets test fitted. Grey OEM carpet now dyed bkack, and an obligatory pic of my car for good measure. Door card being masked up for pattern making purposes. Headlining sprayed black, drying on my garage floor, A sneaky peek at what I’m planning for the interior details. A panel pattern with cobweb design drawn on, a test panel with hand stitched partially finished cobweb on it, plus scissor, needle & thread, and awl in the pic.
September 25, 2025 at 10:14 PM
teafrancis.bsky.social
And here are a couple of progress photos plus a before & after.
Freshly sprayed & drying. She’s all masked up, bonnet is popped open but not lifted, she’s all black and a bit glossy still as the paint is wet. All out back together, now she’s satin black and sexy as fuck. Still in the spray booth having been left to bake for a while. How she looked before… mostly dark grey with white front fenders/arches & bumper. Parked next to my garage with my Dad’s Z4 M40i in the background. And how she looks now… all satin black with her brand new custom painted badge, dechromed & replaced with gold. She’s so fucking fine. Parked on a brick driveway with manicured hedges and shrubbery around her.
September 25, 2025 at 10:14 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
Obviously, I’ll never forget Abigail, my El Camino… but this is THE car as far as I’m concerned. I’ve wanted an E30 since I was 10 years old. Specifically a 2 door coupe. I DID THE THING!! I have entered my Bavarian Rectangle Era™️🙏🏽
Sexy lil bitch. My 1989 BMW E30 in her current Frankenstein’s Monster-esque mismatched & rather scruffy state. Graphite paintwork everywhere besides front fenders & bumper, no bonnet badge, no indicators (indicators? On a BMW? Don’t be silly). Parked in a body shop yard full of old banger racers, vans & tow trucks, with a few trees surrounding it. Nice sunny day, sunlight bouncing off the bonnet, blue sky. Perfect. Take it all in because the next time you see her, things will have changed a bit!
September 9, 2025 at 10:01 PM
teafrancis.bsky.social
I bought this…
Very dark photo of an old BMW E30 in need of some work with two tone bodywork in graphite & white, with gold LED angel eyes. Parked on a brickwork driveway at night. Me all in black, as usual, posing like an idiot next to my new old car on the back of the transporter that delivered it to my house. Me posing like a dork leaning against the front of my new old car on my driveway. Another stupid pose in front of my new old car. It might be dorky and really cliche to be taking selfies with a car, but this one has so many layers of symbolism, nostalgia, healing, overcoming…. It’s like a big Bavarian, uh… onion. Yeah. Those have layers.
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
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
I say finally, but I realised I left out Amaru. Mostly because she’s like clockwork, an absolute beast, very reliable feeder & has grown a frankly obscene amount in the year and a half since she came home. (13/?)
Me holding a very small, noodly little brown Baron’s racer snake. In this photo, she was around 3ft long. The same noodly brown Baron’s racer, but in 17-18 months, she’s reached about 6ft.
March 1, 2025 at 9:03 PM
teafrancis.bsky.social
Finally, Nanzome. My latest acquisition, my beautiful, stunning, delightful Inca IMG Boa imperator. She smashes food every time I offer it, no trouble at all. She’s a perfect baby angel. (12/?)
A black and gold coloured Boa imperator snake swallowing a frozen/thawed white mouse.
March 1, 2025 at 9:03 PM
teafrancis.bsky.social
Next up, we have my king snakes. Mictecacihuatl and Mictlantecuhtli. I was recently informed that I have been looking after them too well and that Micti, my female, is fat. So now, they’re in a diet. Monthly feeds instead of every 2 weeks. We are not amused 😂 (11/?)
A very dull looking Mictecacihuatl, swallowing a mouse in her enclosure. She’s due a shed. Above her is a black and gold Aztec plaque.
March 1, 2025 at 9:03 PM
teafrancis.bsky.social
Moving on to the two special needs Candoia paulsoni/Solomon Island ground boa brothers. I picked them up in January 2024 and was informed that one was striking, one was assist feeding. Nope… they both have zero inclination to feed for themselves so they both needed assistance. (5/?)
The two special needs noodles. The orange patches on them are the remainder of the scars from what I suspect to have been scale rot.
March 1, 2025 at 9:03 PM
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
Also very pleased to report that Inti, my green Baron’s racer who has been a finicky feeder since coming home in Oct ‘23, has taken what I’ve offered him two weeks in a row now, which is unheard of. His future girlfriend Amaru, on the other hand, is an absolute beast & literally never misses.
A green snake with an upturned, pointed nose, resting amongst branches, faux plants and vines in his enclosure. A brown snake with a pointy nose resting amongst branches, faux plants, tillandsia & vines in her enclosure.
February 15, 2025 at 10:26 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
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
Reference image on top from Google, how I’ve left it for today on the bottom. It’s not finished yet. I’m in so much pain, I might just go have a little lie down… on the M25.
February 4, 2025 at 4:21 PM
teafrancis.bsky.social
So yeah, I’m painting a crocodile about it.
In progress paint job on a cast of a dwarf crocodile on a cluttered workbench.
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