Idaho Cursed Soil

As anyone that grew up or lived in Pocatello, Idaho for any amount of time can attest, the city is a kind of vortex for odd things. The strangest of which, is without a doubt, the pull the city has on it's residents. While most people in Pocatello want to leave, most fail. People leave the city in droves every year, most of them returning mere months later in defeat. It's not that the outside world is too much for the residents, or that they realize some horrible mistake and return happily, nothing like that, they have no choice. The city of Pocatello, ID is cursed, the very ground itself prevents the people that live there from escaping. Those blessed few that do leave and stay away attribute their success to many things, but in some cases they were clearly never truly residents to begin with, and the city rejected them. Others, in a desperate attempt to escape the vortex bring the very soil that had trapped them along, allowing them to leave the little valley and escape into the world beyond. You can find small bottles of cursed soil across the country, all carefully secured in fear that it should spill, the wind should whisk away the dirt, and the owner would once again succumb to the siren call of that distant little city. Irresistible...

Specimen #101 - More Views

A few more photos of the specimen.

The Worm immediately after being sealed.

The Aged Specimen

After not seeing the piece for over a year, I was nervous to see how it had held up. I was pretty particular about the mix of sealants and colors I used, but I was worried that I'd walk in and it would look like a hunk of Sculpey floating in a jar. Luckily, time had only served to make it better, A bit ooky, washed out, and just the right amount of particulates floating around in the liquid.

I love the look of the floating debris in the jar...

Smile for the camera!

Specimen #101 - Unidentified African Worm

Specimen #101 Unidentified African Worm
The Cowell Cabinet Of Curiosities

This was the first of my creations, a gift for my brother. Created out of a late night and some wicked thought planted in my head, this has been the largest of my sculptures thus far, and it's been interesting to see how the layers of material have been affected by the long immersion in liquid. I've since refined it, but this piece still looks great in my brother's cabinet of curiosities.

Pendleton, OR - September 14th, 2008 - 11:57am

Mysterious chalk outline of a giant foot found on the sidewalks of Pendleton, Oregon. Each of these outlines were well over 4 feet long, origins unknown. The overactive imagination of a child with some chalk, or the police outlines of some Suspicious Sasquatch Shenanigans? I'm afraid it may remain a mystery.

January 16th, 2009

Ever since I was a wee child, my brother and I have been interested in things that go bump (Or slither, or ooze...) in the night. Whether it was aliens, Loch Ness Monsters, Sasquatches, Gremlins, Faeries or Ghosts, we devoured them with a passion. As we grew older, rather than souring these things, time seemed to make them better. More mysterious and fun. We've both begun amassing a pretty good collection of oddities, and I've started making ones as well, humbugs for collections of the unknown, and in this blog, in addition to posting fun links and photos, I hope to post some of my pieces, works in progress, and more. If anyone has any cool stories, photos, links or ideas I'd love to hear from you! Email me at avalon_ink(at)yahoo.com!

Bewildering Bugaboos!

Jake, The Alligator Man Welcomes you!

Welcome to my new blog, dedicated to things in jars, unknown beasties and creatures and anything strange and wonderful I happen across.

Within you'll find some works in progress of my own, as well as links and photos of everything slimy, repulsive, reportedly impossible, and miraculous that I can find!