I am now officially a Florida resident. And I was inspired to make a Mickey Mouse (as he appears in the new Walt Disney World Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway attraction) out of sea shells, rocks, and shark teeth. A black and white Mickey Mouse dark ride had been in the planning stages for Disney parks since at least the 1970s (one was called Mickey's Madhouse). We finally got one in 2020 at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Runaway Railway is based of the (somewhat polarizing) newer Paul Rudish-directed Mickey Mouse shorts. I actually love Mickey in these cartoons, as he is voiced with some swagger by Silicon Valley star Chris Diamantopoulos.
I live in Venice, Florida, which is the Shark Tooth Capital of the World. I grew up visiting the beaches in Venice, so I have some shark tooth hunting skills. I started making sculptures out of found beach materials in recent years. The first cartoon character I made out of shells was Fred Flintstone.
Fred Flintstone was a request from my Aunt. I had to carefully pack Fred up so she could take him back to Indiana with her.
I have been selling my own designs. The latest figures are animals from Australia. I love Australian Animals. I think I've only ever seen a Koala at Busch Gardens in Tampa years back.
I was especially excited to find pieces of coral to use for the Koala's ears. I also found coral for his eucalyptus.
A Platypus seems like the ultimate farm animal because it produces eggs and milk.
Though they are cute and odd, a platypus is actually very dangerous.
In addition to eggs and milk, the strange platypus produces venom.
I enjoy finding interesting bases for these figures.
I love the 1950s, so I had to build some Greasers. These are Sea Rockabilly guys.
The cool leather jacketed dude on the Motorcycle is a little bit Fonzie, a little bit Elvis. The Surfer can keep his hair looking perfect even when he's in the ocean.
In Venice, I've seen a few guys driving hot rods.
This cool cruiser was inspired by Luke Perry and Outsiders era Matt Dillon.
Conrad Birdie from Bye Bye Birdie was on my mind when I put together this guitar player.
The Sea Rockabilly Chick knows all the latest dance moves.
Venice (and Sarasota in general) is famous for being a former Circus Town. Aside from the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, areas around Venice housed the old Ringling Brothers Circus. There's even a Circus Bridge in Venice.
Naturally, I had to build my own Circus. The Venezia Brothers Circus! The Venezia Brothers are a Ringmaster, Clown, and Strongman. I even made a Unicorn! Way back in 1984, Ringling Brothers Barnum and Baily had a controversial Unicorn. It was really just a surgically altered goat.