Gargoyles Photographed in the Bay Area

A friend of mine was visiting San Francisco, and took this picture:

Doorway Gargoyle in San Francisco

If I remember correctly he said that this was on Golden Gate Avenue. 

I was visiting Capitola, California with a friend, and took this photograph:

Griffins on Column, Capitola Pier

These guys — griffins I say — are on the two pillars marking the entrance to the pier at Capitola, California.

A Tiger May not be Able to Change his Stripes — But the Maxwell Gargoyle Sure Can

One of my favorite gargoyle statues is Maxwell. I have always offered Maxwell in two finishes: grey and antique taupe.

Maxwell Gargoyle Grey Finish

Here is our little guy in the grey finish. This was a good choice for Maxwell the gargoyle as the grey looks like stone, and it has a nice washed patina.

Maxwell Gargoyle Antique Taupe Finish

Here is the gargoyle in the antique taupe finish. My favorite finish. I think it gives a richer look, but I must admit most people choose the grey finish.

Maxwell Gargoyle Greystone Finish

And now — presenting Maxwell in his new duds, the Greystone finish!

The Greystone is the latest finish that I offer — anxious to see how the peeps like it.

Everybody Loves the Dedo Gargoyle!

Who can not look at this gargoyle, Dedo, and not smile:

Dedo Gargoyle

This is Dedo gargoyle.

Gargoyles can be sculpted to have a whimsical or wicked looking persona. Dede most definitely falls into the whimsical camp. 

There is a Story Card for the Dedo gargoyle — but let me state that this Story Card is for entertainment and not presented as factual!

The "Legend" of Dedo

"It all began in Paris when the Notre Dame Cathedral was being built, rising majestically stone by stone towards the heavens. It was custom to top each structure with a menacing gargoyle, who protected the cathedral by warding off evil spirits.

Marie Therese, a nun from a tiny convent in Provence, disliked the evil-looking gargoyles on the new cathedral, sitting so close to the heavens.

Disguised as a man, she trekked on foot to Paris, entered the work site, and quickly carved a small block into a lovable, protective creature. She placed her creature, with its pointy ears and human-like feet, on the highest roof, visible only to God Himself.

It was undiscovered for centuries until a small boy, lost in the labyrinthine structure, stumbled off a ledge and rolled down a roof into the arms of the littlest gargoyle, perched quietly on a ledge. Since that time, Marie Therese's creature was affectionately known as Little Dedo, the gargoyle with the crossed toes."

I offer several different versions of the Dedo Gargoyle. The guy pictured above is the 9" tall version. To see them all, the page with the Dedo gargoyle statues is HERE.

A Couple of New Skulls Have Hit the Website

I have recently brought in and photographed two new skulls for the website.

Talking Board Skull

This is the first guy. I call him the Talking Board Skull. A talking board is what we now call a Ouija Board. The talking board — at least in the USA — became popular in the 1880s, and sometime after that a version was modified and patented as a Ouija Board.

Astrology Skull

This fun dude is the Astrology Skull. This skull has the Astrological Signs and other symbols engraved as decoration.

Astrology consists of several pseudoscientific systems of divination based on the premise that there is a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events in the human world. 

I may read my Astrology horoscope from time to time for amusement — but that is about as far as I take it...

These — and many other very nice collectible skulls are available on the Skulls & Cranium section of my gargoylestore.com website. To visit the Skulls & Craniums section, click HERE, for the front door of the site, click HERE.

Green Men and Dragon Grotesques in Northern California

I was in downtown Sacramento visiting my brother and noticed these grotesques (gargoyles) on a hotel.

Green Men Grotesques on Downtown Sacramento Building

I only had a camera phone with me so could not get as good as a picture as I wished — but here is one. The green man is a corbel under the balcony, the dragons are the decorations in  the corners of the windows.

Green Men on a Downtown Sacramento Building

Here is another picture of the same building.

If one is observant one will see more gargoyles (or more likely grotesques) than one would imagine. While none of them will probably look like the famous gargoyles of Notre Dame Cathedral, they are special and fun to spot!

Architectural Lion Element

Strolled past these lion pairs last night. They are — my best guess — an architectural element. 

Architectural Lion

I am not exactly sure what they are architecturally speaking. They are not really columns, they are not exactly supporting a column...

They are flanking a residence on a very steep street on a hill just above San Francisco's Chinatown.

Two New Skulls have Hit GargoyleStore.com!

gargoylestore.com has just received two new skulls!

'Dr. Skully' Skulls

Here is the finished picture that I used for the website.

This is a fairly accurate model of a skull. The large version has separate molded teeth, the mandible is hinged to the cranium, and is hollow. The smaller version has less details — but both are really nice.

It's always a challenge getting a good photograph. Since a visitor to the website can't pick up, examine and such — the picture's job is a tough one. The picture needs to communicate to the view all the details about the object, the color, size, textures. It's lucky that a 'picture is worth a thousand words,' as one needs all one thousand words for this to work best.

I always want something in the photos to give scale — here I have the skulls on a table with a ruler and a hemostat as props. A window off to the left gives natural light, and a table lamp gives warm light from above.

I pasted in a photo of the inside and taken apart views as I limited the website to one photograph.

Dr. Skully Skulls Disassembled 

Here is one of the shots I took of the skulls disassembled. I needed to show how these skulls 'work' and at this point I was undecided if I was going to stick with the one photograph or not. 

This shows the skulls 'open' and the spring that holds the mandible to the cranium. The jaws are able to be opened and closed — just like the real thing. The skull 'cap' on the big skull is held in place with rods and magnets, the small guy just has the rods.

Dr. Skull Disassembled 

Here is the disassembled shot that I decided to use. A little closer, and a bit more clear.

Dr. Skully Skulls

This is the picture that I used, before I pasted the smaller photo on as an insert.

Little Freddie Gargoyle

Today I added a new gargoyle to gargoylestore.com. Here is a picture of him:

Little Freddie Gargoyle

I am calling this guy Little Freddie. This gargoyle is a pretty much a scale model of a gargoyle that would be mounted on a building.

The gargoyle pictured attached to the wall shows the channel that is carved into the gargoyle. This is what takes the runoff water away from the building, so that the water does not run down the building's wall and erode the mortar from between the stones. The water would flow down this channel, out the open mouth, and fall to the street below.

Little Freddie Gargoyle Replica

Here is one of the outtakes from my Little Freddie Gargoyle photo shoot. I pretty much like both of these photos — I decided to use the one that has the gargoyle on the table that is facing to the right.

Little Freddie is just shy of six inches tall, appropriate for indoor or outdoor display, and is priced at $29.

This is an excellent piece! The sculpting is beautiful, the finish is excellent — all around a beautiful gargoyle!