156/365 repulso roach

"Who is that masked Blattaria?"
"Why, it's The Amazing Repulso Roach, come to save the day!"

Repulso is an American Cockroach, or Palmetto, which are thought to have originated in North Africa and brought to the Americas during the early slave trade.


A cockroach can hold it's breath for up to 40 minutes.

Some female cockroaches mate once and are pregnant for the rest of their lives.

A cockroach can live for up to a month without its head.

The world's largest roach (in South America) is six inches long with a one-foot wingspan.

Male cockroaches transfer sperm to females in a package called a spermatophore. Some males cover the package in a protein-rich wrapping that the female can eat to obtain nutrients to raise her young.

Cockroaches can run up to 3 km/hr (1.8 m/hr).

There are estimated to be 4,000 - 5,000 species of cockroaches in the world. Of these, only 25 to 30 are considered pests. The rest remain a part of the Earth's fauna, such as the Giant Burrowing Cockroach which are clean, slow moving, and are sometimes kept as pets.

Don't worry, my cat killed him.

Here's a YouTube video of a giant burrowing cockroach kept by a family in Australia:

155/365 use no oil

154/365 sinnerman

153/365 bamboo

Making this ring didn't take much effort, but carrying the 8-foot bamboo stalk complete with branches and leaves two miles home while also walking my two dogs sure did! I plan to play around with the material a little.

152/365 4 gauge sterling

Laurie Brown* very generously sent me a long piece of 4 gauge wire (which is just over 1/4 inch thick and very hard to form) so that I could attempt to make a ring with it, as she so skillfully did for her RAD #82. I have soldered it closed 3 times, and it keeps busting open on the mandrel. I am not giving up.

Here is Laurie's* beautiful ring, she started with the 4 gauge (5mm) and stretched it to 14 gauge (1.6 mm). She is GOOD.

151/365 spilled oil

I asked a friend what he thought I could use to simulate oil for this ring and he suggested two-part epoxy. I tinted the epoxy with black enamel and I'm fairly pleased with how it came out. The paint thinned it out a bit, but it does have an oily iridescence.

These are all vintage pieces, the Poseidon charm and scrimshaw buckle seemed appropriate additions to the ring.

150/365 gasoline can

Steel chain, padlocks, vintage gasoline can.

I'd really like to shoot this in a sterile, white environment using a rusty chain and padlocks (and a model). The chain wraps around my ring finger and is secured with the padlock, I am thinking of this one as a wedding ring of sorts, why are we still married to oil?