Lynn Thrower has always been fascinated with color, texture and design. Rather than expressing her creativity through painting or sculpture, she brings life to animal skulls using a variety of materials, including semi-precious stones, glass beads, recycled glass tiles, metal, leather, fabric and even paper.
Thrower grew up in California but took a circuitous route in becoming an artist. She developed her love of design through her hobby of sewing, styling and making many of her clothes and gowns. She became fluent in Spanish and lived in Spain for a year in college, earning a Spanish Literature degree and later a master’s in business.
After her studies, she embarked on a long, successful career in accounting and finance that often required international travel. Given her fluency in Spanish, many of her travels were to Spanish-speaking countries and regions, including Spain, Mexico and the Caribbean. She fell in love with the culture in these Latin countries, including the vibrant colors and designs.
“I was a controller, chief accounting officer and a CFO for large corporations. These were high-pressure jobs, and while I enjoyed my career, I had no creative outlet,” Thrower said.
Discovering a niche form of art
When Thrower and her husband retired to Carefree, she was eager to satisfy her artistic inclinations. In 2019, she took a mosaics class and came up with the idea of decorating an animal skull using mosaics and beads.
“I have always been fascinated with skulls and started experimenting with decorating them to create wall pieces. I received a lot of positive feedback, so I continued to explore my creativity and expanded the types of animal skulls I work with,” she said.
Thrower purchases most of her skulls on the internet through cattle ranches and reputable sources in Africa where the animals died naturally on a wildlife preserve. She also sometimes uses resin replicas of various animal skulls. Her inspiration comes from many things, including landscapes, sunsets, stones, textiles, fashion and interior design.
“It takes me a while to get started. I spend a lot of time considering the animal, its skull and horns, to determine what the center stone will be,” she said. “The center stone is usually my starting point. It may be a jasper cabochon, turquoise, or another colorful stone or collection of stones. Once I decide on the center stone, or center point of the skull, I pull together the beads, tiles, and metal accents to enhance the center point through color, texture and design.”
Her biggest challenge is trusting her instinct. “Almost always, when I’m halfway done, I don’t like how the design or color of the skull is developing. I sometimes make changes or just continue on. However, when I finish, I always love it. It is not complete until I love it,” she said.
“I’m interested in exploring other art genres, especially abstract art, as I believe it is an extension of my passion for color, texture and design. Combining color into the flow of design is what I thrive on,” she said.
Thrower is a featured artist at The Finer Arts Gallery in Cave Creek and she will showcase her new skull wall pieces at the May 16 “Art Affaire” event from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. The gallery is located at 6137 E. Cave Creek Road. Admission is free. For details, call 480-488-2923 or visit thefinerartsgallery.com. Thrower’s “Gem and Bone Skulls” can also be found at lynnthrower.com.