Last Sunday I grabbed two of my puppets and together we made the best bun recipe from page 32. Just to prove that it is that simple. I hope you like it, it would be great if you could share. It is such a great Christmas present. Buy a bag of flour, a wooden spoon and the Artist’s Survival Cookbook and you can make someone a really happy kitchen god(ess).
Archives for category: Comedy
So what does Emotional Intelligence mean? To say it in the words of a layperson: it is the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes without being walked over.
And this is where the puppets have been invaluable for me. Here Devil takes measure of my feet to see if the shoe fits. To come up with all the puppet stories, one has to be an excellent observer and understand human interaction.
Before I go on I will quickly run through the 5 pillars of Emotional Intelligence. These are the traits employers are looking for:
- Self-awareness
- Motivation
- Empathy
- People skills
- Self-regulation
I will explain those in the next slides.
This is an image from a series of six. In 2013 I put together unlikely couples for an exhibition. Back then I believed you can get on with whoever, simply by making enough of an effort. Yes, that was back then. In the meantime I have learned a hard lesson, and this is how I came across the term Emotional Intelligence (EI). It is one of those things some people possess without actually knowing, others don’t. But obviously one can work on it. I hear it becomes more and more sought after in the corporate world, particularly in leaders.
Finally, the Artist’s survival book went to the proofreader this week. I will upload the file to CreateSpace and order a copy to see what the print quality is like. Then when it comes back from proofing, I can make the changes and thunderbirds are go! I am so excited about it all. You certainly wonder what took so long. The book was basically finished two or three month ago. Well, life has been a bit of a struggle last year, hence the book. However, having no money wasn’t the main problem. Of course the Dedes live the life of their Artist. Recently they had a full Dede meeting to discuss what project should be next. Pig wanted to embark on a potato cookbook. Mouse wants to make a book on how to set up a garden in a small space and someone else suggested a book on the nutritious value of nuts, called The Artist is going nuts. Everyone was laughing, but Devil. Philosopher who is a good observer said, maybe the home economic books should be put aside for a while and the Dedes should make a book about workplace bullying. Now the room fell silent and no-one quite understood where this was coming from. It was very awkward. Devil’s eyes became watery and he said: “We have to do it, for the sake of everyone out there, who has to deal with it, but I don’t know if I am ready just yet.” Who would have thought that the Devil get’s bullied?
It is common knowledge that Harvey, the rabbit, is not the smartest cookie in the jar and is a womaniser to boot. No need to ask him twice to tango with Foxy Lady. He is well aware he punched above his weight there. Foxy Lady is one of my favourite Dedes. She is a gorgeous thing and I always thought we have a lot in common (not the looks though ;). However, when I reflected on this picture again, I got the feeling she had an agenda of her own and I don’t know what will happen to poor Harvey when he ends up in the fox’s den. She is definitely the stronger of the two and is leading the dance.
That is another one of the series. Little Lou the puppy was constantly harassing Skeleton Edeltraut and back then I was really happy, when I finally got them together in front of the camera. Everybody can understand that Lou wants to be close to Edeltraut, afterall she is just a heap of bones, and I isn’t it brilliant that she seems to have overcome her fear of the playful puppy. Once again after revisiting the images, I have the feeling that poor Edeltraut is suffering from Stockholm Syndrome. Her blank eyes make me suspicious. Doesn’t Lou parades her like a trophy? Edeltraut doesn’t seem at ease at all.
I so want to get back into the swing with the Dedes. I am sitting here trying to write the story that made me come up with the “Embrace Diversity” Series. This is a project I did two years ago for an exhibition and it consists of six images of unexpected Dede puppet pairings. Back then I well and truly believed you can understand everyone if you only tried hard enough and inject a little bit of fun, yeah right! Two years later I have to say, you might be able to understand everyone and their actions, but you still might not be able to solve a thing. There is this German saying: The best can’t live in peace, when his neighbour doesn’t like it. I at least finally understand what that means :).
To tell you the true story now: Unfortunately Rob in this image doesn’t have a chance in hell as Bobby is a high functioning alcoholic. There is no way Rob will ever get out of prison and he might as well give up now! You can virtually see, that Bobby will never trust Rob and will blame him for everything that goes wrong. Bobby just wants to appear as if he is playing by the rules. You never know, someone might be watching.
Last week my sister-in-law, Kelly, organised a fundraiser to help her finance her PhD studies. As a poet she invited her artist friends to interpret one of her poem visually. It was a fantastic evening, very well organised and I believe also very successful.
My contribution was of course a stop-motion film depicting her poem “Get more reads on your poetry”. I think it is very selfexplanatory :)
It is the end of the week. Hurrah! Next week I am back to part-time work, finally. I am so looking forward to continuing on the Artist’s Survival Cookbook. For now I am still watching Millie doing her air acrobatics.
dedepuppets 