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Little competition

August 5, 2013 //
6

lilMouse

When I went to Waiheke last week to look at the space for the upcoming exhibition, I had a new idea. It is more a display than an exhibition. The space is very limited. Don’t get me wrong, the Dedes don’t care. They want to be seen, but I have to select which ones I will show and how many. I don’t think I can have more than eight or ten. However, while I was there, I thought, small space, smaller Dedes! And immediately I envisaged finger puppets with a simple cloth body where the fingertip of the thumb and the middelfinger can be the hands of the puppet. Of course I wanted to see if it works and spent the weekend making these Lil’Dedes. They are not as elaborate as the real Dedes, but they are still cute.

I won’t give them names and they won’t appear on the blog much, though of course they would lend themselves to a film called “Paleface and the Seven Lil’dedes”, a rendition of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Now I am getting carried away…

Anyway, this is Lil’Mouse, the first of the finger puppets and she is a very special one. I will give her to my friend who made the black robes for the Dedes. Lil’Mouse is basically a bribe, so my friend will make the dresses for the Lil’Dedes as well. Hope it works :)

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Categories Absurd, Art, craft, Exhibition, Fun, Hand Puppets

Where have all the days gone?

August 2, 2013 //
0

snotty nosed prince

I just realised I haven’t written for a week. Oh, dear!  There isn’t much to report as I am busy tying up loose ends. I think next week the builders will finally move out. What should have taken four months took six. You can imagine what this did to the budget, can’t you? There is still heaps for us do do when the builders have gone. I am really longing to set my studio up and get back into creating.

Yesterday, Snotty Nosed Prince and I went for an outing to Waiheke, an island in the Hauraki Gulf, just 30 minutes from Auckland by ferry. I have been invited to show my work in a Gallery that specialises in art from recycled materials. Snotty Nosed Prince definitely has an issue with the connotation of being made from inferior materials. I had hoped that when I showed him all the other artworks he would become more comfortable with his roots. Gee, he is a funny chap. He just can’t stop pooh poohing everything around him. I assume this gives him a feeling of superiority. When we had a coffee he was constanly making snide remarks about the other patrons and the service. He couldn’t put me off though, I had the best panini in a long time. I am happy that it was a day trip only. There is no way I would like to spend more time with Snotty Nosed Prince. He would drive me up the wall.

Look at this. We went to the beach after lunch. It must be a poor person who can’t have fun at the beach. It was only when I told him a mermaid lived under the driftwood that he became more interested and picked up a few pieces to move them to the side. But fun he did not have! And the mermaid remained elusive too.

snotty driftwood

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Categories Absurd, Art, craft, Exhibition, Fun, Hand Puppets, Life, Promotion, Relationships

Monkey to the fore

March 14, 2013 //
2

monkey cup

Yesterday I had lunch with a good friend of mine who I hadn’t seen for a while. While she is a real Dede fan, she is not keen on reading online and doesn’t read the blog regularly. So I usually give her the run-down on what has happend in the Dede World since we last met. Of course she hadn’t heard about my latest scheme. When I told her about the coffee mugs she got quite excited and immediately thought of a friend she could give a Monkey cup to. The problem was, there was no Monkey cup planned as yet. In the afternoon I sat down and created a second series with just head shots of a few puppets. They are ones who I definitely know have fans out there in the big wide world.

I don’t really want to talk about the Zazzle store every day. Unfortunately that is what is on my mind at the moment as I need to get my head around it all. I promise next week I will move on to other stuff again.

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Categories Art, craft, Fun, Hand Puppets, Life, Photography

Still resistance

March 13, 2013 //
2

devil extreme closeup

I have been working hard on finishing a design for the puppet’s Zazzle store. So far I have created a series of six mugs depicting individual puppets. The “Embrace Diversity” series needs to germinate a little longer. Last night I showed the design of the mug to the puppets for sign-off, but they were all very quiet. Devil, the spokesperson, shed light on the situation. He said some of them had aired their concern, saying a Zazzle store devalues their standing as artworks and they are currently discussing the pros and cons amongst themselves. So they would like to postpone the first products for a little bit. This burst my bubble and I know when we slow down now it will never happen. Just like the Procrastinator puppet who is supposed to have been created with the first lot.

Of course most of the puppets agree they have to contribute to the household kitty. Only a few believe the whole thing is silly and play the artwork card. They are artworks for art sake! Unfortunately, as is most often the case, the few that disagree are the most vocal ones.

I asked them what they came up with in their one week of retreat and they looked sheepishly to one side. So I guess there was nothing workable.

“It is always so easy to be against things,” I said very frustrated, “but coming up with a constructive idea is a totally different story.”

I took my proofsheet and a pen and asked all the puppets depicted on the mugs to sign a model-release form. So it is all water-tight and I will put their mugs up today.

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Categories Art, craft, Creative Writing, Fun, Hand Puppets, Life, Photography, Relationships

Can of worms

February 9, 2013 //
6

friends again

Can you imagine Sunny’s smile getting even bigger? It did when he read the comments from ArtistatExit0. Sunny was adamant that what he had done was legitimate. Being inspired by fellow artists is common practice. I agree with him on this one. Of course you are inspired by what you see… that is simply called life. But there is a very fine line between appropriation of ideas and a rip-off.

“Why should I, as an artist, produce new work and put my sweat and life-blood into it, when the next person can simply come along and copy my ideas?” I asked.

“It will never be the same anyway” Sunny retorted. “And you obviously have never heard the saying ‘imitation is the highest form of flattery’!”

What ensued was a very long, yet infertile discussion. We were going nowhere in a hurry. Our opinions were just too different. Words like ‘generation gap’ were mentioned and ‘all-for-free-internet-society’. None of the other Dedes wanted to participate, let alone take sides. Finally Sunny suggested we should ask our readers about their opinion.

So, what do you think? Can Sunny be proud of his achievement or was it a blatant attempt to falsely take credit?

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Categories Art, craft, Digital art, Fun, Hand Puppets, Life

The ark

August 13, 2012 //
0

In my post yesterday I mentioned the ark we have parked in our front yard. Here is a picture of it. It is such a New Zealand thing to have a boat in the garden. Sadly you don’t see it quite as often as you used to. It was such an expression of the relaxed life-style we used to have… Still, many New Zealanders have life-time projects on the go: Restoring cars, doing up houses, building boats…

This one here is a beautifully hand-crafted wooden catamaran, built by hubby. The image is a few years old, when she had just moved back into the garden for an overhaul. It was taken in the back yard. In the meantime, a bit closer to re-launch day, she has moved around the house to the front. And she will move back into the wonderful Auckland playground, the Hauraki Gulf, before summer, to make room for our next big project…

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Categories Art, craft, Life, Photography

Lunchtime politician

June 21, 2012 //
0

It is very wintery now and it rains a lot. The beauty in our country is that it never rains for very long. Sometimes we have all fours seasons packed into one day.  Yesterday lunchtime it was like summer and I grabbed my sandwich and headed for the bench at the library, which is nicely sheltered from the wind and drenched in sun. I had hardly settled, when Ducky passed by. Ducky wants to stand for office in the Dede Society and now he makes everything his business. He has an opinion about everything and everybody. Most of the time he doesn’t even acknowledge me but obviously he had heard something and of course he had to stop today.  He towered over me with the sun at his back and said: “I hear you have difficulties with Lou! Can I help in anyway?”

I had to shield my eyes and squint to look at him “No, not really,” I replied. He didn’t move and went on to tell me how well connected he is and that he could get Lou into a really good puppy school if I wanted. I just let him talk, there is no need to interrupt him, he doesn’t like listening much. I know I should have said something, but I also thought what’s happening in my house is not such a big deal . I am very much one for keeping it in the family.

Finally he gave up but not without saying: “You know you have to stop them early. Lou is a nice young lad, but you don’t want to him to go around and pee on every lamp post!”

He is a puppy for god’s sake, I thought, but was so pleased to finally get rid of Ducky. If I’d said something, he would have started again…

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Categories Art, craft, Fun, Hand Puppets, Life

We’ve got an invitation

June 5, 2012 //
2

I have to say, for me the expression “making friends” has taken on a new dimension. Yesterday my Dedes and I were invited to hold a workshop with elderly people in October. So it is still a while to go and I have heaps of time to think how I am going to do it. However, after our last outing I have a fairly good idea what could work. And I am looking forward to it.

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Categories Art, craft, Hand Puppets, Life

An outing

May 30, 2012 //
8

Recently the Dedes and I had an outing to meet some senior citizens. A friend of mine runs a social morning and we were invited to come along. The puppets were in fine form and behaved themselves (as long as I had them under control). Some of them became a bit cheeky when they mingled with the folks. They are brilliant performers and were quite a hit. I thoroughly enjoy watching people engage with them.

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Categories Art, craft, Fun, Hand Puppets, Life

Moving on, moving on

May 1, 2012 //
6

A very nice side effect of this book project is: my skeletons seem to have moved on. I always thought I am good friends with my skeletons, but now that they are gone, I don’t miss them much.

 

 

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Categories Art, Book Launch, Books, craft, Hand Puppets, Life
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