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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

Creative process

March 10, 2013 //
2

volunteers

Yesterday the three volunteers and I went into the studio. And, boy, did we have fun! The images I had envisaged are simple clear cut full body shots of the individual puppets.  They bring out their character and can be understood without the background knowledge of the book or the blog. The three characters I dealt with yesterday couldn’t be more different. I took the images separately and what you see above is a composite.

I started off with Mouse. She is a cute little thing and yesterday came across as a little needy and, dare I say it, childish. While I was taking the images I was thinking about what kind of short caption would go with each of them. Mouse on the right definitely wants to have a hug. That is so her.

The second one was Alien. He is such a showman and a perfect model. No matter how he posed he always radiated enjoyment and fun.  Below is a composite of just a few of his images. He is so cool and his smile is simply infectious. I can tell you it is so much easier to work with someone who is plain fun. (I don’t know how reliable he is though. But as a model he did a fantastic job!)

tell me more copy 2

The last one was Devil. He is – as you certainly all know by now – one of my favourites. But he turned out to be a grumpy old fart in the studio. I just couldn’t tickle a smile out of him yesterday. Maybe he was a little envious because he had just watched me having so much fun with Alien, who is such a natural. But Devil shouldn’t be worried. I appreciate him for his own values and in particular his honesty. On the other hand I can’t take Alien seriously at all. And anyway, in the very beginning when I created Devil, I fell in love with him and wanted to print his face on a hoodie for winter. New Zealand isn’t terribly cold in winter (except the houses, because most of them are poorly insulated). Outside you won’t need a heavy coat. You get away with a sweatshirt with a hood to keep the wind off your ears, particularly when you are out walking.

devil composite

I don’t know what got into  Devil yesterday. I said to him he should look straight at me but he couldn’t even manage that. He argued a lot and always looked past me. Maybe it is not such a good idea to try and direct a devil on how he should pose. I will take him into the studio again today and hope he is in a better mood and just let him be himself.

In the end I asked Alien to get together with Devil for one last image. I thought he might be a good influence and cheer him up. It didn’t work, but I still love this image. I immediately thought of a caption for it: “Embrace Diversity”.

diversity1 This caption is the essence of the Dedes. And for me this image says it all. So, if Devil doesn’t shape up today, this might be the one I will print on my hoody!

I woke up this morning with the thought of expanding on the idea of “Embrace Diversity”. There are a few  pairings that wouldn’t speak to each other in real life. A prime example would be Rob D Light, the robber and Bobby the policeman. Or Mouse and Push Push, the elephant. Even Professor and Pig, the poster boys of the Dedes, are an unusual couple.

Once again, I will just tell them that this is what we are going to do. I am not fluffing about anymore. I have to show better leadership skills here. No more discussing things until the cows come home…

I got a request via facebook yesterday. The question was whether I could set up the Alien mug so that one can print their own name on it. I looked into it last night and yes, it is possible. So I will set this up later today. Thank you for the suggestion. I think this is a brilliant idea… if your name is on the Alien mug and you take it to the office, it certainly won’t disapear :).

Phew, I hope you enjoyed this little insight on how we work. We have heaps to do today and I better get on with it! mouse winner

The last image is of Mouse who never loses faith in the Dedes. She is a strong believer we are winners. Thanks Mouse!

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Categories Art, Creative Writing, Fun, Hand Puppets, Life, Photography, Relationships, Social Network

Get a job!

March 9, 2013 //
6

volunteers

Today is another glorious, sunny day. It is hard to believe next winter and the cold are on the way and the Dedes have to think about their wintering grounds. Do you remember I had summoned them to come back to the house today as I have an important announcement to make? So far, no problem. They followed my request and arrived in little groups back home. Due to the sunshine, and maybe their extended holiday, they were all in a good mood and the atmosphere was very relaxed.

Mouse did a head count and finally she said: “Everybody is here, so what is the big news you have to tell us?”

I was a bit nervous and had to summon all my courage. “Great to see you all back,” I started. “You know the situation. You were worried about the future yourselves. Wasn’t this the reason why you went into your strategy meeting and then to the retreat?”

“Don’t beat around the bush” Smuggy interrupted rudely as usual. “We want to know what you have to say. Spit it out, what is so important?”

I took a deep breath and got it out as fast as I could. “Okay then, in future you have to pay rent… that means you have to earn money!”

“What?” they all shrieked and instantly talked to each other in disgust. “She must be kidding!” “Did she say we have to earn money?” “How ?” “What happens if we can’t?”  “She has obviously had enough of us.”

Devil, the spokesperson, held his hand up to quieten the others and addressed me. “Hold on, don’t forget we are works of art. We are here for pleasure. You are the artist. You know very well as a real artist you have to suffer.  Get used to it!”

“Sorry, Devil, it is not open for discussion this time” I said.

“I disagree. Such a decision can never be a fait accompli!” Devil stood up to me and the others nodded silently.

“Hear her out first” Philosopher spoke up. “Why is your first reaction to changes always a resounding ‘No’?”

“Nobody likes to have such things sprung on them” Devil said a bit huffish, but shrugged his shoulders. “Okay, tell us how should we do it then.” He folded his arms and waited for me.

“I’ve done a little research while you were on your retreat and I’ve set up a Zazzle Store for you guys.”

“A what?” They all looked at me blankly. They are not really familiar with what’s going on in the big wide world.

“This is a store where products are manufactured on demand” I explained. “Artists upload the designs and only when somebody orders a product is it produced and shipped. Like Create Space for books, it is for mugs and t-shirts and such things.”

“So you are not going to sell us one by one? You are going to sell our images on mugs and t-shirts?” Devil asked to confirm whether he understood correctly.

“Yes, that is the plan. I have created a few items for you to look at, but I would need to take some new images. I thought I could start with six of you guys and do a photo shoot today and tomorrow. So who wants to give it a go?”

“Can we think about it?” “Can we have a look first?”

“Ah, what the heck” Devil said. “I was the first one who held his hand up when we were created. I am happy to go first again. It doesn’t sound too painful.”

“Good on you, Devil.” I was so excited that I had won him over.

“I am in too” said Alien. “It is something to write home about.”

“I am a patriotic Dede” Mouse added. “Of course I will join in!”

And this was it. The others tried to avoid my eyes. I think they want to see what the three volunteers will have to say after the shoot. In the meantime here is the link to the zazzle store dededesign. If you are not in New Zealand, you can choose your country at the bottom of the screen to see the prices in your currency. As I said before, there are only a few items in the store so far and I will work with the three Dedes to create more suitable images over the weekend. This gives the others more time to make their decision. Of course, if you have a favourite, let me know and it will be easier for me to convince them to partake.

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Categories Art, Creative Writing, Fun, Hand Puppets, Life, Relationships, Social Network

Loose ends

March 8, 2013 //
0

loose end

Today I am busy preparing my presentation for the Dedes tomorrow. I have to get right what I want to tell them. The last thing I need is another riot on my hands. I found this photograph in my files, which reminds me of loose ends. It is rather appropriate for today I thought.

 

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Categories Art, Creative Writing, Hand Puppets, Life, Photography

Break

March 7, 2013 //
4

deutsch Frauleins Art, Fly away

The week (yes it was only a week, not two) without the Dedes was like a holiday for me. And my head is brimming with new ideas. Thank God for that, because, honestly,  I really need to have new ideas. I just lost one of my jobs, I am not teaching this semester. For sixteen years it has been a regular income for at least half the year. This semester the  powers to be reduced the contact hours for the students and of course the part time staff had to go first. So I ended up with no hours, funnily enough at the same time I got a letter telling me my hourly pay-rate has increased. It is really quite hilarious.

I always had a plan for when this is going to happen. As soon as I am not tied down by weekly lectures, I wanted to go to Europe for an extended period and travel along the Baltic Sea eastwards. Unfortunately this is not going to happen now as we are doing up the house.  Bad timing I’ll say.

Sorry, I am blubbering at the moment and if my Dedes were here they would now remind me, “it’s not all about you, Missi!” But of course I am constantly thinking about what I should do next.

The Dedes won’t like what I have to tell them when they come back. (Maybe they sense something is up and this is the real reason why they stay away). I will have to tell them – and  believe me, it doesn’t come easy –  they will have to pay rent. They have to stop being freeloaders and contribute to our daily living cost. Otherwise I won’t be able to keep them and will have to find myself another honest job. Still, I don’t want to sell them, they have too many stories to tell. I came up with another idea and summoned them to the house for the weekend to break the news. No discussion this time. I will just tell them! Unless, of course, they have come up with a brilliant idea themselves.

Because I feel so bad about it, I am wondering what they are going to say. I have to prepare myself mentally for the right answers. I can hear Devil already… telling me the whole house thing was my idea, therefore I have to deal with it. They also might want to move back to the burrow as soon as I tell them, as life is so easy there. But let’s face it, the burrow is only a summer house – come winter and the rain, they must come inside. Then they will be very, very happy that the house is done up and warm and spacious and they have the large new studio space to run around in. They really have to be realistic about it. I am not asking too much, am I?

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Categories Art, Creative Writing, Hand Puppets, Life, Relationships, Social Network

And the winner is…

March 6, 2013 //
4

devil at tree

I wonder whether Pavlova is spoiling the Dedes too much. They don’t seem to be in a hurry to come home. There’s no way their strategy meeting can take two weeks. I think that’s how long it has been since they’ve moved to the burrow. It seems ages.  I hope they’ll know when they have outstayed their welcome and come back before they come to blows.

Pavlova certainly tries to make a good impression, but at some stage looking after 40 Dedes and going to the lab everyday might just become a tad too demanding. She might end up having a nervous break-down. I pray one of them will recognise the tell-tale signs and shepherd them back home in time.

I was hoping Devil and Mouse would be back today as the competition has finished. I even went up to the burrow to ask them to come back, but Devil had no inclination to do so. Ah well, on second thought, they wouldn’t be much help anyway. I really can imagine them sitting in the burrow bickering over whether the competition was a success or a failure. Mouse will defend its success and Devil will pooh pooh it. This can go on forever without reaching a decisive conclusion as neither want to give in. I know my Dedes!

In my mind Alien is definitely the winner. Without the competition he would have never known that he is not alone. There are other aliens at the Ohio Falls. However, they seem to be from a different planet. They are certainly more outgoing and inquisitive than the Dede Alien.  The Dedes are painfully introverted and mainly concerned with their own little world. But it was very clear in all the stories that nobody considered Alien a threat or even remotely vicious. He (or she) was welcomed everywhere. Everybody just assumed, or maybe hoped, he/she came  in peace. What else would you expect from somebody with such a big smile?

We had 4 entries in our little competition and originally I said  the prizes would be one book and 2 sets of postcards. This makes – if my math is right – 3 prizes :). What can I do?

I will add another book. So everyone who has gone to the trouble of writing will receive a Thankyou from the Dedes. ArtistatExit0 and Leopoldine will receive the book “Hermit’s Web” and Arindam and Armin will receive 10 Dede postcards each. How did I come to the decision of who gets what? Simply because I know that Arindam and Armin have the book already :). So I hope you find this a fair solution!
I will be in touch via email!

And thanks again for your invaluable support of the Dedes!

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Categories Art, Competition, Creative Writing, Fun, Hand Puppets, Life, Photography, Relationships, Social Network

An Alien via facebook

March 5, 2013 //
0

We’ve received another story from a fan in Germany via facebook. This is really exciting. It is written in English so everybody can read it. Thank you so much, Armin!

However, I am still unsure how facebook works and I have to admit, I am very worried about privacy issues and all that. I am also not sure how to link from facebook back to the blog. The other way round works well for me :)

So I decided to copy Armin’s story to the blog here.

The Northern Hemisphere is moving into spring and it is very clear everybody is craving for more balmy, sunny days.  The healing power of the sun is just so amazing, isn’t it?

Here is the story:

alien competition

Alien tries to catch this big red star falling down into her hands. It’s spring on earth and everybody is looking up to the sky. This clear and wide open sky. Looks like heaven. Most people are looking for this near and at once far star called sun. Our yellow star. In spring this sun shows all her power. Suddenly the days become longer. And man and woman are excited. And the plants also spring.
A long time they had to live without light and delight. And many people were made insecure, if sun would ever come back. One day at a time it was dark and dull. And everybody became more and more tired. Some fall in depression.
But since yesterday all the dark clouds had left the sky and our mind. We feel good and lucky. We feel strong and so brave, that we would like to make this great world a better place.
So it will be, and nothing will stop us on our way to this bright future. Let’s work together. Nobody should stay alone. We will live together in love and peace under our helpful and supporting sun.
And Alien will catch a second sun for us just to make our live greater.

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Categories Art, Competition, Creative Writing, Fun, Life, Relationships

March 5, 2013 //
0

Yesterday another story scraped in at the eleventh hour. I am usually not a fan of simply reblogging articles, but this one is a must read – I have to make an exception… I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did.

artistatexit0's avatarArtist at Exit 0 Riverblog

image of Earth from space, 2013

Unknown hackers have recently posted images on the worldwide web reputedly obtained from government sources that state extraterrestrial aliens are among us.  The pictures go a long way in answering the question: “Are we truly alone in the universe?”.  The answer would be a resounding “no”! The information was lifted from top-secret computers from around the world, but seem to be centered on information purloined in the United States and New Zealand.  The group responsible for this posting call themselves members of “In Vino Veritas” and state their purpose is to let the truth be known.  In their communique “In Vino Veritas”  believes we are now  “evolved enough to handle the truth”.  Regardless, the cat is out of the bag…whatever that means?  Following are excerpts from their sensational posting which has gone bacterial on the internet.

Styrosian and crayfish, March 2013

Much of this stolen information centers around a lone alien that is believed to…

View original post 816 more words

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Categories Art, Competition, Creative Writing, Fun, Hand Puppets, Life, Relationships, Social Network

Back to the burrow

March 4, 2013 //
2

mouse packing

This morning Mouse was packing her bags again to return to the burrow and the others. I had to ask her: “How is it going up there, it must be quite crowded?

“No, no, it is a very spacious burrow. I wonder how Harvey, who is constantly broke, could afford it. He must have done a lot of work himself.”

“And how is it going with Pavlova? Isn’t she sick of having you all around?” I remembered how Pavlova sat quietly in the corner at our last party watching the others rather than partaking.

“That is the biggest surprise” Mouse stopped for a minute and looked at me. “She is really, really nice. She is the perfect host.”  Then she told me that she thinks it must have something to do with it being Pavlova’s own familiar patch and she makes everybody feel comfortable without being overbearing. And Harvey just adores her and is so proud of how she looks after the house and everybody.

“I am surprised to hear that. I thought she is focused on having a good career. Didn’t Harvey say she put herself through school and landed a good job in a lab? Now you say she is the perfect host. You say she is a good home maker.”

“Yes, right, but this isn’t a contradiction, is it?” Mouse asked, then gave the answer herself.  “She has made her own cosy nest and feels secure in what she is doing. That’s her world. With all the pressure from her family I can understand that. Can’t you?”

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Categories Art, Creative Writing, Digital art, Fun, Hand Puppets, Life, Relationships, Social Network

What are you doing?

March 3, 2013 //
10

mouse aid

Mouse was back this morning, all by herself. I was very surprised as she is the one who loves company and organising meetings. She thrives on being busy and Sunday is usually the busiest day of the week for her. But this morning she was very subdued.

“So you are all back from your retreat then?” I asked.

“No, it is just me! I needed a break. This lot is so disorganised. Grrr. I can’t stand it. The discussions go round and round in little circles and we will never agree on a workable solution.” These frustrating words were so out of character. Mouse thoroughly believes there is always a win-win solution, you only have to find it.

“What are you actually trying to do? Don’t you think you should talk to me? Whether you like it or not, we are shackled together. I am still your artist…!”

“That is the problem. It is pretty much about you” she blurted out. “We are very concerned about you!’

“Concerned? About me?” I was surprised. “What have I done now?”

“We think you have too much on your plate and you take on more and more!” Then she reminded me what I have committed myself to over the next few months. Not only am I writing the new book about Lou, the love sick puppy, but I will have to prepare the exhibition and I am doing a stop motion film with some friends. All this is happening while we have some major building going on. “And I don’t even want to mention your work situation” she finished with a very worried look in her face.

“Ah yes, I just have lost one of my jobs, that is a fact of life. I will have to fill the void somehow, but let this be my problem not yours.”

“We have the feeling that because you spread yourself too thinly, the quality is suffering! One can tell your heart isn’t in it as it was in the beginning.”

“That is a bit unfair! I really look after you, don’t I?” Though I had to concede, it is a nuisance that my studio is packed up and I can’t make any new puppets for the time being.

“The zing is definitely gone!” Mouse stated matter-of-factly.

“Love changes over time. You can’t expect that we will be on our honeymoon forever.” I replied defiantly.

“We know that. But it is still sad and we want to help you find your old self. We want to make sure that you love us for a long time to come.”

It was so sweet of Mouse to say that and I had to give her a big hug.

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Categories Art, Creative Writing, Fun, Hand Puppets, Life, Relationships, Social Network
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