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.
I wanted to start this day by taking a photograph of a Tui. These native birds love to congregate in one of our trees in the front garden. Their beautiful song is just such an invitation to get up and get going.
Unfortunately Tuis never sit still and it wasn’t an easy task to catch one. The sun just touched the crown of the reasonably high tree. Only one of them popped up long enough for me to get a couple of mediocre shots. It’s good that I don’t need high res images, so I could crop it drastically. It’s not an artwork, it’s just to show what the birds look like with their shiny black plumage and the two curly white feathers on their throat.
I walked around the tree to get a better angle, and there I found this mean looking little cat sitting under the same tree also waiting for the Tuis. I guess he thought the song was an invitation for breakfast.
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.
I have to set a record straight: Chance is not Lady Fortune. Chance is a dear friend of mine, but I am not acquainted to Lady Fortune. Apologies… this is not entirely correct: I knew her way back at school, when she still was Miss Fortune. I haven’t kept in touch with her. Why should I, I couldn’t stand her then and I wasn’t the only one wary of her, nobody liked her. She, on the other hand, was attracted to a few of us and followed us around like a bad smell. We just couldn’t shake her off. Only when we left school our path parted.
Thinking back now, she must have been very lonely. She was an only child and inherited the title and a lot of money when her father died. Devil says he meets her from time to time at the pokies, and the punters there, really love to see her. It’s a bit sad, isn’t it? But I won’t go there.
I am pretty sure I saw Chance zipping past me when I left the shops yesterday. I only got a brief glimpse of her. Oh, I so wished I hadn’t fluffed around with Minor and Detail for that long… Chance is a difficult one to get hold of. Her father was a gipsy and she has no fixed abode (and would you believe it? She doesn’t even own a mobile).
I consider her one of my best friends, even though we hardly see each other at times. When we meet again, we just continue where we left off last time as if we had only seen each other the other day. I would have loved to have talked to her yesterday. She is such a positive little thing!
On my way home last night I tried to figure out who I could talk to regarding Devil’s complaint from the day before. Believe me, I know my puppets well and I know what they are going to say. Chance would say: “Go for it”. Pirate would say “Whatever brings in the most dosh”. Mouse is ruled out as everybody would know I have a problem straight away…. I don’t particularly like that.
Anyway when I arrived home, Bad Conscience was already sitting on my couch. He must have let himself in with the key hidden under the planter box. Of all the puppets, Mouse aside, he is the worst to try and discuss issues with. You go round and round in little circles and never get anywhere. Maybe his blurry eyes prevent him from seeing things clearly. Ah well, we spent an evening in silence regurgitating old issues.
Staying with images of eyes, with this photograph I always had my difficulties. It is a straight shot, not manipulated in any way. The image made me realise that our cat is blind, not clumsy. The vet later confirmed, there are no clumsy cats. She tricked us for a very long time. It was amazing how she still found her way around the house, though she didn’t want to go into the garden any more. It was a dangerous world for her.
Yet another image where a little creature watches. Poor thing, she minds her own business laying her “egg” and here I come and intrude. No wonder my puppets have these scary faces. I do seem to have an obsession with eyes.
At the moment I feel like my Nosy Neighbour puppet. In this image by Sonya Roussina he looks pretty depressed. Everything seems to have come to a halt, even though I have so many things nearly finished… My dede puppet film is done, but I can’t put it up on Youtube before I have one more thing sorted on our Web page. I was so sure I will publish both this weekend, but now this weekend is gone and it still isn’t up. Ah well… Such is life. I still haven’t started on my Procrastinator puppet either.
With this post, my self-imposed seclusion is coming to an end. I am back to writing my blog as part of my daily routine. I had a very, very strong urge to remain silent for a while. I was surprised though, how much I missed writing, even though I am only doing it for a bit over two months. The artworks I have created last week are as private as my thoughts and won’t make it onto the blog.
dedepuppets 