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What’s the story

March 6, 2012 //
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I think it is about time that I talk a little about the story of Hermit’s Web. It is quite amazing how the whole thing fell into place. I started making these puppets on a rainy day. While I was unsure what I was going to do with them, I had them sitting in a vase – stuck on the end of chop sticks –  on my dinner table. My bunch of new friends.Originally I though I would sell them, and tried  to figure out what the best way would be: either through a local gallery or via Trade Me. In the meantime I love them so much, I am not ready to part with them.

The book idea popped up, when I took photographs of some of the puppets to send to the German newspaper they are made of. When I looked at the images I thought photographs are indeed a very good way to share the puppets with my friends. At the same time I found an email in my inbox, somebody wanted to be my friend on facebook. The list of people who want to be my friend is steadily growing, but I don’t have a facebook page. I have thought about it… and decided against it, for various reasons. It is not a matter of not liking people or not wanting to have friends, but I have enough to do with my real life friends.

But this particular email started the Hermit story….  The narrator admits to being an online hermit and then goes on to tell us about his circle of friends. He observes each and every one of them and shares his thoughts with the reader (not unlike a blog really).

I did a small print run of just 30 copies and got them bound with a hard cover. These books I gave to my real life friends and they absolutely loved it. Now, they are my friends… and I gave them a present… of course they won’t say: yuck, don’t like it… but my friends passed their copies around and even their friends gave positive feedback. Everybody seems to recognise people they know in the observations. It’s really like facebook as a puppet show.

Yesterday I put up the cast of the Hermit’s Web book on the Cast page. These are basically the first puppets I made. Detail is missing, though. She wasn’t one of the initial lot. I only added her after I had written the story. I had one blank puppet head left over (one without face and skin) and I didn’t want this head to go to waste and therefore created her part in the story.

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Thank goodness for the weekend…

March 4, 2012 //
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So, Friday I’ve sent the replacement pages and the new cover file to the printers. The day was pretty hectic and at night I had to go to a meeting as well. When I finally sank on my sofa at 9:30pm or so, I had a melt-down… Realising that the new title isn’t at all what I wanted.

This sounds now as I can’t make up my mind. No, honestly, I am not the one who is always last to order, because everything on the menu sounds delicious. I am usually very good. Chop, chop, chop, get on with the job! But the title of a book is sooooo important. If you don’t get it right, it can be indeed very costly. Once it is out there, you can’t change the title easily. Even if the story is great. If the title doesn’t fly, you are sort of stuffed.

Sitting on my sofa, pondering about where I am in regards to the project, I realised, that my entire strategy of the project is build around the hermit narrator. Who in the world knows what dede puppets are? Nobody… but everybody knows what a hermit is. In two sentences I can explain the content of the book, when I am asked what Hermit’s Web is all about. While if I call it Dede Chums, I have to start by describing the type of puppets first and by the time I get to the contents of the book, the listener has fallen asleep.

However, my friend who commented on that the book gives the impression of being a children’s book has heaps of very valid points. After thorough consideration I don’t think Dede Chums gets around this issue, though. I still like the word, but it is so quaint and old-fashion, that I might now attract little old ladies to buy the book for their grandchildren. After all it is about puppets. There is nothing in the book that is not appropriate for children, but it is not directed at children. It is aimed at people with a little bit of life experience, who will recognise their own friends in the descriptions of the puppets. And it is a stage for my puppet art.

So back to the original title –  Hermit’s Web it is!

I will have to eat a little humble pie, when I write to the printers, but it is better to change the name now. My reasoning is, if I change the name and it doesn’t take off, I would always wonder if it was the title. While if I stick with the title Hermit’s Web and it becomes a sitter, then I know there is something wrong with the book as such, eg others don’t share my sense of humor or don’t take to the puppets.

I had another idea to position the book more precisely. Another friend of mine suggested to just print on the front of the book that it is not a children’s book. But instead of saying what it is not (a children’s book), I now clearly state what it is (an art book). I have added a line at the top: dede puppet art book.

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What the heck are dede puppets

February 27, 2012 //
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I’ve just finished writing a book with ease and now I am labouring over my first blog entry. That comes as a surprise to me.

I guess I have to start at the beginning, explaining what dede puppets are and how they came about.

Here is the summary of the story:

Last Christmas the weather down here in New Zealand  was pretty shocking. Usually an outdoorsy type of person, I was house-bound. Not somebody to sit around for long, I had this brilliant idea to tidy up my studio. The space is choker block with old newspapers.  I am hesitant to just dispose of them, after all these particular newspapers came all the way from Germany. Re-reading them is wishful thinking, it takes me a week to get through one issue in the first place and the new ones come in weekly. So I thought I have a go of making some paper maché objects.

I started off creating a rattling cat for a friend as a belated Christmas present. It turned out surprisingly well, despite I was not really experienced with this particular medium. Unfortuantely it didn’t use up much paper, so the pile didn’t get smaller at all.

Then I remembered my mother often talking about a devil hand puppet she made for a church group (well before my time). Her eyes always lit up when she was talking about the puppet. And I thought I give this one a go. My devil turned out beautifully. Next to nothing I had a cast of 15 puppets. I got so immersed in the whole process, that I just could not stop. They are a certain style of puppet, which remind me of the German dada artist Hannah Höch. I remember, when I first saw her work, I didn’t take to it immediately, but boy, it really grew on me.

In the header of my blog you see the Professor and Pig as an example. I will post more pics in due time.

When I finally showed my puppets to some friends, they absolutely loved them. As a means of sharing my art with all my friends, I decided to write a story for the puppets and published a limited edition in hard cover. Such a small print run is terribly expensive, but it was really worth it, re feedback. I think more than 60 people must have seen the first print run and only 2 readers commented that they thought the puppets were scary. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, so I decided to go for a larger print-run.

Today I’ve got the proof from the printers. So I am a step closer to publishing. Unfortunately only yesterday a friend of mine, threw a spanner in the works. The book was originally called: Hermit’s Web, but I was told it has too much of a children’s book connotation. It is not written for children, it is rather an observation of relationships between friends and social networks. It’s a charming story for grown-ups, describing everyone’s friends. As a German, I wasn’t aware that there is a famous children’s book called “Charlotte’s Web” and Hermit sounds too much like Kermit. I know that fellow. So right at this moment I am trying to sweat out a gripping new title for the book.

Once this is done and proofs are signed off, I can attend to my web page and of course my blog. But what I really would like to do now is make new puppets.

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