I am getting increasingly nervous about Thursday and the book launch. The printed books should have arrived today, I’ve just heard, the bookbinder hasn’t finished them yet. They are now promised for Wednesday. This is a bit of stress I don’t really need. I am trying to work through all the other items on the list in the meantime. And put some calming images up on the blog for now…
I just noticed, its Friday the 13th today. It is now half past eight and I am still at work, waiting for a response from a client to finish an urgent job. Outside it is dark… moving towards winter here.
A couple of weeks back I witnessed this amazing evening sky. Unfortunately, by the time I had grabbed my camera, ran across the road into the park, it was only a shadow of its former glory.
Behind the trees is the sea and eternity.
Still waiting.
Last night a friend told me a story about a “family friend”. I can’t remember the actual story, but I suddenly wondered what constitutes a family friend.
I always understood it as someone who knows Mum, Dad, the kids and maybe Granny as well, basically some one who is accepted into the the closer family circle. However last night it occured to me that a family friend might be someone nobody takes responsibility for – and while he is always around, nobody can recall how he actually became a friend. So, it is not really a friend of mum’s or a mate of dad’s, or Ganny’s for that matter. Of course kids call anyone their friend…
With this new interpretation, I will call Socialite a family friend.
This character was originally called Vanity, but I have renamed her Socialite.
In conversation, she is the one constantly looking around to see whether there is a more important person in sight. If somebody shows up on the horizon, she drops you like a hot potato. On the other hand, she is very worried about what other people might think of her. As an indication of this trait the back of her head shows other people’s faces.
Working on this puppet, and of course thinking of the upcoming book launch, I had an epiphany about what irks me with “social networks”. It is the terminology… For me social networks it is a contradiction in terms.
Network has a very strong business connotation. This might be my second language interpretation here, but any marketing 101 book tells you, you must network to be successful. I went to a business network meeting once, to see what it is all about. In my opinion it was the saddest affair I have ever been to. The people had their intentions plastered all over their foreheads and yes, fair enough, that was the purpose of the meeting. But I found it tremendously off-putting.
Therefore I resist using the word “network” in relation to my friends. In my opinion it excludes altruism, which I consider necessary for relaxed interaction between people.
I’ve got these little Easter bunnies this morning. I just couldn’t resist…
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I had a character in mind, when I created this dede. But when I discussed the puppet with a friend, we couldn’t even agree whether it is a male or a female character, so I thought it might be a nice idea to ask the readers who this should become and what traits the character should have.
There is no hint as to who it might be. The skin is quite colourful and maybe it has a bearing that the head is a fraction bigger than all the other puppets.
Any suggestions?
I just bumped into Amanda, who I only met recently, when I picked up my book launch invites from the printers. Turns out she is a fellow blogger. Her blog is about things made from paper called Love Notes. She told me she has written about the puppets and the Hermit’s Web book. Of course I had to check it out immediately and gosh it sounds really exciting!
This morning I’ve got round to photographing Devil’s Advocate. He looks very mellow and relaxed.
Like all my other work, the puppets are multi-layered, but what I particularly like about them is their interactivity. I love to watch people engage with the puppets. Let somebody get their hands on a puppet and they start acting with them. The least they do is wave… and this is a very friendly gesture, isn’t it? You don’t really need many words, but I can observe their reaction to my artwork, rather than just assuming their perception of it. I love that.
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Looking back through my posts, it appears I have a rather limited and dull colour palette. Yes, I admit, I like earthy and subdued colours. But there are also times when I enjoy the bright and cheerful. It is not a contradiction.
More often than not I visit Germany in Winter. I usually arrive around Christmas and stay throughout January. This is the time when we in New Zealand have our long summer holidays. Everybody is on the move then. However, it means that I am always in Europe, when it is cold and drab and miserable….
Last year I did a trip at Easter. I was there for the first balmy days of spring. The difference really hit me. These two tulip pics I took will always bring back the mood.
When I arrived back here, the wet and stormy autum had set in.
This is one of my favourites. For me, there is so much symbolism in it and of course I know the person depicted. Therefore I don’t think this work can ever have the same meaning for anybody else. I believe the viewer will find their own meaning in it, hence I don’t like to explain…
However, with this image I will describe how I technically put things together.
The original title of the work is: “Kaiser, König, Bettelmann” (engl. “Emperor, King, Pauper”). Broadly speaking, my intention is to show that any person can be (or should be allowed to be) any of these characters at times. Hopefully they will be well balanced. For a wider audience I would call it “Modern Man”. Now I really mean MAN, not mankind.
In all three parts of the triptych I used the same four photographs to create the background. Those four images are symbolic on their own
1) a close-up of stone wall and wooden door with flaky paint
2) a window looking from the inside out
3) a frayed lace curtain
4) an iron observation tower in the woods of on an Eastern German island.
The four images were combined to support the person’s poses (strong, balanced and weak).
It all developed from the balanced person’s photograph, which was a simple holiday snapshot and the other two people shots were taken to match what I had started.
I just realised, I am now blogging for one month. One can tell that I am still a newbie, as I am posting every day. I guess, when you are doing it for a while you will slow down. I have learned a thing or two in this first month, but I know I am still at the beginning of my learning curve.
Though, I am surprised how much I am enjoying this process. So far, I have never had the urge to show what I am producing to the world. There are gazillions of really good and gifted people out there… (A fact you become even more aware of, when you engage in the blogging community). The reason why I am really enjoying it, is that I am now sort of cataloguing my own work in my head. It is a retrospective of a non-exhibiting artist. What always seemed to me like a mixed bag, does actually have a common thread.
The puppets for whom I have set up the blog, appear to be the odd ones out. But only visually, only superficially.
The launch of my book is still three weeks away and I am going through all the expected emotions every day. I have finished the Devil’s Advocate puppet. The Procrastinator is still nowhere to be seen. But I have the feeling I moved forward tremendously.
One sentence I have read recently in the paper has lodged itself into my memory: “there is no art without an art market.” I stumbled when I read it, but continued on. Unfortunately I have forgotten the rest of the article and where and when I read it, so I can’t reference it. But this one sentence stuck. I disagree.
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