Archives for posts with tag: Characters

lartiste mitzi monkey

The rucksack must have become uncomfortable during the night and they found their way out. But they only made it a few steps to the side, to the rolled-up yoga mat. There I found them in the morning. L’Artiste staring depressed into space, Mitzi squinting up at me, I don’t know what she  is thinking, but she seems to be okay as long as she has a lap to sit on. I have to admit, I am not particularly good with depressed puppets, so pretended I didn’t see them as I walked past on my way to the kitchen. Monkey, who was right behind me, stopped and told L’Artiste in clear words he should snap out of it. Life is hard for everybody. L’Artiste said lamely, “Leave me alone, I want to wallow in my sorrow.”

Monkey shrugged his shoulders. “Ah well then, you can’t be helped!”

And I thought: what happened to my poor Dedes? They were such a fun bunch to have around. I really have to engage them in new projects.

farmerjohn_lilPiggy excursion

Farmer John complained last night that our house wasn’t very stimulating. There’s no pictures on the wall and no furniture in the room where they are staying, only a heap of discarded newspapers in one corner. How can a good farmer educate his piglet? A piglet who hasn’t even learned to read yet?  I guess he has a point. I have to offer them a bit more excitement as they are the only two lil’Dedes who stayed behind when the others went overseas to Waiheke Island. Even though we have no idea whether they are having fun over there, Farmer John just assumes that, having not heard anything, they must be having the time of their lives. And Lil’Piggy and him are loosing out!

As I had to go to Devonport today, I let them tag along to see the current exhibition at the Depot Artspace, where the big Dedes had such a good time. They absolutely loved it. Here Farmer John explains the painting “Indian Spices” by Paul Burke to his mate, who is such a grateful listener. The gallery manager, Cath O’Brien, took the picture and we were both surprised how well Farmer John interpreted what he saw. He sounded quite the expert. When it was time for me to go, they weren’t finished looking around and virtually begged me to be allowed to stay. I reminded them they are supposed to come with me to Waiheke for the artist’s talk on Saturday.  But no, they well and truly had their heart set on staying at the Depot. In the end I left them there. I believe they found a nice vantage point on a shelf.  I only hope they don’t want to go to India next…

farmerjohnandlilpiggy

Hurrah! We finally finished sanding the window frames in the new studio space! Farmer John and Lil’Piggy were the only two puppets around when we performed our victory dance and they joined right in. High Five and all. I can tell from Farmer John’s look that he thought it was about time (being a hands-on man himself, he wonders what took us so long), or is he secretly peeking at the scale on Lil’Piggy’s forehead to see if it is fattened up enough?

Anyway, the victory dance was a bit premature. We still have all the painting to do.

devil on ferry2

Yesterday my friend and I went to Waiheke Island to deliver the Lil’Dedes to their temporary accommodation at the Upcycle Gallery. Here you see Lil’Devtoo on the ferry when he first spotted the island. He was really excited and proudly wore his new dress my friend had made. Doesn’t it look better than the tiger print dress Lil’Devil bought at the two dollar shop?

As skeptical as they all were in the beginning, I think they are very happy now that they have made the trip across. Nora, the lady who organised it all, is absolutely wonderful and loves them to bits (I hope she doesn’t spoil them too much). I am confident they will thoroughly enjoy their stay. I will go and visit them on the 7th when I have a talk at the Gallery about my work and my book.

monkey and lilpiggy

I needn’t have worried. Monkey has already found a new friend to confide in: Lil’Piggy.

Lil’Piggy and Farmer John eloped together and set up camp in one of my hoody pockets. They looked so settled that I let them stay. This morning when I came into the kitchen Monkey was sitting on the floor telling Lil’Piggy his life story. Farmer John sat on the kitchen bench and watched them from afar. He reckons Monkey is attracted to the Lil’Dedes because the other Dedes never tired of laughing at his antics and always called him a monkey.

monkeys

Well, I was wrong again. Last time I said the original Dedes and the Lil’Dedes didn’t want to know each other and they keep to their respective groups. Tomorrow the Lil’Dedes are leaving for Waiheke Island to be exhibited. When I started packing up you should have seen the monkeys. They didn’t want to let go of each other. Obviously they had forged a deep friendship in the few days they were together.  They asked me for 10 minutes of privacy so they could say good bye to each other.

I feel really nasty now, that I break them up.

Theresa

Lil’ Devil has left for Berlin… and I will now reveal who he wanted to impress with his tiger print dress. (He would certainly blush if he knew I was telling you). He was a present for my lovely tutorial assistant, Theresa, and he really wanted to wow her.

Theresa is a gifted illustrator who won a scholarship to do her Masters in New Zealand. The programme she was enrolled in is a Masters by project. This means the students produce a new body of work and write an exergesis rather than an entirely theoretical thesis. In her project Theresa investigated living in a different culture and her final work was a graphic novel. Much to my suprise, one of the chapters was dedicated to the Dedes. In this chapter she processed the conversations we had and let the puppets do the talking. I have to say, she did a wonderful job capturing the Dedes (and the conversations). I only have a copy of the Dede chapter but you should have seen her other drawings: beautiful and elaborate cityscapes, with heaps to see and read and chuckle about. She is certainly one to watch out for. I have no doubt she will be very, very successful.

I hope Lil’ Devil is a good luck charm and he will watch out for her in difficult times. He promised me – in true Dede fashion – that he is ready to have a conversation whenever she feels like it :). Maybe she will even get him a new dress.

lil devil

Lil’ Devil has left us as well. He is a lucky little chap as he is going to Berlin. (This is a long story which I hope I will get round to telling you sometime soon). I am a bit worried about him, though, as he is a tad naive sometimes. The day he left us, he went up the road to the Two Dollar shop to buy himself a nice dress for the journey. I shouldn’t have let him go by himself. He obviously has no taste. What did he come back with? A rag with a tiger print pattern. It really doesn’t suit his complexion, does it? I didn’t say anything as he was tickled pink with his choice. He said the sweet shop assistant remarked on how stunning he looked in it and that it brings out the devil in him. Rrraaarrrr!

He has a lot to learn!

I know, I’ve been rather slack lately about reporting what is happening in the Dede world. Nontheless, the Dedes are alive. I’ve got an email from Lil’Mouse who found a new home last week. He told me it is pretty cold where he is living now and everyone is wearing a tuxedo. So he went to a suit hire shop to get himself one too. He doesn’t want to stand out, he says. Can you spot him?

penguin2

He then went to a photographer to have his portrait taken, to send to his friends he left behind. I think the tux suits him perfectly. I guess he still has to wear sunglasses to avoid snow blindness.

penguine mouse

king and underlings

The King finally has some underlings he can command. So he is happy! Unfortunately, they don’t stay around for long. The cool Lil’Mouse with her sunglasses has already moved on and Lil’Devil will leave us this afternoon as well. I had to promise the King there will be more little mice and more little devils.  Ah well, I’ll put it on my list!