Archives for posts with tag: mood

monkey move

We have made the move, phew. All our business stuff has been shuffled into the new studio space. And that is it. We have just added to the big mess we already had in the house anyway. I don’t even know where to start tidying up. But mess and all, the space feels fantastic. This morning Monkey came sliding down the balustrade from upstairs and settled on the sideboard next to my desk. “So” he said to me “The move is over. Where are all the others then?”

“You can’t be serious” I responded, slightly annoyed.  “Look around. I can’t have all the Dedes running wild in this mess.”

“I am so sick of all your promises” he said indignantly. “Can I remind you, that you have an obligation to look after us. We are your artworks!”

“I know, I know. I feel really bad about it. But things are just so much slower in real life. But of course you wouldn’t know, you are not real!”

“It is not just about us! It is now three months since you told your real friends they would be invited to a Dede recital afternoon. And it still hasn’t happend! This is simply unacceptable by any standard.”

“Do you think I am happy with the progress?”

“C’mon, be brave! Just set a date! You know when you set a date it will happen.”

He jumped down from the sideboard and grabbed the computer mouse to open the calendar. “How does Saturday the 26th sound?”

“I don’t know if the bathroom will be painted by then.”

“Get real. Do you think your friends care? It’s only paint! They’ll be here to see us!”

I knew I had to give in to get him off my back. Otherwise I wouldn’t get any work done today.

rainy day

For weeks now I have been telling the Dedes that once we have moved into the new studio space we will do lots together. I sense they have given up on me! They think I am fobbing them off and they accuse me of not putting enough effort into finishing the space. In fact I am flat out. I call the new studio space the “America’s Cup room”. Every day I think we will be able to finish, we are so close, but then something unexpected happens. So, tomorrow will be the day, and if not tomorrow it will be the day after. It definitely has to happen this week as we have to move out of the rented office space by the end of the month. Here you have it – by the weekend we are moving and the new chapter will start!

Meanwhile, the Dedes are bored out of their minds. The world at this end has turned to spring, the magnolia blossom has been and gone. Yesterday we had a fantastic warm day. Today we have a horrible storm. Most of the Dedes are curled up in a box. Only Monkey hangs around. Now that they are not paying much attention, I can tell you guys that in fact heaps has happened in recent weeks. I am reluctant to tell the Dedes just yet. I don’t want them to get too excited. I know them. They will pester me to start on the new projects immediately but I really have to finish the studio space first. So, please, bear with me!

Little Piggy and Farmer John have left us for good. They found a new home over the weekend. You might recall, they wanted to stay at the Depot Artspace. Well, they weren’t left on the shelf for long. It feels strange not knowing where they went and it is a little sad that we will never hear from them again. So if the person who bought them comes across this blog, please, let us know how they are getting on.

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.

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.

calamity

I finally made up my mind, but only because I have to leave soon and needed to.

I am going to take Calamity. Who in their right mind wants to have him as travel companion, you might ask? My reasoning is that when I take him with me it is very unlikely other calamities will happen.

He is a pretty grumpy chap and his glass is always half empty. But what do I care when he is exploring on his own. He can be as grumpy as he likes then.  It doesn’t affect me. When we meet up for dinner he will have to listen to me. With his big ears he seems to be the right sort of puppet.

scardy and lap

Oh the agony of choice! Who am I going to take? It is certainly not easy to find a perfect travel companion.

I am going to attend a puppeteering workshop in Melbourne, so I will be busy during the day and the Dede I take will have to look after himself while I am out playing with other puppets. I assume this fact isn’t easy to swallow for some of them.

Arindam and Tony made very good suggestions. Mouse of course is the best organiser. If I took her I wouldn’t need to worry about anything. She would take care of any problems. Her downside of course is that she tries to pack too much into a single day. No doubt she would hustle me from each must see sight to the next without a break. She knows my current financial situation too and wouldn’t even allow me a coffee. She can be very harsh. My batteries are pretty flat at moment and to be honest, I couldn’t face a weekend with her! Another time, yes… but not this time.

Other suggestions were Scardy Pants and Lap Dog and I thought Chamber Maid would be a good contender too. On closer scrutiny though, I realised none of them could cope with being on their own during the day, but for different reasons: Scardy Pants doesn’t have any self-esteem. You have to coerce him out of the house at the best of times. He is so easily scared that even his own shadow gives him a fright. Lap Dog on the other hand is clingy. She doesn’t want to be on her own because she gets bored. She follows you around like a shadow. And the third puppet, Chamber Maid, is proud to be the shadow. Her strength is to be neither seen nor heard. If I took her she would rather stay in the hotel room and mend my socks than go out and explore. She can mend my socks at home and I know she would happily step aside to let another puppet go.

For now I have short listed Granddad Max, Cool Cat and Milky Bar Devil. What I need is a Dede that can explore during the day, but will listen to me at dinner time. I know myself. I will be full of new ideas after a day at the workshop. And when I have new ideas I can’t stop talking. Granddad Max is hard of hearing, so he would be perfect. However, he easily gets lost and letting him loose in a place where he has never been before…. I don’t know. Help! It is all too hard!

evan

Evan G List is one of the new puppets and it didn’t take him long to get upset with me. He is a very mild looking character with smiley eyes and glasses. Honestly, he looks like he couldn’t hurt a fly and is very forgiving to boot. How could I upset him so easily?

It happened in the gallery. One day I had a conversation with a lady and I asked her which puppet she liked the most. The lady pointed straight to Evan and told me she really loves his eyes. “He looks so benevolent” she said, “but what is the significance of his name?” I read it out aloud: Evangelist, and I explained that his initial name was TV Evangelist, but on second thought I considered it too blunt. She looked at him again and admitted quietly: “I don’t know if I still like him. I really fell for his eyes!” All I could say was “that is how it works!” And we both burst out laughing.

Of course Evan was not amused. He had tried so hard to catch a soul and find someone to take him home. While he still smiled he muttered something about lost souls and redemption and he hopes we get caught by the devil. He hasn’t spoken to me since.

gone

I am very surprised. I thought the Dedes would be very chirpy and keen to tell me what happened at the gallery. We all know travelling broadens your horizons and there is always so much to talk about when travellers return home. But no, they are quiet. They seem pretty exhausted and maybe sad they lost one of their mates. The one that left us for good is Freeloader, the cute little Dormouse. I don’t have many pictures of her. She was one of the puppets I made especially for the exhibition and to sell. I did not want to listen to her story because I was worried I would get too attached to her.

During the exhibition I had a competition going where people could tell me which puppet they liked the most.  The most votes any one puppet got was four, and there were only a few puppets who didn’t get any votes. The favorites were The Magician and Foxy Lady. I find it very interesting that not one Dede stood head and shoulders above the rest. I, of course, think some of them are more beautiful than others, so the voting proved to me once again that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I have so many stories to tell about the exhibition, but most of them need to be told verbally. They need the animation given by the story-teller. But I will recount one tomorrow.

witch and screamer

Last night I finally finished my twenty puppets. They are in the office today, as I still have to coat them (for UV protection and to make them water restistant, so that one can wipe them down with a damp cloth). A psychologist certainly would have something to say about my last two creations who are lying here side by side.

I have one friend who can’t look at the puppets, not even the pretty ones. I don’t think that he will come to the exhibition opening, but if he does, I have to hide those two. To make sure that nobody is questioning my state of mind, I add another picture of my Magician, who I think looks very mellow.

magician

So the puppets are complete, now I have to think, how I fill the wall space. There is really no rest for the wicked!

kini-3

The King took offense to what I said. He didn’t like the picture I painted of him. It never occurred to me  he would read my blog. He surely must have his advisers who do the reading for him and hide any unfavourable news. Ah well, maybe Lap dog ratted on me, I don’t know.

“Put her in chains and take her away. I never want to see her again” he thundered with his booming voice. “And anyway, she has fulfilled her duty. I have my new clothes and won’t need her services again any time soon!”

“Okay then” I said. “If this is your new tune, just wait until the exhibition. You might be the first one to go!”