Letting Go & Moving onto the Next Stage

Hello! Sorry I couldn’t write last week but I was delighted to leave you in the very capable hands of Toby. I think I’ll have to do more of that! 

Things are finally slowing up a bit. We have the first draft of the Troll book in and we’ll see where we need to go from there. It feels good to have gotten it to this stage but letting go is always a real wrench. People often ask me if it’s hard to let a doll or figure go after I’ve made it, but usually, it’s a good feeling to know that it has a life somewhere other than our house. It’s the same with any project I suppose. Letting go and moving on to the next stage is always such a big step. I could change words, work on costumes, re-take photos forever and still never feel quite satisfied or ready to just say -OK, that’s enough now. It doesn’t get easier even though I feel like I’ve been working for about a hundred and ten years now!

Actually, I’m feeling pretty good. Brian and I went to a wedding this past weekend and danced into the early hours of the morning. Now, this isn’t something we do very often but every once in a while it’s just SO much fun! Paid for it the next day though. 

I haven’t had the chance to wander on the moor at all recently so I don’t have many photos. It’s supposed to be lovely weather this coming week -better than anything we’ve had since spring, so Brian and I are planning to go out exploring somewhere tomorrow (If I can drag him away from the painting he’s trying to finish). The leaves are turning and the birds are gathering in huge flocks. As I think I said last time, it’s rather a relief to have autumn here now -and I DO love this time of year.

I’m showing you another very messy picture of my worktable. I wish I were neater. It would make things much easier at times, but I’m really NOT. And the worst thing is, it only takes about five minutes for my table to be in a complete state of chaos. No friendly elves ever come and tidy up for me in the night. I ask you -don’t I deserve a little help from an elf or two?

I’m not going to make this very long today. I’m in the middle of defrosting the freezer and so far I’ve uncovered a mammoth and a few ice age artifacts of unspecified origin. It’s always exciting and a little scary.

Just a bit of news. I’m going to be giving workshops in New York at the gallery for perhaps the two weekends before the exhibition opens. They will be one day workshops, sculpting a head (and hands probably) and finishing with painting, hair, detailing and what ever we can get done in that time. I’ll tell you more about it next week when I’ve worked out the details. I haven’t had the chance to do that yet. This is fun and not quite as hard or tiring as a three day workshop, but still with good results at the end. 

I’m sending a picture of Buster dressed up. We have to make our own entertainment in the country. He didn’t like it very much so I don’t think I’ll try it again. He found it insulting, but he DID look pretty spiffy.

This is one of my favorite trees. It’s just up the lane and I’ve loved it for thirty years. It just gets more beautiful all the time. 

That’s it. That’s me done for now. I hear the freezer calling.