Our bags are packed for the Pacific Northwest

The summer seems to be rushing by. I think it feels like that because we haven’t really had any summer yet. I know, I know, some of you have been having REALLY hot weather, but we’re pretty cold here on Dartmoor. I think the faeries are still wearing their winter cloths (I know I am!).

Brian and I have been busy working on the newest book we’re doing – I’ll tell you more about that later in the Autumn, and getting ready for our trip to Portland.  We’re doing SO much this time  - all of it exciting and fun!

We’re flying in to Portland next week through the 7^th of September.  We'll be attending the grand opening of The Fernie Brae Gallery on Friday the 28^th from 6-9pm. We’re SO excited about seeing this beautiful, new gallery, devoted to Faeries and magic come to life! It’s going to be an extremely special beginning for a most magical and special gallery! We can’t imagine a more perfect venue for our art and that of all of the faery and magical artists who will be participating in the exhibition. We’ll be holding a book signing there as well on that Saturday the 29th from 2-4pm. 

We’ll also be signing books at Powell’s City of Books on Burnside on Wednesday the 26^th at 7:30pm.

As part of the Portland Film Festival, I'll be attending and speaking at a screening of Dark Crystal on Wednesday, September 2nd at 5:30pm at the Mission Theater.  

The weekend after that (we DO get some time off to enjoy being with the family!) we’re all off to the new venue of FaerieWorlds for Friday the 4^th, where we’ll be around to see everyone and sign books (we will not be selling books). We can’t wait to be back at the festival again. It’s been far too long since we’ve had the chance to visit!

On Saturday the 5^th through Monday, Brian, Toby and I will be teaching a workshop at The Fernie Brae, combining all of our various skills and work methods. We’re really looking forward to it. It’s sold out but I’m sure we’ll be doing it again sometime during the coming year so if you’re interested, keep an eye out for announcements.

So – it’s once again a busy summer for us. We hope to see lots of you at some or all of the events!

Bluebells to Roses, Books to Toys, Festivals to Openings! Summer is here!

Summer has finally come to Dartmoor! It’s been a very cold spring and I think even the faeries have taken their time coming out of hibernation! But-  it’s beautiful now and getting warmer every day. We did have the most stunning bluebells out this spring. The last remaining few are holding on but the lanes, fields and woods have given over to roses, honeysuckle and elderflowers.

Brian and I will be appearing at the 3 Wishes Faery Fest at Mount Edgecumbe Country Park in Cornwall with our friend and fellow faery artist Renae Taylor this coming Saturday. It’s on for the whole weekend but unfortunately we’ll only be able to be there on Saturday  - so if you want to see all three of us, buy books and prints, have them signed or just come and say hi  - come on Saturday! And – let’s all ask the faeries to help with beautiful weather for the whole event!

It’s been a month of getting together with friends visiting Chagford. We spent a lovely afternoon with our friend Virginie Ropars – the most amazing polymer clay sculptor!!! and her lovely mother Michelle. We’ve known each other for years and it’s always great to meet up and find out what we’ve both been up to since we last saw each other. If you don’t know Virginie’s work, DO go to her website and check it out – it’s the best.

We’ve been busy working on a new “Cottington” pressed faery book that will be coming out next year. It’s a bit of a departure for me but I’m enjoying writing for the rather mad Cottingtons! We’re bringing it up to date and it should be fun.

We’re (Toby and I) also going to be teaching a workshop in Portland at the Fernie Brae Gallery at the end of August. It’s slightly different because Brian will be teaching as well, but it will be a great chance for people to not only create a sculpt but also learn some of Brian’s techniques and apply those as well to creating a character from conception to finish. We’re all looking forward to it. It will be the first time all three of us have taught together. We aren’t often all in the same place at once so it’s going to be quite special. This is part of the Fernie Brae opening exhibition and sale so come and see us there.

I’m also going to be sharing a workshop space in Chagford with three other artists beginning in July. Virginia Lee, Danielle Earp, Angharad Barlow and I will be sharing a space (above Spar) making strange and interesting things that we don’t always give ourselves the chance to make in our studios at home. Toys, automata, marionettes, and what ever else takes our fancy. It will be open to the public sometimes so if you would like to come in and say hello, you just might catch us on a day when we’re working there! And faeries  -there WILL be faeries! We haven’t thought of a name yet so it’s just ‘the studio’ for now.

Just reading this back makes me tired! We’re busy  - but happy. It’s always exciting to begin work on new projects and see others come to fruition.

I’m still making small trolls for my etsy site and I’ll be putting a few more up for sale around the 21^st (that’s Sunday) so check and see what’s available.

That’s it for now I think. No profound thoughts for summer yet  - just enjoying the sunshine and new beginnings.

Here are a few photos of some of the things I’ve just mentioned.

Have a wonderful solstice and hopefully we’ll be seeing some of you this coming Saturday at 3 Wishes Faery Fest!

Second Month Brings Creativity and Hope

What a strange January it’s been. We always hope that the New Year will bring new beginnings, hope, creative energy and a renewed sense of purpose. Well  - this hasn't been the case for us and from what I've learned from friends and

people I've been having conversations with, it hasn't been the case for many of them either. Strange full moon? Weird planet alignments? Hibernating faeries? I don’t know. But I’m hoping that now we have moved in to February, things will begin to improve a bit.

There are so many exciting things on the horizon this year, I hardly know where to begin. There are lots of projects in the pipeline (or standing in front of the pipeline, waiting to go in) and wonderful opportunities for creative collaborations. As I write this, I realize that there aren't many things solid enough to talk about yet – so you’ll just have to wait (as we are doing). But  - if you have any spare fingers you could keep them crossed for us!

I CAN tell you that we will be guests again at the AvalonFaery Fayre and Ball in Glastonbury on March 14^th (and part of the 15^th). And we will also be guests at ELFIA – the fantastic fantasy event in the Netherlands on April 25/26. I’ll give you more details as we get closer to the date.

I’m also hoping to co-teach a workshop with Toby, in Portland at a fantastic new gallery space, over the Easter weekend – that’s April 3-5. But  - we’re only now working out the details. I'll post on our Realm of Froud Facebook page when we have all the details worked out. 

As I promised in December, I’ve made a few more small faery companions for Etsy. We’ll put them up on the site tomorrow but I wanted to tell everyone first and give you a chance to see them here.

Well  - back to work  - and here’s hoping that the second month of the New Year and Imbolc bring us all bright, new beginnings and a creative spark! 

But Remember to Stop, Look & Listen

We’ve had a summer full of celebrations and some sadness, inspiration and bouts of exhaustion but it HAS felt like summer - and still does. The garden is beautiful again, and work, when we get the chance to do it, is going well. We’re gearing up for an autumn of book signings, lectures, workshops, a Labyrinth Ball, film showings and an exhibition of work from “Faeries’ Tales” at AFA gallery. Lots to do. I may even have missed a few things! We’re going to be busy. So - it’s good to just be at home for a while, entertaining friends, spending sunny evenings in the garden and letting the world carry on without us. 

When we get busy and crazy we tend to forget to just stop and look or listen - just experience the world around us. When we actually do that, it is easy to feel the nearness of the Faerie Realm, nature spirits and natural energy shifting and flowing as we stand or sit still and become aware of it. We paint it, sculpt it and write about it but sometimes we just forget to observe it. That’s the most important thing of all. So we both are trying to spend time each day just being here, in the present. It helps to remind us of why we do what we do. Magic is illusive and delicate and to capture it at all, it’s a good idea to remember to take time and be aware. There - that’s my musing for the day. I’m going to try to take my own advice.

We recently (two weekends ago actually) had a wonderful time in Brittany in the magical forest of Broceliande, attending a book and art festival at the Arthurian Center there. Wonderful people, renewed friendships and lots of new friends made as well. We gave a talk (quite something to have it all translated in to French!) and a puppet making and movement workshop with our friend and master puppet performer William Todd Jones (or Todd, as he is called). Fantastic to see twenty aspiring puppeteers with their arms in the air, a simple puppet on their hand, singing “Frere Jacques” as a round! We loved it! There is a beautiful exhibition of Brian and my art in the Arthurian Centre at the moment (it’s on until the end of the month) and Toby’s film made its French debut there as well. We loved everything about the festival and felt a true connection between where we live on Dartmoor and this ancient, magical place in Brittany. We will certainly go there again because we just didn’t have enough time to see and experience everything we wished to. Looking forward to it!

We are attending Karen Kay’s Labyrinth Ball in Glastonbury on August 29th. It will be great fun and we look forward to seeing lots of friends there. Do come if you can!

Toby’s film, Lessons Learned, will be screening in three film festivals at the end of the month and then he will be joining us in Chagford for the Chagford Film Festival at the end of September – you can see “Lessons Learned “ there. All three of us will be there for a lecture, book signing and perhaps a puppet workshop (with puppet movement master and puppeteer Todd) too. Again - come if you can - it’s going to be pretty exciting!

We will be signing “Faeries Tales” at Forbidden Planet on Saturday September 6th from 1 to 2 pm. Come along and support us if you can! You’ll also have the chance to get books signed at Gnash Comics in Ashburton on Saturday September 20th. We do count on your support so come and help us make this book the success we would love it to be. It will make the faeries happy too - and you know how important it is to make the faeries happy! 

In October we’ll be in New York for Comic Con, the AFA gallery for an exhibition (running 9/18 to 10/10 ) for the closing reception event and book signing on October 10th, a talk and signing at the Society of Illustrators on October 14th, hopefully a talk and signing at the University of Connecticut and a weekend of events at the BAM Puppetry on Film Festival at the end of the month. We also have a new app coming out in the middle of September - Faces of Faerie - it looks fantastic and is really fun and quirky. LOTS going on! Come and join us when ever and where ever you can.

Check our facebook page and website for specifics (dates, times, etc.) for all of the up-coming events.

Well, I think that’s it for the moment. After having said that the summer has been lovely, we’re having the remnants of a tropical storm sweeping through today - lots of wind and rain. Good weather to work in so I’m headed back to the studio.

And remember to stop once in a while and connect with the faery energy around you -that’s what we’ll be trying to do!

Grumpy to Glamour

Hello from Portland, Oregon! We’re here visiting Toby, Sarah and Sebastian. 

We’ve had a fantastic time in the states so far, catching up with business and friends in New York (including finding the perfect café for Brian) and then spending one of the most interesting, challenging and inspiring weeks we've ever had as guest instructors at IMC - the Illustration Master Class that takes place every summer in Amherst, Mass. 

We came there feeling very shy and apprehensive about what we could contribute to the mix of fantastic professionals who teach and share their expertise with the students (who are a mix of professional and non-professional artists) but left feeling like we had been able to add something unexpected and exciting to the whole thing. Anyway - we LOVED it! Thank you Rebecca Guay and all of the other instructors and students who made it such an amazing experience!

Tomorrow afternoon we will be attending the premier of Toby’s film “Lessons Learned” at the Hollywood theater in Portland. We can’t wait to see it on a big screen! There is such a buzz surrounding the film and the only thing that could remotely disappoint anyone is that it’s only fifteen minutes long. But then, it’s always good to leave people wanting more! Seeing the puppets in person (all in Toby and Sarah’s house) is wonderful. The craftsmanship and effort involved in making them shines out. They are indeed beautiful and fascinating creations. 

Since it seems that we can never just sit still and relax (what’s that?) we are also working on a trailer for Youtube for the up coming book “Brian Froud’s Faeries’ Tales” while we’re here. We are taking advantage of Toby’s many skills to put together something fun that will of course have a puppet in it! 

The new app “Faces of Faerie” is also almost finished and we are excited to be seeing the newest version of it when we return to New York next week. 

All in all it is a very busy and exciting time for us. At the end of next week when we return home, we’ll start to concentrate on the festival in France and the book launch in New York and the gallery exhibition that will open at AFA gallery in the middle of September, but before doing that I can’t imagine anything better than to sit in the garden surrounded by faeries and drinking a nice cup of tea!

Back in Time to Catch CatBell

Well - this has been a VERY long break! Sorry about that. I’ve been in Michigan, land of eternal snow (this spring at least) and then trying to catch up with everything I missed while I was away. I’ve continued the stories of B. and Cat Bell in both Faery and Fae magazines and I’ve very much enjoyed discovering what those two are getting up to! 

Brian and I have been following the progress of Toby’s film “Lessons Learned” and were just delighted to be sent a final cut of it a few days ago. Speaking as artists (and extremely proud parents as well) and viewers - it’s fantastic! It leaves you wishing it was a whole lot longer! We’ve seen it quite a few times now and as Brian said to Toby yesterday -there’s more to see every time you view it. It’s multilayered and wonderfully complex. We can’t wait to see it on a big screen! Brian said that seeing his design for the spider woman (Fate) brought to life was one of the most satisfying interpretations of his work he’s seen on film so far. It is absolutely wonderful to see Froudian puppets on film again!

We’re working on a new app that will come out just after our new book “Brian Froud’s Faeries’ Tales” comes out this autumn. It’s REALLY fun and quite strange (in a good way!). People have had such a positive and strong reaction to the faery portraits Brian painted for the book that we decided to incorporate them into an app. Everyone who has tried it can’t stop playing with it! We’ll tell you more as we get further along in the process.

We’ll be teaching in just a few weeks now as part of IMC – Illustration Master Class in Amherst. We’re really looking forward to being a part of this wonderful week long gathering of students and an amazing group of instructors! It’s very exciting.

I followed CatBell outside today and photographed her exploring the spring flowers in the lane and meadow near our house. She looks very happy to be out in the fresh air. I’ll have to see if B. would like to come out some time soon as well!

Spring Avalon Faery Fayre

Brian and I want to say a big “thank you” to Karen Kay and all of the people in Glastonbury who made last weekend so successful and truly enjoyable. We had a wonderful time! It was good to catch up with old friends, meet new people and help spread faery energy in the town. The weather was glorious (the only drawback being that we were inside for both days!) but we could feel the sun shining and could certainly feel everyone’s spirits lifting. The Steam Punk Faery Ball was great! The costumes were so inventive and imaginative that it felt far more as though people were putting on their “real” cloths after having to wear human disguises all week. Perhaps some of the beings attending both the ball and the fayre were less human than we knew. I always think that these events are perfect places for faeries to mingle without being noticed!

B and Cat Bell loved coming along and they enjoyed the attention from those of you who had read about them in Fae magazine. They made friends with Armorel’s “Faybles”, inhabiting the table next to us. I hope they haven’t given Cat Bell too many wild ideas (she’s very easily influenced!).

We apologize for running out of books so quickly  - especially ‘Trolls’. I should have ordered more. Oh well  - next time! Thank you all for the wonderful response to our preview of the new book, ‘Faeries’ Tales’. We’re very excited about it and it was wonderful to see that you were as well.

It’s back to work now. The sun is still shinning and we’re once again inside, working  - but  - at least we know it’s there!

I was so busy during the fayre that I didn’t have time to take many pictures. I’m sure you’ll be able to find many more on other facebook pages. Here are just a few from us.