Pokes of Inspiration

Brian and I are back at work. At the moment it’s beginning to feel like a weird dream. Every time we think we’re getting closer to finishing the book, we discover another thing that needs doing. I don’t know if the faeries think this is funny, but I’m beginning to feel that they are enjoying inspiring us to discover new things to add to the book. I can just hear them saying “what about this? Surely you won’t forget about this faery or this object!”. I wish they would stop now. It’s hard enough without them poking at us! Ahhh - but then again - we DO appreciate their help (just in case they’re listening).  I took a photo of Brian photographing a group of faeries in the Nifty Shed. They insisted on playing tricks. No matter what Brian did, the one on the left (red nose, wild hair) would NOT let his face be in focus. Different angles, different everything - it didn’t matter - twenty photos later, he still wouldn’t “love” the camera. Sometimes they just don’t. Brian tricked him in the end but it took forever!

Our friend, David Todd-Jones has been clearing granite along the wall for us. I caught Brian and David here with Brian looking distinctly worried. I’m not sure what he’s worried about but it WAS just after the uncooperative faery photography. 

The garden is quite autumnal now. Roses are being replaced by Physallis (or Jack o lanterns) that are so magical. There are a few late roses left and we appreciate them even more because they are trying so hard to bloom one final glorious time before winter. 

The dining table was covered in faeries yesterday all waiting to have their photos taken or just lying around recovering from the experience. The sleeping faery is the only one left on the table now but I hate to disturb her - she looks so comfortable there.

Speaking of looking comfortable - here’s Buster looking a bit too comfortable on this chair. I think if he could see this photo, he might decide to go on a diet. 

That’s it for this week from the land of faery foolishness. We’re going into the village tonight for a screening of the silent film “Nosferatu” with Elizabeth Jane Baldry (Harpist, composer, film maker and faery godmother) playing harp accompaniment. It’s part of the Chagford Film Festival on all this week. As part of the festival, the Jen and Kira costumes from Dark Crystal ware on display as well as lots of other film memorabilia and props. If you are near by, come and have a look and see what else is going on this week for the festival. There is SO much to see! 

Pixie Led

Brian and I took a well-deserved break this past weekend and visited friends in Somerset. We spent the weekend talking endlessly, laughing almost constantly and eating and drinking our way through two days of rest and companionship. 

Our friends live in Castel Cary, very near the famous town of Glastonbury, which is overlooked by the stunning Glastonbury Tor with the ruined church tower on the top (I always mean to take a photo of it, but never seem to be in the right place at the right time to snap one). We often stop there on our way to Castel Cary but this time we had a special reason for being there. Our friend, the wonderful faery and fantasy painter Linda Ravenscroft has (as I’m sure many of you already know) opened a gallery/shop called ”The Mystic Garden” on Glastonbury high street. It’s a truly beautiful shop, with SO many beautiful things to see and buy! Linda is always incredibly welcoming and it was great to see her looking so “at home” in Glastonbury. DO go and visit if you possibly can. You’ll love it! Or - visit her on her facebook page and website - lindaravenscroft.com.

Talk about being “pixie led” - on the next leg of our journey –which should have taken us a half hour max. – we ended up driving around for almost two hours in torrential rain trying to get first to Castle Cary and then to the small hamlet just outside of it where our friends live. IMPOSSIBLE! We’ve done this drive many, many times but could we find our way that day? No. We still haven’t figured out why we got so lost. What were those pixies up to? We have no idea.

The next day our hostess kindly offered to take us sightseeing and we decided to visit a National Trust property that we hadn't seen before, called Lytes Cary. It’s a medieval house with absolutely beautiful gardens surrounding it. I had to take a photo of Brian in the topiary. SO Alice in Wonderland! 

We came home Sunday evening, refreshed, restored and ready to get back to work. Sometimes a change IS as good as a rest (or is that a nod is as good as a wink to a blind horse?), especially if it is shared with good friends.

An Interesting Relationship

Brian has started photographing faeries and objects for the new book. Our dining table looks like a cross between a strange junk shop and museum. We’re eating on our laps but the collection of things to photograph is becoming more impressive every day. Buster also has been enjoying the attentions of one of the new characters. We found them this way yesterday and decided that they were forming an interesting friendship. We’ll keep an eye on them and see what transpires!

I went for a short drive yesterday and as I was coming back down our lane, I found the way blocked by this small herd of ponies. I love seeing them this close up. They didn't seem to mind me being there at all - in fact I had to bang on the car door to get them to stop eating and move on a bit. The little foals are especially sweet - very new and spindly-legged! The white one with all over brown spots is a faery horse, I’m sure. I’m looking forward to coming across it every once in a while as it grows up. It was a truly magical to follow them down the lane (and then pass them at a wide spot in time to shut our gate before they could get in to the garden!). 

As summer begins to wind down, we are still having beautiful weather. Brian and I find that sitting out in the garden in the evening (with a glass of wine) is just the perfect end to the busy days we are having. Sometimes, just remembering to breathe is the most important thing to do!

ImagineFX Magazine's Top 100!

Brian just got some great news! He was voted third out of Imagine FX’s 100 most favorite fantasy artists of their 100 issues! It’s just fantastic and we both want to share this with you and thank you all so very much for your support in voting for him and to all of you who support us in so many ways. We truly appreciate it.

This means so much to Brian. He says that knowing that the work he contributes as an artist, is appreciated by so many people who love art AND fantasy, is the biggest boost you could have given him! It is the support of fans that makes him want to keep producing images  -that and the fact that it really IS a vocation and he couldn't do anything else! So  -thank you. You've made an artist very happy indeed!

And HUGE congratulations to FX magazine for producing 100 fabulous issues. We are sure that the next hundred will be just as exciting. 

Please have a look at the link below and read all about it in the 100^th anniversary issue and Top 100 Artists supplement.  http://beta.imaginefx.com/shop/magazine/october-2013

That’s What You Are. Of course!

What a busy month it’s turning out to be for both Brian and me. It shouldn't come as a surprise to us because we've known for ages that we have to have the new book in good shape by the end of August -not finished by any means, but we have to know how it’s going to all fit together by then. At the moment it is still mostly in puzzle pieces. Like a jigsaw puzzle, we've done the edges and now we’re working our way into the middle. I’m not complaining - it’s great fun really (apart from those hours in the middle of the night when Brian and I lie awake and wonder how we’re going to do this). We both know what we’re doing (obviously) but when either of us begins a piece, we both have the feeling that it’s all completely new and we have no idea of how we’re going to produce what ever it is that we’re working on. Then at some point we look at it (or read it) and think “ that’s what you are. Of course!” and then we can just get on with it. 

I've been writing in the morning and making figures in the afternoon. That seems to work well for me. Brian spends his day between his drawing board, computer and the garden. The plants are getting a lot of attention while he waits for paint to dry!

I gave a lecture/workshop this past Sunday as part of the Green Hill exhibition “Widdershins” in Mortonhampstead parish hall. It was very well attended (sold out) and I hope the people attending enjoyed it as much as I did. It’s a true challenge to demonstrate making a figure I under three hours but I like a challenge and I've done this often enough now to be able to (almost) get to the end without panicking! Thank you to some of the audience for reminding me of things I left out! Anyway - it was fun and today I have almost finished the piece I started at the demonstration. 

Yesterday I treated myself to a morning out. It was another beautiful day so I decided to take one of my favorite drives over the moor. I know I photographed these trees (and maybe these sheep) last year but I love to check up on them to see what’s changed and what’s stayed the same with a passing year. I’m happy to report that nothing much has changed. That’s a relief -apart from the fact that this summer I’m seeing it in sunshine instead of rain!

Well -Brian is in the garden again and I think I’ll join him. I was hoping it was time for a glass of wine but looking at the clock I can see that I’ll have to make due with a nice cup of tea.

The Family Table

We are having a wonderful time here at Stiniel. It’s the first gathering of the family to include Sebastian and we are all delighting in his constant (well pretty constant) smiles and giggles.

It is so interesting to watch a baby observing things we can’t see. Both indoors and out in the garden, he follows the movement of things that are completely invisible to our grown-up eyes. We choose to believe that he is looking at faeries. Hopefully when he is old enough to talk he will still be young enough to see them and will be able to tell us about what he sees. Toby certainly did when he was that age (old enough to talk, that is).

We have been having the most beautiful summer in years -long, long, hot, sunny days that stretch into clear evenings with starry skies. Pure magic!

The flowers are doing their best to all come out at the same time so there are combinations in the garden that we’ve never seen before. A friend of ours is creating magic in the garden by weeding and shaping and coaxing it into something that looks graceful (and grateful!) and cared for and flourishing. It is easy to feel that the nature spirits of this place are extremely happy to see lilies being released from the stranglehold of bindweed and roses and other flowers being given the space to stretch and breathe again. Nurturing is just as important as planting in the first place and Brian and I are truly grateful to see it happening here. Maybe the faeries will reciprocate and plant new ideas in our heads for the book. Now, that would be a good exchange!

Toby’s kickstarter is just doing wonderfully well. If you’ve been following it, you know he reached his goal and is now asking for a stretch goal so he can add another character. Brian and Toby have been spending late nights at the dinner table (always the very best place for ideas!) with wine and cheese, developing a character and scene to be used if Toby can afford it. I love listening to the two of them talking things out and exchanging ideas. It’s not that Sarah and I don’t contribute  - it’s just hard to get a word in sometimes when Brian and Toby get started!  

It’s a very sweet and satisfying thing to know that Toby grew up sitting at that table, listening to the exchange of ideas between the two of us and the many friends who have come to join us there. He has always taken part (even before he could speak) but now of course he brings a whole new vision with him. Sarah and I have both sat and watched Sebastian following their voices as they talk and I believe that we both know that Sebastian too will some day sit there and bring his own ideas into the mix of discussions.  I can’t wait to find out how he views things.

It’s time to venture back out into the sunshine and the grateful garden. 

Just Too Damn Cheerful!

I’ve been sitting at my computer trying to think of a way to start this bit of writing. It’s not that I don’t know what I want to say  - it’s just that I’m not sure how to say it without sounding – I don’t know – just too damn cheerful!

But  - that’s how I’m feeling. I feel happy and hopeful and most of all, grateful.

After almost seven weeks on crutches, following my hip replacement, I am now walking , NOT limping and not in pain. I got the go ahead so really the fourth of July was my independence day! How fitting. I feel better than I have in years. It feels like a miracle. Really  - it IS a miracle that things like this can be fixed at all, let alone, so fantastically! So  - I’m very, very grateful indeed.

But  - that’s not the only thing that is making me happy. Toby just launched (as I’m sure many of you already know) the kickstarter for the short film he is making and it’s doing amazingly well already. It’s so exciting to see him making a “Froudian” film and it is also SO exciting to see how many people are enthusiastic about helping, contributing and encouraging this project. Brian and I are very proud of him and also again, very grateful that something like this will have a chance to be out in the world. If any of you don’t know about the film or the kickstarter, have a look at this link. If you like “Froudian” things (and if you read this blog you probably do!) then have a look and support it if you can.http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1401146961/lessons-learned-a-practical-puppet-short-film?ref=search

 

 

AND another reason I’m happy. Toby, Sarah and Sebastian are coming for a visit soon. We can’t wait! And (I’ll whisper this so the universe doesn’t hear me) it looks like we may even have summer weather for a while! Hard to believe but it just might happen.

As well as all of this happiness, Brian and I are continuing to work like mad on our new book. The faeries seem to be pleased by it so far. Brian’s paintings are just wonderful and the stories that I’ve been inspired to write seem to truly want to be told. Who knew? I guess the faeries did.

I’ve also been sculpting and fabricating again and really enjoying that too. Here’s a faery girl I just finished. I asked her how she would like to be dressed and she said that she wanted to wear gloves  - and so she is. Her clothing is made from a pair of white kid gloves  - wonderful stitching and shaping to use. I loved piecing this together and I think she’s enjoying wearing it.

 

All in all there’s a lot to be happy about and grateful for  - and I am.  Happy summer to you all!