Six Things I Am Happy About

Just creating lists today and decided to make this one to share with you all. :)


1. (Oh and this is number one by a MILE!) After more than 50 years, there is finally going to be a female Doctor Who! Jody Whittaker is taking the role in 2018 and I could not be happier or more excited! I still love to watch "my  Doctor",  the 4th Doctor Tom Baker, and I can't imagine anyone topping him for me. Though Peter Capaldi came very close the last three seasons with his dour, sarcastic leanings and those wickedly, wild eyebrows.

Anyhoo, this is lonnnng overdue and I have held out hopes we'd see our first female actor in the Doctor's shoes since the role of the Master was given, in a stroke of GENIUS, to Michelle Gomez a few seasons back.

I hope Ms. Whittaker will capture a whole new audience and generation with the role and I cannot wait to see her create the persona and make the role all her own.



2. Darci Lynne - Ventriloquism has always fascinated and, as a small child, frightened me. . .  it's always been there on my periphery as a somewhat mystical talent/ability. . . then someone sent me this link to 12 yr old Darci Lynne's audition for America's Got Talent: All I am saying is, whatever you may think of these types of talent shows or of the art of ventriloquism, it's something you'll never have seen done so well before and the final few minutes of the video are a tear inducing, feel good moment. :)  You GO Darci!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paIYpech9pY


3. Levar Burton Reads Podcast - I love a well told short story and I love the actor Levar Burton. This new podcast has just a handful of episodes right now but I suspect it will be around as long as Levar wants to read to us. This week the newest edition was a story that I read last year and would have listed in my top 5 short stories of all time but, after hearing Levar read it, I'd say it's now my all time favorite short story. It's a tear jerker, so be warned. But it's just beautiful. . . it's episode 11,  " The Paper Menagerie" by Ken Liu. It's the most recent episode and the link to his podcast is below. I'd also suggest episode 9 called,  "1,000 Year-Old Ghosts", which I had never read, but which is now also in my top 5 of all time. (it's getting crowded in that top five these days!)

http://www.levarburtonpodcast.com



4.  Comic creator Gail Simone received an Ink Pot award for her work in the comics industry at SDCC last month. Gail has done so much for inclusiveness in the comic industry, writing diverse characters and bringing very modern storylines to the page that no one else would have thought of or written nearly as well. She's worked on Wonder Woman, Red Sonja, Batgirl and a host of others. If you don't know Gail's story, she is a former hairdresser who is now one of the biggest names in writing comics and, if I can share a little secret with you, Gail used to cut MY hair back in the day some 20 years ago. lol And I am not surprised at all that she has reached the heights she has. . . her compassion, fierce heart and fiery wit all combine to make her a force. . . and she just gets better, and more outspoken, with time. Cheers Gail! :)



5. Back to School - It's that time of year . . . again.  Just walking into the store the other day and seeing all the notebooks supplies etc in the front aisles gave me that same feeling I always got as a kid. I've said here before that I feel like September is the start of my year. A reset and check in that is, for me, far more effective than the New Year's tendency of a lot of people. Some of it is truly that something, namely Autumn's essence, is in the air! I am sure that some of it to do with all the school years of my youth. What I remember most was that, coming from a family who did not have a lot, it was the one time of year I could ask for art supplies, paper etc etc and NOT get that "look". lol  So that feeling of having what seemed like endless notebooks, BLANK paper, new crayons, gel pens or markers. . .  whatever was cool at the time. . .  and other implements for drawing and daydreaming, the possibility of it all. . . I don't think I will ever outgrow that nostalgic reminder or the way it rises in me again this time of the year.



6. County Fairs - Also took in our county fair in the past week. There is not much that compares to a county fair in a rural area like this. From the animals (cows, pigs, goats, sheep, ducks, chickens and more rabbits than you could ever hope to see!) to the beautiful fabric art (quilts, weaving, knitting) to the master gardener's garden and the exhibit halls (baking, canning, cake decorating, flower displays etc) it's a great time. And I won't even get into the food - will they never stop coming up new with things to batter and deep fry? :) I settled for a pronto pup and pizza. Passing on the favorites of old like elephant ears, curly fries and funnel cakes. Also, we tend to go on day one as early as possible. I imagine that by day three and four the usually smiling and delightful folk who work every facet of the fairs must be at wits end by then. . .

OK, New work coming in a day or two but I wanted to share that all with you and I hope there are dozens of such things in YOUR world making you Smile! Please feel free to share some of them here with me!

Until the next. . .

nicolas

Lost Seasons

Here it is the first eek of October and I have barely been able to find time to create an "seasonal" work for the shops.  Even pieces I already had designed, like the Mini Halloween Tombstones below which debuted last year, have taken a back seat this year.

OK, NEXT year I am going to ROCK these!

Just created this pair for a customer! Love the Ghoul Hands!

This one began the entire series last year. Back in 2002 I had made many of these, in full size, for a Halloween Yard display which many tiny kids were too scared to walk thru to get their candy! So when they DID brave the walk, they got handsomely rewarded for their efforts in candy! mwahahahahaaha

I am not sure how I feel about this. . . it is beginning to feel a bit like a lost season in some ways. . . Halloween and Christmas/Winter are my two favorite times of year to create specifically for but I continue to find myself bound by custom work and requests. . . as well as my own ever-expanding range of ideas. Oh it's a sweet dilemma to have . . . that's for sure! :)

Today is the first time in weeks I have the entire day to do as I wish. . . and I am going to focus on new items and not worry so much about the holidays.  I have four very specific things I wish to create that I am focused on.

One is a series of 6x6 Fantasy Wall Hangings/Shadow Boxes (ok I know I need to come up with something a little more easy on the tongue there)  I have an entire series in mind but am about 40% thru the first iteration: An Elf sleeping under a large tree, a Dutch windmill scene in the background and tulips, spell books and other miniature delights all around him. (Pictures soon I promise!)

Two: I am creating little 3" x 6" Fortune Tellers like the old arcade versions you'd plunk a quarter into to receive your fortune. This will feature the Upper body arms and hands of the fortune teller herself, tiny cards, crystal ball and more. . . all displayed in a bamboo shadow box display as well.

Three:  Reviving my series of Grumpus figurines. There are plant/terrarium dwelling creatures with huge feet and noses (they are in fact, mostly head hands and feet!) and very grumpy looking expressions. I am shrinking them in scale so that they better fit all houseplant environments..So these will be about 3" tall or half the size ofmy older ones.

Four: A new series of pearlescent fairy houses called "The Fairy Houses of Giddings Hill" with half stone facades, dark rooftops and lots of lovely accents. . . .

And last, after actually following though with my blog (for the most part) the month of September  I am going to take that exercise of writing a 10 minute blog each day ( I manages 23 posts in September I believe!) and apply it to an idea that I know, if I do not make time for, I will deeply regret and likely never get started on if I wait for the "perfect time" and that is to begin constructing the fantasy book/novella  I have been compiling ideas for for the last year. No working title yet but lots of bits and pieces. So, ten minutes a day writing/fleshing out ideas/drawings etc etc. I'll use this blog as a way to stay focused by posting snippets, maps and images and chapters on occasion. ALL feedback will be greatly appreciated. As with anything I have created, it begins with a selfish desire to simply make it happen and bring it into the world. I have no attachment to what happens beyond that. I'll self publish it I am sure, at first, Maybe even self bind a few dozen special editions of it when it is completed. . . .we'll see.

Thank you to all of you who read some of the September posts and those dear friends who commented here and there!

The rest of the year looks busy . . . if not with holiday delights then with new ideas and continued growth in my own form and paracosm of expresion. :)

Have a lovely Autumn (or Spring if you're "down under") weekend!

nicolas

The Beauty of Silence Returns

Living in a coastal town that runs on the fishing industry means that the summers from Memorial day to Labor day are, as you might expect, overrun with tourists and fishing boats. RVers and campers.

Today, walking down to the bay at 8am with the tide at it's lowest, we went to cross the street and, by the time we hit the crosswalk, we realized that we have "our town" back again. Looking north and south down the road, there was just one single car visible as far as we could see.

And that, is a lovely thing. . .

The sound of the town is different these 9 months. You can hear the kingfishers, gulls, herons and terns all the way from the bay, the ravens and crows are a little more likely to come by in the mornings for bread again as the digs on the street are not nearly as good. The nights are a little less rowdy and the harbor itself, though still filled with boats as salmon season approaches, is decidedly quieter too.

In my life I have always been an autumn child. I'm willing to say some of it is the school year schedule that allows September to take on the feel of possibility and newness every year since.

Though I also think it is the change in weather,
The feel in the air.
The leaves beginning to turn
The shorter and shorter days

The change in season  stirs my soul like very few things can and never more so than from the boisterous warmth of summer to the slowly turning and fading of Autumn all around me.  .  .

The creative fires burn brighter too in this air of Autumn alchemy
I could work round the clock in this season and dream endlessly of new things to make.

But the best part of all is, it all comes in on the blissful echo and the beauty of silences
As the season that subdues so many, brings the world here and within myself,  back to life

Happy Autumn

nicolas