Poppet Vision, Poppet Diving

I seem to be surrounded by talented people. Poppets draw them to me.



Pete takes POT photos with his cell phone. He has a real eye for composition and astounds me occasionally with shots he gets on the fly, like this one-- taken en route to Vegas--that has the look of vintage folk art gone slightly surreal.




Ravyn continues to explore in a number of artistic directions. She has one of her tiny (you can't appreciate how tiny unless you've seen one in person) painted horses, this one My Fey Grey Pony. We're working on Foppet's Poppets sets for the Solstice sale; an astronomy pair and an astrology pair.


She is determined to cause me to go blind.





I took a couple of days off to play with Orion.



He discovered playing with Poppets. He says Poppets need little houses. Here they are having naps on mats.

And then
we discovered Poppet Diving.
I suppose it was bound to happen sooner or later.





I thought you might like to see Poppet diving in action, so I shot a couple of short videos, one in the morning, and one at night. I sent them to Ravyn who applied her editing skills. She says she's playing with Night. But here you can see Day... given a whole new perspective with cool music by Hopeful Machines.

Cosmic Cat and a Bit of a Shakeup

At Balticon I had the pleasure of watching a DVD presentation of Joe Bergeron's Cosmic Cat. The site has a gallery of images.

My first thoughts as the story unfolded were about how much Orion will enjoy this book.

My second thoughts were about how evident it would be to anyone that Joe Bergeron is absolutely and unconditionally in love with the night skies.

And finally, what I thought was, This is really, really good.

A copy is now making it's way in my direction and I look forward to reading it with Orion.

*******

We swam three times today. Once in the morning with Pete, who tomorrow will begin dismantling a ridiculously complex set in Vegas. Once with Ben who stopped by with huge slushy lemonades from Jensens. And once tonight, under the clouds and in the lime- colored pool lights.

I spent the morning hours with emails and paperwork. No studio. I spent the afternoon in garden centers and in what is becoming the garden, daring to be green under the brutal sun only by the grace of fabric thin as wishes, rippling overhead in the hot air.

*******

On the plane I read Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. I read this book at every opportunity (there were few) during the convention and for a day after my return. I realized I'd gained new knowledge about the building of Gothic cathedrals without planning to, and without even the least bit of effort on my part. I met a man at a reception once who told me he never read fiction because he wanted to learn something in return for his time spent reading. I looked at him for a long moment. It was like staring into a blinding white light. It was like being a Poppet.

I left him to it. No regrets.

*********

We just had an earthquake. Just right now....um.. it's about 10:13. No damage, just long enough that we made it to the hallway and quakey enough that I'm shaking a little still. I should be getting an email soon with specs.

I am so not particulary fond of earthquakes.

*****

Got it. It was a 4.2 at 10:11pm about 18 miles from here No damage here, just a few drunken frames on the walls but I haven't seen reports from closer yet.

Cookies and milk are in order, for Orion and Mommy. And news later, while he sleeps.

******

The ten Little Pink were claimed almost immediately, so I put a few more up to thwart disappointment, and the subsequent whining.

I'll plan to include Little Pink in the regular Gallery sale on June 23. Poppets too. And new things.

********

Now. Really. Time for cookies.

Check out Cosmic Cat.

Home, Poppet People and Strange Light

At Balticon on Saturday, it rained. I excused myself from the conversation I was involved in and walked directly outside to relish the downpour for a few moments. I lifted my face to the rain with joyful abandon, but without the usual nostalgia.
Then last night, walking through the micro-cooled mists of downtown Palm Springs, I felt an unexpected and sudden sense of home. Am I falling in love with this desert?

sheesh



In July, perhaps I'll come to my senses.



I truly enjoyed the Poppet Planet Launch party. There were exceedingly nice people there and I heard some insightful and thought-provoking comments.

Poppets tend to keep very good company.



There are some photos of the fun, and the fabulous cake created by Heidi (faeriedusted), here http://www.poppetplanet.com/forums.html in "Spare Parts."





I enjoyed a bit of clowning around with Larry Niven, whose brilliance is complimented by a twinkling sense of humor.
I'm extremely pleased to tell you that he has agreed to adopt the "Strange Light" title in the Strange chapbook series.
The title is Larry's own suggestion, and seems to fit him perfectly. I'm looking forward to creating images for Strange Light. How cool is that? Already I'm clearing a room in my brain. Now to clear my schedule. No better motivation than a project I can't wait to dive into.

There's more...but Blogger imaging program seems to have stopped working for the moment.

In the meantime, I've put some Little Red Poppets up on Ebay, and a few of the "Little Pink" open edition casting as well.

You can find them here: Poppets

Pre-Balticon Post

This week was mostly for catching up and preparing to leave for Balticon.

Among the work I'm taking to the art show are "Little Pink's Play", which is sweet, and creepy (my favorite!)

and

"Schrodinger's Poppet", which strangely appears to hold an 'alive' Little Red Poppet when viewed from one angle, and a 'dead' Poppet when viewed from another, also creepy.
Creepy is good.

I thought about including a little text with the sculpture about Schrodinger and his famous dead and alive quantum cat. Ben said, "If they don't know already they don't deserve to know." Ben is evil. I'm thinking, we don't need any text. I'll be there for anyone who'd like to talk a bit about Schrodinger's cat.

Maybe I'll learn something new.

I did learn that it's extremely difficult to shoot video of a moving object enclosed in glass. We'll need more time for that one. Maybe next time I do a piece like this---which will be soon,

because I liked making this one a lot.

We're swimming again, Orion and me. In a few weeks, my hair will be greenish and I'll feel human again.

Pete and Orion already have plans for movies and swimming and arcades while I'm away. I'm looking forward to happy photos sent on cell phones.

If you're reading this and will be at Balticon, there will be a Poppet Planet Party on Saturday at 5pm. I'll be there to talk about Poppets, and art and whatever other bits of this crazy, charmed life come to mind. I'd love to meet you.

And.

There will be cake.

It's rumored to be of the Poppet variety...

We have a backlog of great POT photos that will get added to the website after the convention. As our beloved webmaster Ravyn is also Con-Chair for Balticon, she's been a little busy these last few weeks.

But when we get back, we'll both be back to work with a vengeance. Or something like that.

Ben too. Because nothing else happens until the Fortune Teller is finished. Sheesh.

And swimming. And blogging. It's been fairly sporatic lately. I didn't feel well for weeks, which sucked enough to make me appreciate ordinary days more than ever.

Off to Balticon your artist goes...

Trick of the Light

Experience tells me it's very nearly impossible to get a decent photograph of the moon without setting up the tripod and camera properly. Still, I couldn't resist trying to catch the new sliver when I already had camera in hand. I tried a different approach--- jiggling the camera slightly. These three were the best of the seven I snapped--but one of them makes a pretty good Halloweeny mask.

thought you'd like them.

Everyone around here seems to be getting well.

Funny, my favorite new sculpture for the Balticon Art Show is based on a trick of the light too. I'm just finishing it up, being a bit behind schedule, but will put a couple of photos up before I whisk it away with me.

It's called Schrodinger's Poppet, and I think you'll like it too.

I was delighted when someone sent me a link to this niftyPoppet travel log: http://bookfoolspoppet.blogspot.com/ Sweet! Well, as sweet as Poppets get...

g'night

achooooooholyshit

That cold I mentioned the other day moved south, to my lungs, and grew into a real bear. If we want to consider resting to be productive, then I was indeed productive. I watched the entire first season of Dead Like Me, which I found to be layered and smart and extremely satisfying.
I read Sean Stewart's Mockingbird. (forgive my lack of links---I'm still under--will fix later).
Possibly I'm biased because the protagonist's family background seemed so familiar---sub tropical setting, elements of witchcraft and loads of Southern wisdom. It moved along with humor and grace and a touch of mystery. It left me with something worth keeping.
Thanks, Sean.

I did have some interesting ideas. I wrote them down.

That's it then. I'm still here, sort of.

Time to be horizontal again.

g'night

Cold and Hot

A few days ago I finally succumbed to the cold Orion had, and promptly lost my voice to the merest whisper. Now it's returning, in part, skipping like a cheap ballpoint pen. It's an entirely annoying thing, and impossible to control. Here is where I gain sympathy for adolescent boys.

Once again I wonder if the Fortune Teller is indeed cursed. Last week was slated for finishing it. Instead I spent it nursing this cold, eating chicken soup and taking vitamins, trying to avoid the pneumonia I'm prone to, and being thoroughly depressed. Adding insult to injury, my cold meds completely wired me last night, so that I was able to conjure every possible thing I could worry about, which doesn't allow for a lot of sleeping.

Ah well. It takes living through a few real catastrophes to help one appreciate an ordinary crappy day for what it is. I'll take it. After all, it will pass. They always do.

Poppets are headed out to people who bought them in the auctions. Thank you. And now I'm starting to prepare for Balticon. For about five minutes I considered taking Fortune Teller with me. I don't dare. It's already impossibly late for its destination and I'm not tempting fate any further.

And now I hear Griffith Park is burning. It's not fire season yet. It's going to be a hot, dry summer. I need a popsicle.

POT Coachella and Rage

POT

Poppets on Tour, courtesy of Pete, who worked the Rage Against the Machine stage at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival last weekend.

Here, during a performance of "Wake Up."

(Poppets do love that song--I do too.)

My Poppets head-bang. Do yours? You can catch them at it, if you're very quick.

Poppet surveys the crowd from center stage.

Poppet plays cool for adoring fans.

In Praise of Ordinary Days - Nearly

Our house has begun to take that smudged look particular to houses with home offices, studios , various humans and their stuff.

Things get mixed up and sort of homogeneous.

In other words, no one can find anything and I begin to suspect that with a spark of electricity, the carpet in the den could generate life. These are sure signs it's time to stop working, tidy up, then take a few days off.

I decided to get a start on it Sunday evening, putting things away in our bedroom closet. (The coat closet is full of comic books.---there are never enough shelves.) Orion, getting over a spring cold, was playing quietly on the bed. I saw just a flicker of movement in the closet's far corner. Not Gurtie. I'd just seen Gurtie outside. I put down the basket I held and walked over, pushed aside a shoebox and was surprised to discover a very young rabbit, still and all tucked in as though, well, hiding.

I scooped the little fellow up and thought about it for a moment. He began to wriggle wildly.

What I wondered was whether to show the rabbit to Orion. I decided not to. He'd been ill and I wanted him to rest. But it wasn't just that. It was because, when I discovered the rabbit there in the corner, it was sort of creepy. I mean, why? Can you think of anything less threatening than a rabbit? Maybe it was the way it was just there, looking at first like lost sock.

So I put him outside in the front yard, where the grass was extremely soft, where nearby there were other yards with other rabbits--one of them likely his mother-- and where he was relatively safe from Death, watching birds in the back garden, unaware, at the moment, of rabbits. He scampered off into the hedges.

I came back inside and washed my hands, wondering again why the encounter was disquieting.

I checked around the mouldings, hoping to find out how the rabbit got in still wondering why I felt creeped-out. Then, just like that, I discovered another rabbit, still as the first, hunched and flattened to fit the space it had wriggled into between box and wall.

This is where things could get interesting.

But they didn't.

I checked and tidied the closet, and that was the end of rabbits. Except for the unaccountable creepiness.

Thing is, I love that moment of the unexpected, the small oddness in the ordinary. Many good stories start out that way. Possibly my awareness was already primed. Ben picked up a book collection from an estate recently and I've been tearing through books by Clifford Simak and John Wyndham.

"When a day that you happen to know is Wednesday starts off sounding like Sunday, there is something seriously wrong somewhere."

So begins John Wyndham's "Day of the Trifids."

Works like these, where strange things happen to quite ordinary people set in ordinary surroundings, are often labeled 'cozy catastrophes.' I'm very glad I've never let that label put me off. I'd have missed some fine reading over the years, including some H.G. Wells and Ray Bradbury. Like any other sub-genre, there's quality work to be found.

Later that night, when I was settling in for sleep (with another book, of course) I applied the very real sensation of finding the rabbits to other discoveries., purly imagined, for fun.

What if the rabbits had been subtly wrong somehow? What if when I turn off my reading light, and my eyes adjust to the darkness, I notice something pale and child-like, crouching in the darkness just outside my window?

Really, what would I do next? What would you do?

Creepy is a good ride. I read a lot, and don't mind stepping into an alien environment right off the first page, but I especially enjoy a story that approaches quietly, empties my pockets of the trinkets of truth I hold on to and shoves me square into the unknown.

Likely, I should've shown Orion the rabbits. Generally, if there's no danger, I'll choose to share the experience. Still, something definitely caused me to hesitate. Maybe something subtle.

Maybe it will come to me later.

Maybe I'll wish it hadn't.

At any rate, soon we'll be conducting a thorough search for small openings.

Poppets at Play

On Dreary Days, We Play.

Yes, indeed. Weeks of dreary days that seemed to go on and on, even into our sleeping hours, into our dreams.

So, what to do but to play?

Ravyn, Bent and Robert are all working on brilliant new pieces for next time.

For now, I'll open the gallery with the Poppets that came from, well, dreary days of play. I considered what Poppets might do on any particularly dreary day, and discovered that they like putting on costumes and masks and creating their own elsewheres.

Some of them explored the world Lewis Carroll created for Alice. I enjoyed a renewed appreciation of that world while I researched for the sculptures. And, of course, found many side roads I'd like to visit with Poppets, like famous 'fools' and Punch and Judy.

At any rate, play was what was called for, play we did, and all was for good.

Some of our Rat friends joined us. It's been quite a long time since I made rats. I realized too, painting these, how much I've missed them. Poppets and Rats seem to get along splendidly.

The auctions are HERE.

10% of Wonderland-inspired Poppet sales is for NORML

10% of other Poppet sales is for NCAC

10% of Little Red Poppets is for CBLDF

10% of Rats is for CBLDF

A number of people are asking me about the Neil Gaiman Rat. I plan to have at least one on each upcoming auction of the limited edition one. I'll also have one each of the other author rats; Edgar Allen Poe, H. P. Lovecraft and Harlan Ellison.
The new Neil Rat will be an open edition and will be out later this year. If you want to be on the mailing list for that, please email to

ravyn@poppetplanet.com

If you have any questions, ask me. I really like hearing from you. I hope you enjoy seeing the new work.

Already, I'm back in the studio.

Tiny Masks, Big Monsters and Here Comes the Sun

Here is one of the Poppet costume masks. About 1/2 inch wide.

Last night we saw The Host. http://www.hostmovie.com/. Pete, our friend Art, and me.

We laughed, gasped, said "what the f...!", and said "oh man," a number of times, in no particular order, but generally all together.

If you like the preview, you'll likely not be disappointed with the movie.

I'm calling today the first real taste of the hellish heat to come. It's seriously time to finish up preparations to minimize the damage all around. Outside, inside, house, body, mind.

It's the season for swimming under the stars. It's the season for visualizing cool blue water and silent white forests. It's the season for making paper mache sculptures and drying them outside. It's the season for saying "I hate this desert" and "I love this desert." It is intense and extreme.

Good. It will be a challenge. I need a challenge. Maybe it'll wake me up. I've been in a weird fugue for months. Swimming in glue, wrapped up in gossamer, muted. I wander through the rooms in my head and all the furniture and mirrors and paintings are covered in sheets.

I've been here before. It's the end of a long season. We'll start another, and it will be crappy, but this seasonal change is the catalyst that transforms the raw elements of the fugue state into paintings and sculptures and stories.

Flip flops and hats. Always with the hats.

g'night

Earth Day in the Desert

Today was for Ben and me to take Orion to The Living Desert for their annual Earth Day celebration.

We made plans to attend the next star party of the Desert Astronomical Society. Nice folk.

Orion liked the bounce house. And possibly the giraffes. But not the vultures.

We saw Mexican wolves and a giraffe family. We watched a butterfly(not this one) emerge from its cocoon. Zebras, owls, snakes, lizards and cranes. Bobcats.

Poppet went too, but refused to tell us anything about this particular conversation.

We followed the long white road...

Sometimes it's good to go outside, spend some time with other life forms. Keeps things in perspective.

Tonight is for tired little boys to sleep and artist moms to make art.

Dee and Dum, Springs, 4/20, It's a Rat

Dee and Dum.

Today was mostly for taking photographs, which tends to be an important part of an artist's life and tends also to be tricky when the subjects are very small and occasionally mischievous and not completely cooperative.








I enjoyed watching "Fortune's Teller" go through it's mechanical rounds today. In honor of studio policy-- Nothin' Can Go Wrong Now-- we decided to run it for a solid week to check for bugs.
Found one---the noise of the spokes against the stop is louder than we want.
Most likely, the solution will be a combination of changing the angle of the spring, adding a bit of hidden insulation and installing and sealing the glass front. We originally used a plastic spring but the resistance wasn't enough, so the wheel spun too long -- by the time the wheel stopped on a fortune, the spotlight by which to read the fortune was out. Not to mention the metal spring will last much longer and be easier to replace.


That solved, there's some painting and detailing left. When that's done, I'll post a video and in -progress photos. The coolest thing about all of this--and unexpected-- was that when I saw the piece in motion, it truly creeped me out.



It's a profoundly satisfying thing to have made something that scares me, even a little.

I highly recommend it.



Making these these Poppets, sometimes I can zoom in, as when Orion and I pretend we're tiny, or when we lie on the grass and study objects in the night skies.

Eventually, looking inward at small things, or outward at large ones, size and distance begin to feel like the changeable inconstant concepts they are. Just for a moment.

I did actually make a few rats. I haven't made any in months, but thought it would be a good idea to make some more regularly. I miss the little fellows. Possibly that's why I started making rat masks for Poppets? Is a rat in a Poppet mask coming next?

Possibly I should open more windows in the studio and not leave the paint thinner open.

I hope you've had a good 4/20. Remember never to stop questioning the rules.
Who, what, where, when, why and how.

g'night

Talk and Toys

TruthDig Debate: Sam Harris v. Chris Hedges
Tuesday, May 22, 2007 8 p.m.Royce HallUCLA

A Truthdig debate between Sam Harris and Chris Hedges

Moderated by Robert Scheer
For more information and tickets:TruthDig Debate email: author@samharris.org

This looks worth a drive on the TEN to me, especially if Pete's driving, and likely some interesting conversation on the way home.
*****

So much bad news. So much sad news.
Our house is quiet but for the sound of distant gardening and smells of cut flowers and fresh coffee. How tempting it is to hide out in here. But we won't. We watch. We learn. Don't we?

On Dreary Days We Play. That seems to work. On dark days, when all else fails, I can make toys.

This box holds a Little Red Poppet and two masks for her to wear. It reminds me a little of a trunk doll I had when I was a little girl, a little of a ballet box and seems a bit like a Victorian toy.

I like it.

Masks and other costumes seem to be a theme this month. We'll open the gallery again on April 28th with Poppets dressed in costumes from "Through the Looking Glass" and others. There will be a few rats this time too, as I can fit them in.

Mostly we're back to working on the fortune teller, which will be very cool once done, but for now, because of all the delays, is getting to feel like an anvil over our heads. Well, my head. Ben seems unaffected by either headlines or deadlines. Good for him, otherwise he'd be making toys too. Then again, what are the kinetic pieces if not big toys?

At any rate, it's good to be working in the studio again. Now it smells of paint instead of dust, which in my view is better. And if I make only toys for awhile, that's okay too.

There are lots of new topics up on the forums www.poppetplanet.com including some new Poppets on Tour photos on flickr. Thanks Laura!

Supposedly there will be a Poppet Planet party at Balticon. As soon as I have more details, I'll post them here.

My coffee has been drunk. Time to make things.

Wind

Jamison (visiting with daughter, Sophia) says there is no place like the desert for visions. That there is a violent fragility that goes beyond the surreal. That every surface is glass-edged.

Infinite velocity, no time. Everything and nothing. He's right, I know. The desert can be that.

"Where did Jesus take his questions? " he asks and answers, "to the desert, that's where."

We laugh and grow silent for a moment. We've both seen things here.

Orion and Jamison's daughter, Sophia, play in the next room while in here, I listen and paint Poppets.

Outside, the wind is howling again. We've been talking about world events, speculating on the future, wondering when we became such freaking grown-ups.
Moving slowly through space, quickly through time.

Wondering if there's any way in hell we could talk Pete into going fishing with us. A family fishing trip. Ben too. We are dreaming. We decide Pete would fish if we provide him with a good book.


Really, what is it about the desert? I should find other artists to ask.
Maybe it's because it still looks like the bottom of the ocean. We're constantly reminded that this place was once very different. That we are

very temporary.

Today, maybe because the stormy weather feels like beach weather and beach weather always pulls the past into the present for me, like an inside-out sleeve.

Reinforcing the shade sails was on the list for today anyway, but by the time we'd had breakfast the temperature had dropped a full ten degrees and the wind had started and dark clouds were flying over the tops of the mountains, dragging blankets of shadow over everything below.
Orion held lengths of wire and pliers for me while I reached into the ancient, impenetrable and poisonous oleander to secure wire to the heaviest branches. Orion positively glowed, his eyes sparkled in brilliant strips of sunlight between the clouds. I recognized the particular excitement that comes with the battening down of hatches.

Being five is cool.

And I know this one well. Crystal memories of standing with my toes digging into cool sand, wet salty wind coating every strand of my hair with fine grit while grown ups screwed wooden planks over the windows, shouting and laughing over the wind.
I remember nightmares with great bonfires built along the beaches to hold back a huge swell of black water.

The shades have held, so far, though the wind is still going strong, blowing nests out of trees and plucking blossoms from the orange trees, ripping the bright, sweet fruit right out of winter.

Now, there's some time travel.

What does this have to do with art? What does this have to do with Poppets?
Everything.


Thank you for checking in. g'night

Here we go again

For Easter, we swam.

Yesterday, we swam again.

I thought, after a season of sloth, it would be like starting over. It was like coming home.

We floated a four-foot-wide ball on the water and took turns diving under it, coming up as close as possible without touching.

We pretended the ball was a normal size and that we were tiny.

It's possible, with some effort on my part, to go there, to become very small. For Orion it's easy, natural.

Today is for making art. I'll try to take some photos for 'Nuts and Bolts'.

We're getting back into the groove. We need to. Lots of work to be done

At two or so, Orion and I will try being small again. Gives us even more of a Poppet perspective.

Truly Darkly Deeply

Sometimes I fall into dark places. Sometimes I feel it coming for miles. Sometimes I just quietly slip off the edge without warning into a hole where I seem to be made of lead, with no ropes for rescue and no will to call for help.

That's what I get for thinking.

I'm fairly certain this is true. These little journey's to the dark side seem to be part of my information processing plant. Stuff goes in--art comes out.

In between it can get a bit complicated.

Everyone has to deal with some form of mental lights-out at some time or other. Artists are notorious for these forays into sometimes dibilating sadness.


I can tell you what I do to get through, tools I use to minimize the disruption and damage.

We'll be talking about this on the Inner Workings Forum at www.poppetplanet.com this weekend.

It's April. There are flowers blooming everywhere. There are baby birds chirping.

There are Peeps.

What better time to discuss the black holes artist's find themselves in? If you've ever visited one, you know this is as good a time as any.

Hope to see you on the forums.

Playing with Mirrors

One thing I'm sure of, as Poppets are concerned, is that Poppets like to play.

So I've made some dressed in theater costumes of favorite characters, beginning with some from the works of Lewis Carroll.

I'll want a whole set of these, eventually. I'm guessing a few others will too, so even though they'll all be hand-made and different, I'll be making a number of each character, so that those who want to will be able to, over time, collect all nine.

The costumes have obvious zippers or buttons or masks, and some Poppets have a bit of red peeking from underneath.

Making Poppet costumes is a lot like making toys. As I often say, when things get weird, I can still make toys.
Things got weird.

I'll be talking about things getting weird this weekend on the "Inner Workings" part of the forums. Hope you'll stop by and talk back.

Ben will be back tomorrow, and we'll re-open the studio, which is likely full of cobwebs and dust and creatures made of cobwebs, dust and neglect. We'll deal with those first, then get back to work.
Back to work is a good idea.

Orion and I are feeling better. Thanks everyone. We'll likely be swimming again soon. I'm looking forward to underwater.
Underwater is good.

Speaking of swimming...wetsuits...hmmm. Likely I should have a salad for dinner. But I'm not. I'm going to have chicken.
Chicken is good too.

g'night