Catching up is hard to do...but here goes nothing...FaerieCon...it happened
This was the 2nd Annual FaerieCon in Philadelphia, PA. And it once again was an exploration into the deepest realms of Mythic Arts and Faerie Realms. It was amazing to be surrounded by so many awesome artists and inspirational to say the least. And that word, inspiration, to inspire, that is, "To Breathe Life Into" became a word of the weekend.
So follow the piping Green Woman....
The piece I just showed you was the Greenwoman by Marja Lee, but I am getting ahead of myself.
It was a wonderful show for us.
The week leading up was a huge production period. We were stocking for both our booth at MDRF and FaerieCon. So we created over 120 pieces last week plus a couple of large art pieces. One of which was this massive Mandala Greenman, created so we would have a showpiece at the Con.
Additionally, we finished out the piece inspired by the work of Brian Froud. This is known as "The Mask of Living Flame" and is on the cover of Brian's latest book, the Brian Froud's World of Faerie. It is a signature piece for him. So last year we mentioned that we would like to actualize some of the masks in leather and see what he thought. Here it is.
And here is the painting we created it from.
The Mask went home with Wendy Froud to show Brian. And yep, Brian was supposed to be there. But this was one of several compounding factors that lead to two of the headlining artists not coming and one of the bands. It seems that Brian had a detached retina, a rather touchy condition that can only be aggravated by flying in a pressurized plane cabin. I think that we can all agree that we would like Brian Froud to keep full use of his eyes and fingers to keep creating such beautiful images for us. Alan Lee, the guest of honor who we were all deeply looking forward to meeting...well...his elderly mother passed away. So these two gentleman's art is one of the firm foundations of the faerie and mythic arts and we were rather disappointed. But I have it on very good authority that no one was more disappointed than them. So, while we were setting up, a guest in our neighboring booth, Larry MacDougal, said "Well, when the headline act doesn't show, it's up to the backup bands to put it on" which is funny with Larry, as he is fundamentally an amazing artist in his own right, having been drawing for the role playing game companies FASA and White Wolf for many years, amongst his many other projects. Larry is hardly back up! Here is an example of his excellent work. I particularly like this one, being overly fond of Pumpkins!
I certainly took this idea to heart and spread it amongst the Spoutwoodian folks who were there. Spoutwood has long been putting on the show whatever the energy, and our tribe is great at bringing up the level. We put out many a loud and hardy KUBIANDO! and got the crowd excited.
That first day, we were all a bit Frazzle Faeries and didn't get changed to garb, but what is funny that in my traveling clothing, I am still a Green Man. Here I am on Friday with a fellow Green Man and amazing guy, Billy Scudder. Billy has been performing longer than I have been alive, and doing the Green Man for quite a few years as well. Naturally, we have convinced Billy to come into B.O.G.
That picture comes care of the wonderful roaming, whom I was very glad to finally get to spend some real time with. Thank you Bryony, it's great to get to know you. I am honored to call you a friend.
So here is our final booth set up, which I already posted a picture of. It's very different setting up in an indoor environment, and there is lots of logistics we don't normally have to deal with. Couple that with that we are used to having a bit more room and it means we felt a little off kilter all weekend.
Now a little about our neighboring booths, which I think does a lot to illustrate the amazing talent that is at FaerieCon. I already mentioned Larry next door, who was joined in the booth by his equally accomplished wife, Pat Ann Lewis. Pat was a delightful neighbor and my kids just loved looking at her stuff and chatting with her. She made a real impression on Jared. Here is a bit of Pat's work.
Both of them were sharing the booth as guests of Charles Vess and his wonderful wife, Karen Schaefer. Now I have been a huge fan of Charles' work for many years and I blogged about attending the Stardust Festival last year where I got to meet Charles for the first time. He was the co-creator of the novel Stardust which the recent Hollywood movie was based on. I have gotten to know Charles quite a bit more in the past year and can call him a friend. I did tell him that a few years ago, the idea of my booth being next to him would have left me with a bit more of a fanboy giggle. Here is a bit of Charles' work to illustrate his skills.
This statue is of Yvain the Star from Stardust. They were a limited edition that was offered by DC Comics, molded from an original by Charles. I am humbled to say that it was gifted to us by Charles at the end of the weekend. It is already a treasured part of our family art collection and has a place of honor on the mantel, the only place it will fit. To illustrate that despite my friendship with Charles, I am still quite a fanboy, here is my original Vess artwork, I asked him to letter my exhibitor badge. I am such a geek.
Now that I have gotten the embarrassing part out of the way...well, mostly.
Across the row from us was the visionary Helena Nelson Reed. Helena immediately made friends with Ellawyn while we were setting up and the two were spotted several times over the weekend, close together, whispering fairy secrets about Helena's art. Here is one of my favorite pieces of it.
It is so strange these days. I remember when I first discovered the community around the Mythic Arts and made it a goal to get into it in a fundamental way. I guess you could say I discovered a secret garden with a dinner party going on inside and knew I wanted into the garden to wonder in it's delights and participate in the conversation. I believed that I had something to add to the conversation, no matter how minor. It's a pleasure and honor to call artists who I have long admired professionally, now, my friends.
On with the show.
After the frantic rush of going to the MD RenFest site late on Thursday, spending one night, dropping off stock, picking up more, and rushing to Philadelphia, navigating the downtown maze, (we are NOT "city folk" and don't do well in downtown areas!) unloading at hotel and convention center, finding parking, and finally throwing that booth up in time to be open by noon, we were exhausted and ready for a quiet night in our room. Which is funny, since it was the Good Faeries Ball that night.
Now everyone just assumes we would attend. You know, mask makers....a masquerade ball...it seems natural. It would be were it not for our fatigue and need for a baby sitter for Ellawyn. Hindsight being what it is, we would have liked to have worked it out so we could attend, but such is life. As it was, our masks were well represented and worn by many attendees. Next year...
Saturday we were much better rested and ready, and enjoying our hotel location. We were in the Hilton Garden Inn, located immediately across the street from the hall. This was a big change from last year when we were several blocks away and I moved our van and re-parked it each morning, a huge headache. So we strolled across the street in faery finery garb, drawing photos and stares on the streets.
We were glad to be joined by the ever delightful posiefairy. Posie is a the AdminsterElf for Spoutwood Farm Mayday Fairie Festival, the oldest and biggest Fairie Festival in the country. Additionally, she is a wonderful "Birthday Fairy" entertainer and a dear friend, as well as the mother of her own little goblin, Prince Shannon. We have enjoyed Posie's company many times but never gotten to spend more than a few minutes it seems. Funny how such deep friendships can be built on such fleeting times, due to the Festival scene. This time, Posie wanted to come to FaerieCon, and we needed a companion for Ellawyn, so it all worked out perfectly. Posie is one of Ellawyn's three "Fairy Godmothers" and is GREAT with her. We were concerned throughout the day, as Posie's husband Ted was feeling ill but several phone calls confirmed he was doing OK and she could enjoy the day. Unfortunately, little Shannon, the same age as Ell, stayed home...or perhaps fortunately, as we can only imagine the energy bundles that two 5 year olds could raise!
Here is dear Posie and Ellawyn modeling masks together.
And playing, as only Fairies can do.
We also had planned a Green Man March for the hall early on Saturday. The Brothers showed up and we pulled those we could from the booths. One Brother came with some bags of real leaves and vines, which was a huge addition to only wearing silks in the hall. We Greened up outside the entrance and Groved a new Brother. I was very glad to have Jared March with us, as he doesn't often get a chance to. He wore his goggles and Asian hat and looked the goon, which was great with our group. The folks waiting in the check in line loved us and came over for lots of pictures. Here we are as a group just before our entrance.
Our entrance was great, as the acoustics in the hall made our chant and announcement echo and boom. We came through the front and I pounded my staff 3 times, ringing bells and horns, announcing "The Blessed Order of the Greenman offerings you Bounty and Abundance on this Fine Festival Day!" and then our chant of...
Hoof and Horn, Hoof and Horn!
All that dies shall be reborn!
Corn and Grain, Corn and Grain!
All that falls shall rise again!
We sounded better than we have ever before.
We drew a lot of attention. And one of the benefits of Blessing the Hall and being a Boggie is all the pictures we get asked to take, not the least of which are with lovely ladies. Especially when those ladies are dear friends like Ash Evans, on LJ as thephoenixx, of Phoenixx Fire Studios. Here she is, making BOG look good.
We called the Brothers from the booth out for a chant. Including some of the honorary Brothers of the Order. Here is Ari Berk and John Matthews a pair of rogues and scholars, joining in.
You of course note that John and Ari are hanging out at the Faerie Magazine booth. This was on the end of our block of booths, which is, of course, why we were there. Great being around our friends from the magazine, seeing the new issue that we worked hard on, and getting to socialize some. Kim, the editor, always tries to create a pro-lounge area for friends of the magazine to have a private space. That way they can take a moment to breathe away from the press of fans...except for goofy fans like me.
Kalabran, Prior of the Order, had a big horn. A Shofar to be precise, a recent gift to him. So it sounded great in the hall as well, although we were careful not to disturb any lectures....too much. Here is Kal tooting his own horn.
We handed out bunches of acorns from my trees. Wonderful to place them in the hands of special people. I took a moment with Wendy Froud to thank her for the inspiration she has provided to so many.
And here is the final image of the BOG with Billy, whom we had just Groved.
As we finished up, we realized that we had been followed by a small news team from a local cable access show. They asked to interview me which I obliged and I got a few minutes of cable fame.
Of course, the costumes in the hall can be something else. This wonderful Dryad was a few booths down from us and was easily the most photographed faery in the building.
Here is a pretty fairy, all in pinks. Ellawyn really loved this one. Please excuse the dark shot.
There were naturally a couple of other mask makers there. The excellent craftings of Donovan of Wing and Talon Leather, who I failed to get a picture of his and their work. And Zack, and excellent Mask Maker and BOG Brother. Here is Leah, wearing one of Zack's Green Man creations.
We had so many friends at the show that there is no way I can mention all of them, so how about some of those that I got pictures of. Here is Brigid Ashwood, a dear friend and excellent artist, showing a young fae how her Wacom Cintiq screen. A Cintiq is an amazing tool for creating digital art in itself, but a tool is only as good as the mastery of the artist using it. Brigid is truly a master. Please excuse the blurry picture.
And to illustrate Brigid's abilities causing beams of light to do her will, here is her latest creation, "La Fee Verte, an Absinthe Fairy".
\
Another good friend there was Billy Bardo of the Bardo Brothers and Future Relics Jewelry. Here is Billy, wearing one of his signature antlered top hats.
One of those hats, which aren't usually for sell, ended up going home with Holly Black. That is a hilarious and magical story...which I am not at liberty to divulge, but Holly looked great in it. Sorry, no picture.
To show off more of Billy's art, perhaps my favorite Green Man jewelry piece is from his studio. Here it is.
By the end of Saturday, we were all bushed, having put out a ton of energy into the hall and our own booth. Ellawyn was too tired to walk, luckily, she had brought her brother along and could hitch a ride. And his goggles came in handy for her tired eyes.
That night, once again, we didn't go to the ball. Very Cinderella of us. However, we did have a nice night. Posie was staying in our hotel. A good meal and then Leah needed to run an errand. Before I knew what was happening, Ellawyn's Fairy Godmother had her in the bath and out, reading a bedtime story to her. I was amazed and she seemed to love doing this for her. I guess those Mommy instincts are always on, and Posie is a great mom. We crashed early while the rest of the faeries partied at the ball. The following morning saw us bleary eyed and brushy faced at breakfast. Here we are.
While we were there, John and Caitlin Matthews dropped in for a bite. While I was visiting with John, who is the author of the best book done on the Green Man image, Quest for the Green Man,I serendipitously noted that the building across the way had a Green Man of sorts on it. Technically an infoliated Cherub face, but a Green Man in our eyes.
Posie transformed in to a radiant Fairy in her Autumnal Glory. Seriously...it was cool! Posie is known for vast and creative outfits and this is one of my favorites. And the original photo is once again the credit of roaming.
We liked her resplendent fairy glamour so much that a picture I took of her while wearing one of our masks may show up as advertisement one day. Here is a test run, this is only a test. Had this been an actual advertisement, the typography would have been much better.
Perhaps one of our all time highlights of the weekend was meeting Virginia Lee, daughter of Alan Lee and amazing Mythic artist in her own right. Virgina came by the booth and I recognized her, which few people had, and was very excited to meet her. She had worked on the Lord of the Rings Movies with her dad in the Weta Workshops creating the special effects. Those LOTR fans reading this will know exactly what THAT means! WOW! When Virginia expressed interest in our polymer horns to give to a friend, I gave them to her as a gift. Naturally, she tried to politely decline them, but I pointed out that she had never seen any of our art, been inspired by it, and gone on to create something, while we had done exactly that from her's! So here is Leah and I with Virginia. She was VERY soft spoken and shy and I think we embarrassed her a bit, but I hope she forgave me for it.
Later that day, Virginia's highly skilled and talented mother, Marja Lee gave us the print we started this post out with, the Piping Green Women. Marja creates dreams and visions with paint and the latest issue of Faerie Magazine as an article on her. We were very flattered and I offered Virginia a piece of our work in return. I was delightfully tickled that she choose the new Twig Crown that Leah is wearing in that picture. You see, it was Virginia's tree women that inspired it! Here is one of them.
The show was blessed with an appearance by Toby Froud. Toby is the son of Brian and Wendy and a skilled artist, sculptor, performer and puppeteer. All that, and he is still best known as the little kid in the striped footy pajamas from Labyrinth! Toby was entertaining in the lanes with his puppet friend, Ignatz, a silly little Goblin with a cocky attitude. They were both a lot of fun. We got Toby to pose for a very special picture for us. Jared, my 16 year old son, is actually named from Goblin King in Labyrinth, although we changed the spelling. He is sort of our Goblin Prince. So here are a pair of Goblin Princes and a saucy little Goblin. I love that Jared is the one wearing the stripes in this shot.
Naturally the littlest Wildwose got in the kid's shows. This wasn't hard, as the bulk of the children present were with vendors. So here she is participating in a storytelling event.
That storyteller there is Mark Lewis, a talented guy with tons of TV and performance to his name, as well as being quite a scholar. It was Mark who reminded me of the other word of the weekend.
Enthusiasm. Which has it's roots in the Greek for En-Theos. To be filled with the Gods. Good word, goes well with Inspiration. I am often told that my enthusiasm is contagious.
During the weekend I was honored to be entrusted with something special. At last year's FaerieCon, Charles Vess started drawing a tree on a piece of Bristol Board. He then handed that to Linda Ravenscroft who added more tree and some faeries, Charles coming back with some foxes and a fairy himself. The drawing then drew the attentions of Ari Berk, who is a skilled illustrator as well as a scholar, and he added a Goblin. Doodles from some of the Faerie Magazine staff were added in, included a Brambleberry face peering out drawn by me. Brigid Ashwood, Jane Starr Weils, Larry MacDougal, P.A. Lewis, and Ruth Sanderson all left their marks as well. Here I am holding the picture, looking like a fanboy, taking it around to some of the artists. To say I am a little flabbergasted that my signature is amongst all those others in the corner is an understatement.
Three of the artists I mentioned, I haven't shown the art of.
Linda Ravenscroft is one of the most talented illustrators in the field. Linda casually and easily fills sketch books with ball point pen drawings of mythic scenes. Here is one example of Linda's.
Jane Star Weils is one of our favorites and so talented, and a sweetheart too! Jane illustrated the cover of the latest album by our favorite faerie band, Kiva. Here is that cover.
Ruth Sanderson was one of the folks I was really looking forward to meeting. Her work is of the highest caliber and she creates stunning images of light and glory. This piece, her Autumn Fairy, glows like the leaves she has captured. Ruth and I bonded on the fact that we both keep our heads down at the ground a lot this time of year, looking for leaves. I shared with her the idea of using a flat bed scanner to capture them.
One of the velvet curses of FaerieCon is the amount of money we spend on books to get signed. We budget in a chunk to fill in gaps in our collection and have the folks inscribe them, creating family heirlooms and much loved books. Here is Ellawyn getting her two newest additions of the Spiderwick Chronicles signed by Holly Black.
Behind Holly is Michael Hague, one of our favorite book illustrators. We bought his "Book of Faeries" this year and this is what he did when he signed it.
Ell is very good about getting signatures and she liked the drawings that many folks do in them, but usually she plays and runs around while we wait in line. Then we call her over when it's our turn and she talks with the artist. There was one though that she picked out, stood in line for 45 minutes and watched the entire time. That was the stunning Kinuko Craft. Ellawyn chose her edition of Cinderella. Here is the cover image.
I am not sure what it is about Kinuko that mesmerizes Ellawyn so much. Certainly her rich pallet of imagery is appealing, but there is something about the lady herself that Ell finds fascinating. I think it may be her size. Kinuko is of Japanese ancestry and as you can see from this picture, is only a bit taller than Ell.
Ellawyn isn't the only one who acquires new treasures at the show. Each of us tends to indulge in art at this event that we don't at others. I was very pleased to get a new Green Man to add to my collection. This is by Paul Borda of Dryad Designs. Paul is a very skilled wood carver who then reproduces his work in resin to share it with all of us. He was demonstrating his craft all weekend and I spent plenty of time watching and learning a bit. Carving and sculpture is one of my passions and I hope to explore this aspect of my own art someday. Paul was "inspiring" to say the least. Here is his "Leaf Mask" in place amongst his brethren in the Green Man's Garden at MDRF.
The golden treasures kept piling up and I couldn't really tell you about all of them. So here is a image of all of it spread out for perusal at home. It is like a well of light and visions that we get to sip from through out the winter. Acorns of fantasy and mythic images for us to squirrel away.
The event for us was wonderful. We also had the additional income of the Renaissance Festival happening that same weekend. Throughout the days we kept in contact with our booth and management where our able fairy staff was having one of our biggest days in MDRF history! By the end of the weekend the walls were nearly bare at the Renfest and ours at the Con were sparse indeed! It is always hard to separate our stock between two booths and our brains were spread out as well with worry and concern about being away from our staff in Maryland. However, they are all excellent crew and our manager, Jamie the Jingle Fairy is awesome. All worked out very well in the end, as fairy tales tend to do.
To be fair, not all the vendors can say that. For many there wasn't profit in the mythic woods. Issues with cost, the hall, attendance and other things worked against some of the artists and craftspeople to keep their vision of winter stash elusive. The management of the show is aware of these issues and I believe that are working hard to see them through. I know that next year they are looking into alternative locations, hopefully in an easier area to access and participate in. As you can see, our experiences were in the wonderful trade show of the Mythic Arts aspect that the festival creates. We think we have come away from it, not only having made profit on our work, but with several licenses to create masks based on fantasy illustrations. I know we respect and honor our friends who didn't do so well, and I hope that the energy of the show was a pleasure for them as well. Here is to the hope that the con will find it's legs and come to be the world class event that it longs to be.
So here is one final picture, of the happy Wildwoses of the Woods. Our family was tired, stressed and over worked all weekend, but happy and contented to celebrate the art we all love so much. Posie took this one of us and we are only disappointed that we didn't get one with her in it as our staff.
Soon I will wrap up my final post for MDRF and look back over the year. It has been an adventurous one, but they always are.
I hope our adventures have
Inspired
you and filled you with
Enthusiasm!
Kubinado!
So follow the piping Green Woman....
The piece I just showed you was the Greenwoman by Marja Lee, but I am getting ahead of myself.
It was a wonderful show for us.
The week leading up was a huge production period. We were stocking for both our booth at MDRF and FaerieCon. So we created over 120 pieces last week plus a couple of large art pieces. One of which was this massive Mandala Greenman, created so we would have a showpiece at the Con.
Additionally, we finished out the piece inspired by the work of Brian Froud. This is known as "The Mask of Living Flame" and is on the cover of Brian's latest book, the Brian Froud's World of Faerie. It is a signature piece for him. So last year we mentioned that we would like to actualize some of the masks in leather and see what he thought. Here it is.
And here is the painting we created it from.
The Mask went home with Wendy Froud to show Brian. And yep, Brian was supposed to be there. But this was one of several compounding factors that lead to two of the headlining artists not coming and one of the bands. It seems that Brian had a detached retina, a rather touchy condition that can only be aggravated by flying in a pressurized plane cabin. I think that we can all agree that we would like Brian Froud to keep full use of his eyes and fingers to keep creating such beautiful images for us. Alan Lee, the guest of honor who we were all deeply looking forward to meeting...well...his elderly mother passed away. So these two gentleman's art is one of the firm foundations of the faerie and mythic arts and we were rather disappointed. But I have it on very good authority that no one was more disappointed than them. So, while we were setting up, a guest in our neighboring booth, Larry MacDougal, said "Well, when the headline act doesn't show, it's up to the backup bands to put it on" which is funny with Larry, as he is fundamentally an amazing artist in his own right, having been drawing for the role playing game companies FASA and White Wolf for many years, amongst his many other projects. Larry is hardly back up! Here is an example of his excellent work. I particularly like this one, being overly fond of Pumpkins!
I certainly took this idea to heart and spread it amongst the Spoutwoodian folks who were there. Spoutwood has long been putting on the show whatever the energy, and our tribe is great at bringing up the level. We put out many a loud and hardy KUBIANDO! and got the crowd excited.
That first day, we were all a bit Frazzle Faeries and didn't get changed to garb, but what is funny that in my traveling clothing, I am still a Green Man. Here I am on Friday with a fellow Green Man and amazing guy, Billy Scudder. Billy has been performing longer than I have been alive, and doing the Green Man for quite a few years as well. Naturally, we have convinced Billy to come into B.O.G.
That picture comes care of the wonderful roaming, whom I was very glad to finally get to spend some real time with. Thank you Bryony, it's great to get to know you. I am honored to call you a friend.
So here is our final booth set up, which I already posted a picture of. It's very different setting up in an indoor environment, and there is lots of logistics we don't normally have to deal with. Couple that with that we are used to having a bit more room and it means we felt a little off kilter all weekend.
Now a little about our neighboring booths, which I think does a lot to illustrate the amazing talent that is at FaerieCon. I already mentioned Larry next door, who was joined in the booth by his equally accomplished wife, Pat Ann Lewis. Pat was a delightful neighbor and my kids just loved looking at her stuff and chatting with her. She made a real impression on Jared. Here is a bit of Pat's work.
Both of them were sharing the booth as guests of Charles Vess and his wonderful wife, Karen Schaefer. Now I have been a huge fan of Charles' work for many years and I blogged about attending the Stardust Festival last year where I got to meet Charles for the first time. He was the co-creator of the novel Stardust which the recent Hollywood movie was based on. I have gotten to know Charles quite a bit more in the past year and can call him a friend. I did tell him that a few years ago, the idea of my booth being next to him would have left me with a bit more of a fanboy giggle. Here is a bit of Charles' work to illustrate his skills.
This statue is of Yvain the Star from Stardust. They were a limited edition that was offered by DC Comics, molded from an original by Charles. I am humbled to say that it was gifted to us by Charles at the end of the weekend. It is already a treasured part of our family art collection and has a place of honor on the mantel, the only place it will fit. To illustrate that despite my friendship with Charles, I am still quite a fanboy, here is my original Vess artwork, I asked him to letter my exhibitor badge. I am such a geek.
Now that I have gotten the embarrassing part out of the way...well, mostly.
Across the row from us was the visionary Helena Nelson Reed. Helena immediately made friends with Ellawyn while we were setting up and the two were spotted several times over the weekend, close together, whispering fairy secrets about Helena's art. Here is one of my favorite pieces of it.
It is so strange these days. I remember when I first discovered the community around the Mythic Arts and made it a goal to get into it in a fundamental way. I guess you could say I discovered a secret garden with a dinner party going on inside and knew I wanted into the garden to wonder in it's delights and participate in the conversation. I believed that I had something to add to the conversation, no matter how minor. It's a pleasure and honor to call artists who I have long admired professionally, now, my friends.
On with the show.
After the frantic rush of going to the MD RenFest site late on Thursday, spending one night, dropping off stock, picking up more, and rushing to Philadelphia, navigating the downtown maze, (we are NOT "city folk" and don't do well in downtown areas!) unloading at hotel and convention center, finding parking, and finally throwing that booth up in time to be open by noon, we were exhausted and ready for a quiet night in our room. Which is funny, since it was the Good Faeries Ball that night.
Now everyone just assumes we would attend. You know, mask makers....a masquerade ball...it seems natural. It would be were it not for our fatigue and need for a baby sitter for Ellawyn. Hindsight being what it is, we would have liked to have worked it out so we could attend, but such is life. As it was, our masks were well represented and worn by many attendees. Next year...
Saturday we were much better rested and ready, and enjoying our hotel location. We were in the Hilton Garden Inn, located immediately across the street from the hall. This was a big change from last year when we were several blocks away and I moved our van and re-parked it each morning, a huge headache. So we strolled across the street in faery finery garb, drawing photos and stares on the streets.
We were glad to be joined by the ever delightful posiefairy. Posie is a the AdminsterElf for Spoutwood Farm Mayday Fairie Festival, the oldest and biggest Fairie Festival in the country. Additionally, she is a wonderful "Birthday Fairy" entertainer and a dear friend, as well as the mother of her own little goblin, Prince Shannon. We have enjoyed Posie's company many times but never gotten to spend more than a few minutes it seems. Funny how such deep friendships can be built on such fleeting times, due to the Festival scene. This time, Posie wanted to come to FaerieCon, and we needed a companion for Ellawyn, so it all worked out perfectly. Posie is one of Ellawyn's three "Fairy Godmothers" and is GREAT with her. We were concerned throughout the day, as Posie's husband Ted was feeling ill but several phone calls confirmed he was doing OK and she could enjoy the day. Unfortunately, little Shannon, the same age as Ell, stayed home...or perhaps fortunately, as we can only imagine the energy bundles that two 5 year olds could raise!
Here is dear Posie and Ellawyn modeling masks together.
And playing, as only Fairies can do.
We also had planned a Green Man March for the hall early on Saturday. The Brothers showed up and we pulled those we could from the booths. One Brother came with some bags of real leaves and vines, which was a huge addition to only wearing silks in the hall. We Greened up outside the entrance and Groved a new Brother. I was very glad to have Jared March with us, as he doesn't often get a chance to. He wore his goggles and Asian hat and looked the goon, which was great with our group. The folks waiting in the check in line loved us and came over for lots of pictures. Here we are as a group just before our entrance.
Our entrance was great, as the acoustics in the hall made our chant and announcement echo and boom. We came through the front and I pounded my staff 3 times, ringing bells and horns, announcing "The Blessed Order of the Greenman offerings you Bounty and Abundance on this Fine Festival Day!" and then our chant of...
Hoof and Horn, Hoof and Horn!
All that dies shall be reborn!
Corn and Grain, Corn and Grain!
All that falls shall rise again!
We sounded better than we have ever before.
We drew a lot of attention. And one of the benefits of Blessing the Hall and being a Boggie is all the pictures we get asked to take, not the least of which are with lovely ladies. Especially when those ladies are dear friends like Ash Evans, on LJ as thephoenixx, of Phoenixx Fire Studios. Here she is, making BOG look good.
We called the Brothers from the booth out for a chant. Including some of the honorary Brothers of the Order. Here is Ari Berk and John Matthews a pair of rogues and scholars, joining in.
You of course note that John and Ari are hanging out at the Faerie Magazine booth. This was on the end of our block of booths, which is, of course, why we were there. Great being around our friends from the magazine, seeing the new issue that we worked hard on, and getting to socialize some. Kim, the editor, always tries to create a pro-lounge area for friends of the magazine to have a private space. That way they can take a moment to breathe away from the press of fans...except for goofy fans like me.
Kalabran, Prior of the Order, had a big horn. A Shofar to be precise, a recent gift to him. So it sounded great in the hall as well, although we were careful not to disturb any lectures....too much. Here is Kal tooting his own horn.
We handed out bunches of acorns from my trees. Wonderful to place them in the hands of special people. I took a moment with Wendy Froud to thank her for the inspiration she has provided to so many.
And here is the final image of the BOG with Billy, whom we had just Groved.
As we finished up, we realized that we had been followed by a small news team from a local cable access show. They asked to interview me which I obliged and I got a few minutes of cable fame.
Of course, the costumes in the hall can be something else. This wonderful Dryad was a few booths down from us and was easily the most photographed faery in the building.
Here is a pretty fairy, all in pinks. Ellawyn really loved this one. Please excuse the dark shot.
There were naturally a couple of other mask makers there. The excellent craftings of Donovan of Wing and Talon Leather, who I failed to get a picture of his and their work. And Zack, and excellent Mask Maker and BOG Brother. Here is Leah, wearing one of Zack's Green Man creations.
We had so many friends at the show that there is no way I can mention all of them, so how about some of those that I got pictures of. Here is Brigid Ashwood, a dear friend and excellent artist, showing a young fae how her Wacom Cintiq screen. A Cintiq is an amazing tool for creating digital art in itself, but a tool is only as good as the mastery of the artist using it. Brigid is truly a master. Please excuse the blurry picture.
And to illustrate Brigid's abilities causing beams of light to do her will, here is her latest creation, "La Fee Verte, an Absinthe Fairy".
\
Another good friend there was Billy Bardo of the Bardo Brothers and Future Relics Jewelry. Here is Billy, wearing one of his signature antlered top hats.
One of those hats, which aren't usually for sell, ended up going home with Holly Black. That is a hilarious and magical story...which I am not at liberty to divulge, but Holly looked great in it. Sorry, no picture.
To show off more of Billy's art, perhaps my favorite Green Man jewelry piece is from his studio. Here it is.
By the end of Saturday, we were all bushed, having put out a ton of energy into the hall and our own booth. Ellawyn was too tired to walk, luckily, she had brought her brother along and could hitch a ride. And his goggles came in handy for her tired eyes.
That night, once again, we didn't go to the ball. Very Cinderella of us. However, we did have a nice night. Posie was staying in our hotel. A good meal and then Leah needed to run an errand. Before I knew what was happening, Ellawyn's Fairy Godmother had her in the bath and out, reading a bedtime story to her. I was amazed and she seemed to love doing this for her. I guess those Mommy instincts are always on, and Posie is a great mom. We crashed early while the rest of the faeries partied at the ball. The following morning saw us bleary eyed and brushy faced at breakfast. Here we are.
While we were there, John and Caitlin Matthews dropped in for a bite. While I was visiting with John, who is the author of the best book done on the Green Man image, Quest for the Green Man,I serendipitously noted that the building across the way had a Green Man of sorts on it. Technically an infoliated Cherub face, but a Green Man in our eyes.
Posie transformed in to a radiant Fairy in her Autumnal Glory. Seriously...it was cool! Posie is known for vast and creative outfits and this is one of my favorites. And the original photo is once again the credit of roaming.
We liked her resplendent fairy glamour so much that a picture I took of her while wearing one of our masks may show up as advertisement one day. Here is a test run, this is only a test. Had this been an actual advertisement, the typography would have been much better.
Perhaps one of our all time highlights of the weekend was meeting Virginia Lee, daughter of Alan Lee and amazing Mythic artist in her own right. Virgina came by the booth and I recognized her, which few people had, and was very excited to meet her. She had worked on the Lord of the Rings Movies with her dad in the Weta Workshops creating the special effects. Those LOTR fans reading this will know exactly what THAT means! WOW! When Virginia expressed interest in our polymer horns to give to a friend, I gave them to her as a gift. Naturally, she tried to politely decline them, but I pointed out that she had never seen any of our art, been inspired by it, and gone on to create something, while we had done exactly that from her's! So here is Leah and I with Virginia. She was VERY soft spoken and shy and I think we embarrassed her a bit, but I hope she forgave me for it.
Later that day, Virginia's highly skilled and talented mother, Marja Lee gave us the print we started this post out with, the Piping Green Women. Marja creates dreams and visions with paint and the latest issue of Faerie Magazine as an article on her. We were very flattered and I offered Virginia a piece of our work in return. I was delightfully tickled that she choose the new Twig Crown that Leah is wearing in that picture. You see, it was Virginia's tree women that inspired it! Here is one of them.
The show was blessed with an appearance by Toby Froud. Toby is the son of Brian and Wendy and a skilled artist, sculptor, performer and puppeteer. All that, and he is still best known as the little kid in the striped footy pajamas from Labyrinth! Toby was entertaining in the lanes with his puppet friend, Ignatz, a silly little Goblin with a cocky attitude. They were both a lot of fun. We got Toby to pose for a very special picture for us. Jared, my 16 year old son, is actually named from Goblin King in Labyrinth, although we changed the spelling. He is sort of our Goblin Prince. So here are a pair of Goblin Princes and a saucy little Goblin. I love that Jared is the one wearing the stripes in this shot.
Naturally the littlest Wildwose got in the kid's shows. This wasn't hard, as the bulk of the children present were with vendors. So here she is participating in a storytelling event.
That storyteller there is Mark Lewis, a talented guy with tons of TV and performance to his name, as well as being quite a scholar. It was Mark who reminded me of the other word of the weekend.
Enthusiasm. Which has it's roots in the Greek for En-Theos. To be filled with the Gods. Good word, goes well with Inspiration. I am often told that my enthusiasm is contagious.
During the weekend I was honored to be entrusted with something special. At last year's FaerieCon, Charles Vess started drawing a tree on a piece of Bristol Board. He then handed that to Linda Ravenscroft who added more tree and some faeries, Charles coming back with some foxes and a fairy himself. The drawing then drew the attentions of Ari Berk, who is a skilled illustrator as well as a scholar, and he added a Goblin. Doodles from some of the Faerie Magazine staff were added in, included a Brambleberry face peering out drawn by me. Brigid Ashwood, Jane Starr Weils, Larry MacDougal, P.A. Lewis, and Ruth Sanderson all left their marks as well. Here I am holding the picture, looking like a fanboy, taking it around to some of the artists. To say I am a little flabbergasted that my signature is amongst all those others in the corner is an understatement.
Three of the artists I mentioned, I haven't shown the art of.
Linda Ravenscroft is one of the most talented illustrators in the field. Linda casually and easily fills sketch books with ball point pen drawings of mythic scenes. Here is one example of Linda's.
Jane Star Weils is one of our favorites and so talented, and a sweetheart too! Jane illustrated the cover of the latest album by our favorite faerie band, Kiva. Here is that cover.
Ruth Sanderson was one of the folks I was really looking forward to meeting. Her work is of the highest caliber and she creates stunning images of light and glory. This piece, her Autumn Fairy, glows like the leaves she has captured. Ruth and I bonded on the fact that we both keep our heads down at the ground a lot this time of year, looking for leaves. I shared with her the idea of using a flat bed scanner to capture them.
One of the velvet curses of FaerieCon is the amount of money we spend on books to get signed. We budget in a chunk to fill in gaps in our collection and have the folks inscribe them, creating family heirlooms and much loved books. Here is Ellawyn getting her two newest additions of the Spiderwick Chronicles signed by Holly Black.
Behind Holly is Michael Hague, one of our favorite book illustrators. We bought his "Book of Faeries" this year and this is what he did when he signed it.
Ell is very good about getting signatures and she liked the drawings that many folks do in them, but usually she plays and runs around while we wait in line. Then we call her over when it's our turn and she talks with the artist. There was one though that she picked out, stood in line for 45 minutes and watched the entire time. That was the stunning Kinuko Craft. Ellawyn chose her edition of Cinderella. Here is the cover image.
I am not sure what it is about Kinuko that mesmerizes Ellawyn so much. Certainly her rich pallet of imagery is appealing, but there is something about the lady herself that Ell finds fascinating. I think it may be her size. Kinuko is of Japanese ancestry and as you can see from this picture, is only a bit taller than Ell.
Ellawyn isn't the only one who acquires new treasures at the show. Each of us tends to indulge in art at this event that we don't at others. I was very pleased to get a new Green Man to add to my collection. This is by Paul Borda of Dryad Designs. Paul is a very skilled wood carver who then reproduces his work in resin to share it with all of us. He was demonstrating his craft all weekend and I spent plenty of time watching and learning a bit. Carving and sculpture is one of my passions and I hope to explore this aspect of my own art someday. Paul was "inspiring" to say the least. Here is his "Leaf Mask" in place amongst his brethren in the Green Man's Garden at MDRF.
The golden treasures kept piling up and I couldn't really tell you about all of them. So here is a image of all of it spread out for perusal at home. It is like a well of light and visions that we get to sip from through out the winter. Acorns of fantasy and mythic images for us to squirrel away.
The event for us was wonderful. We also had the additional income of the Renaissance Festival happening that same weekend. Throughout the days we kept in contact with our booth and management where our able fairy staff was having one of our biggest days in MDRF history! By the end of the weekend the walls were nearly bare at the Renfest and ours at the Con were sparse indeed! It is always hard to separate our stock between two booths and our brains were spread out as well with worry and concern about being away from our staff in Maryland. However, they are all excellent crew and our manager, Jamie the Jingle Fairy is awesome. All worked out very well in the end, as fairy tales tend to do.
To be fair, not all the vendors can say that. For many there wasn't profit in the mythic woods. Issues with cost, the hall, attendance and other things worked against some of the artists and craftspeople to keep their vision of winter stash elusive. The management of the show is aware of these issues and I believe that are working hard to see them through. I know that next year they are looking into alternative locations, hopefully in an easier area to access and participate in. As you can see, our experiences were in the wonderful trade show of the Mythic Arts aspect that the festival creates. We think we have come away from it, not only having made profit on our work, but with several licenses to create masks based on fantasy illustrations. I know we respect and honor our friends who didn't do so well, and I hope that the energy of the show was a pleasure for them as well. Here is to the hope that the con will find it's legs and come to be the world class event that it longs to be.
So here is one final picture, of the happy Wildwoses of the Woods. Our family was tired, stressed and over worked all weekend, but happy and contented to celebrate the art we all love so much. Posie took this one of us and we are only disappointed that we didn't get one with her in it as our staff.
Soon I will wrap up my final post for MDRF and look back over the year. It has been an adventurous one, but they always are.
I hope our adventures have
Inspired
you and filled you with
Enthusiasm!
Kubinado!