Summer 2008 has been a wonderful mixture of things. It's been structured around my Tolkien appearances, as well as personal excursions near and far on most weekends. Now, alas, it is passing into fall, and as I write the wind outside is gusting--or should that be 'Gustav-ing'?--it being the last remnants of that recent very damaging storm.
Two Tolkien Events
In mid-July I flew to Frankfurt Germany and was taken to a castle built of red stone amid forested mountains in Bavaria, atop a village called Reineck. Here I was welcomed to the 2008 Tolkien Thing, the 10th anniversary celebration of the German Tolkien Society. Marcel Bulles and his very dedicated committee threw a truly memorable and magical party July 10th to 13th, attended by a diverse number of hobbit-fans and friends from places like Italy, Slovenia, Greece, Holland, Denmark and beyond. It was almost completely perfect, I thought, and along with my slide presentation I sat on an anecdotes-of-our-careers panel with Rene van Rossenberg and Caspar Reiff, as well as did a live painting demo for the first time. That was a challenge, but despite logistical difficulties (the question of light to work by offset by the need to see the projected image for the audience) in 90 minutes I successfully produced a small painting of Bilbo and Gandalf outside Bag End (you know the scene!), and even sold it straight away.
I also performed a set of original songs in the castle chapel Sunday morning, and felt almost hallowed (certainly humbled), having managed not to wake up semi-hung over after the Saturday night revelries. Those wonderful Greeks entertained us well, and about midnight were passing out the ouzo! The chapel featured fabulous acoustics, so that no sound equipment was needed. Happily--unlike last year at this event at a different castle (Diez) during a song--the steeple bells did not go off! Thanks to everyone who made my visit so great!
Later, in mid-August, my partner and I drove to New Britain, Connecticut (USA) for Mythcon 39. My last Mythcon was the Tolkien Society / Mythopoeic Society joint event known as Tolkien 2005, held in Birmingham over several days in August that year. So it was with anticipation that I renewed my acquaintances and friendships there. The location in nearby Connecticut meant a saving on travel costs, significantly. Marian was new to Mythcon, but agreed to assist me (very expertly) with a sales table in the dealers room. After considering alternatives like air or bus, we decided on a scenic, day-long drive through New York State as part of the experience. This proved well worthwhile, giving us a glimpse of the stunning Adirondack Mountains area after we crossed into the U.S. at the beautiful Thousand Islands. (It almost sounds Tolkienian, doesn't it? Rather like The Thousand Caves of Menegroth...)
All in all, it was a very enjoyable time at the campus of Central Connecticut State University. We arrived during a monsoon-worthy thunderstorm, but as everyone who lives in this part of the world knows, it's been a remarkably stormy spring and summer; cooler than average but generally very pleasant (and featuring many memorable sunsets). For us it's been nearly perfect, with the minimum of stale, humid swelter one normally must endure.
Featured at Mythcon for me were my 08 slide presentation, two concert performances, and the sales from the dealers room of CDs, card sets, prints, and calendars. While the first concert was of my serious music (similar to the one in Germany), the 2nd featured fellow musicians/singers Lynn Maudlin, David Emerson and Anne Osborn. Together we gave a comedic performance of The Lord of the Ringo, a spoof based on the trivia that The Beatles seriously considered making a film of LotR in the mid-60s (yes--mind-boggling). Mike Foster and I took the idea forward based on the embryo of it as conceived by Mike and David a few years back. The idea is/was to alter various applicable Beatle songs to LotR lyrics, all to comic effect. As performed with Mike, me and my brother Bruce in 2006 at The Gathering of the Fellowship 2 (Toronto), we and the audience had a blast. Sadly, Mike himself was unable to join us this time, due to combined circumstances, but we gave our all in his honour.
Work and Leisure
This summer I have been busy working on several pieces. Adding to the 13 castle paintings completed by March (for the George R.R. Martin companion book The Complete Guide to the Ice and Fire Universe; Random House; Sept. 09) I painted The Twins in May-June. Later in June I managed to fit in a vanity piece: My car illustration mania needed something to accomplish, so I decided to do a 1962 Pontiac Parisienne Coupe for fun. It's among my nostalgic favourites, and I never felt I'd done the car justice in the past. I'd been toying with the idea since acquiring some new/old illustrated brochures a bit earlier, one of my hobbies. I felt I wanted to research the car as carefully as possible, so I got hold of a GM (General Motors) paint chip sampler from the year, and also managed to locate an actual car in rural Ontario (with uncanny luck; a needle in a haystack if there ever was!) during a weekend away in the backroads. Colour? I selected Honduras Burgundy Metallic.
Since then, I all but completed the Pontiac, and also did a red 60s Mustang semi-sketch in gouache for a friend. In between, I created a Tolkien piece on commission called Gandalf Returns, as well as more recently, Frodo and Haldir in Lothlorien for the same private client.
Along with these works, I'm currently working on the now-in-progress painting Eagles to the Carrock (I'm inclined to focus more on The Hobbit nowadays). Aside from these ongoing works at the studio, and as hinted at above, I've gotten much inspiration from various weekend day-excursions with Marian, along with our camping trip in late July. It's all about piling our stuff into the ol' car and leaving the domestic stress behind as often as possible. We've explored areas in/near the Madawaska Valley to the northeast, rural splendour in Ontario's farming heartland (Holland Marsh; central western Ontario and my home town Goderich), Muskoka (forest, lakes and cottages) for a family reunion, and the aforementioned camping, which was a return to the Lake Huron shores and the Bruce Peninsula, and the clear waters of Georgian Bay. Along with excellent luck weather-wise (including one overnight storm--but every camper wants THAT), it was a chance to compare notes on places both of us have visited separately, but could now appreciate together. As often as possible, we took photos, sketched, and drove nearly randomly along scenic, forgotten roads. Often there was a sublime calm as the sun slanted towards evening. We both feel very lucky indeed to live in a place with such a wealth of beauty within a day's travel.
Next--and it'll be the final Big Trip of 2008--we're off to Oxonmoot later this month. I'll report on that sometime before Christmas with luck...!
Posted by Ted on September 05, 2008
