Or the Unexpected Melody of Silence Inside and Out
Generally, my life seems to be spent in a sort of interior white noise – the humming dynamos and meshing gears of not only creativity (well, whatever it’s called… deadlines, enquiries, what have you) but all the peripheral duties attached. A recitative of trips to the scan shop, faxes, phone calls, sketches to send, letters and texts to write…
A second and exterior aria on top of that: the hum of the computer’s fan, the printer spitting out layouts, the scanner hiccupping and growling – the high-tech end of the studio, where I spend far too much time, is hardly a silent place.
Otherwise, the radio is on, or a CD is spinning in the player, or just the general rumble of the household fills any available acoustic nook and cranny with the continuous arioso I need to occupy my rational mind while the other side of my brain is busy.
Then, suddenly, silence. Two weeks away – no walkman or radio, no internet and best of all, I resisted the temptation of buying a laptop before departing. Just my sketchbook and pencils thoughtfully packed, if ever.
I ended up totally lost, like the puppy that is taken from the litter and given to the neighbours, deprived of jostling siblings, and the familiar beating of the mother’s heart, only appeased with an alarm clock ticking in a sock.
What do you do when you fix a rendez-vous with yourself for a long intimate chat and nobody shows?
Happily, in the throes of vacation bustle and hustle, planes to board, boats to catch, taxis to seek, shop windows and sidewalk aristology, sand to walk on water to swim in, I didn’t much miss myself.
Pushups every morning (the bonus of being on vacation with teenage boys) music in the evening (I am the perfect and otherwise ideal spectator, ALL of the rest of the crowd could either play or sing or both, but I am mercifully and musically mute of hand and tongue), I could almost forgive myself for not showing up as planned.
Then, a few days later, sitting at the far end of the terrace overlooking the sea, there I was, sketchbook and pencils on a table nearby. “Where’ve you been?” I said, running over and grabbing a chair. “Out walking and looking for you” I replied. “Not used to the silence, and a little nervous about actually doodling without the comforting and restrictive harness of commissions, the ample blinders of deadlines to focus on the furrow, the hue and haw of the muse-turned-ploughman.”
“Absolutely,” I concurred. “Hard to light a fire when you’ve got nobody to ask for matches, but I’ve got an idea, let’s get to work.”
Turns out I filled up half a sketchbook, out in the silence provided by cicadas, a lively tin whistle, rolling surf and clean wind off the sea.
Now, back home in the familiar white noise of the studio, I’ve been poking around, looking in the drawers, through the portfolios, in the computer files, but I can’t imagine where I’ve gotten to.
I’m sure I’ll turn up one day. I’ve learned to be patient.
Isn’t it weird how we live in a world where our bodies can travel faster than our minds?
WAR IN MIDDLE-EARTH
Nexus Games in Italy is bringing out a new Lord of the Rings board game. (I tortured them for ages by delivering work late, by reconsidering layouts and redoing pictures, but at last it’s nearly available.) I’ll post links and dates and information on the other editions and all that, but in the meantime, here’s a layout of the box:
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THE ABANDONED CITY
The book will be coming out this fall. If all goes as planned, there will be a gallery show in Brussels and perhaps Bruges and a signing session and launch in Paris this winter. Once again, more news later.
DECIPHER
I’ve also done a bit of work for Decipher, on a new card game. (I tortured them too – sketches late, concepts slow to emerge, deadlines assassinated.) In theory, I will be going to Gen Con in August, so more on that later.
WHEN THE SHOOTING STARTS
The documentary team from Solid Entertainment turned up yesterday and we hope to wrap the full shoot in a short week. I’ll be in Sweden in mid-August for the final editing, which should be excellent fun – two days locked away in a dark room in the beautiful land of fjords and forests, looking at little moving pictures…
But, more on all that later.
THE FELLOWSHIP FESTIVAL
I’m pretty certain we are going – pending engagements – to the Fellowship Festival at the end of August. More on that later too. In the meantime, there’s a little bit here.
SUCKED IN
Hoodwinked myself into purchasing (impulse buying is hard to prepare for in advance) this summer’s summer blockbuster paperback The Da Vinci Code (“A Novel”… I swear that’s what it says on the title page – perhaps for those of us who might confuse with a pack of cigarettes or an apple juice). Why do I buy the things? It was worse than awful, despite promises it would be a “pulse-quickening, brain-teasing adventure… fascinating and fun… exceedingly clever.” I read the book and was not “enlightened”, but disgusted for wasting even a few Euros on it. I should’ve known better, but those Mona Lisa eyes on the cover got me.
I did appreciate the chapter where the author compares Leonardo da Vinci and Walt Disney, though…
Luckily, the fantastic “Portrait in Sepia” (Isabelle Allende), the fizzy “Polaroids From the Dead” (Douglas Coupland, and he’s Canadian too, yay!) and the most unusual “Cloud Atlas” (David Mitchell) were also at hand, so I was reconciled with the written word.
UP CLOSE
I’ve been thinking of a new section for the site, where I might remedy the problem of having really rather small images of really rather large pictures.
Totally arbitrarily (my style entirely) I’ll make a selection of details of larger pieces that can be seen as close to real size as possible.
FAR AWAY
Ever dreamed of subscribing to a cultural magazine that doesn’t seem to be eating out of the hand of half a dozen media magnates? Something pluricultural and unassuming but nonetheless covering everything worth seeing, reading, doing or listening to for a season?
Well, it exists, and in Canada to boot! And it’s only 15 dollars Canadian for four issues (which is probably about 47 cents US by now, given Canada’s vigorously independant monetary policies and stalwart economy… that’s why it’s written “this bill is very tender” on Canadian money. At least I think there’s still Canadian money… oh well, I can always frame my old bills and loonies as souvenirs.)
ARTSFORUM MAGAZINE
236 Sherwood Court
Oshawa, Ontario L1G 6R8
Canada
Phone: 905 576-0359
or e-mail editor John Arkelian at artsforum_magazine@yahoo.ca
There is no on-line version or web site, which either makes John a dinosaur or a man of character. (I opt for the second, since the editorial team occasionally has a kind word for me.)
FAR OUT
This curiously aquatic interpretation of Shelob (with Sam and Frodo replaced by something with admittedly wider appeal) turned up on an Italian CD – “mature melodic power-speed symphonic progressive metal” (what?) from a group called Arachnes. The record is called Primary Fear, which is pretty much what it inspired in me, or at least Secondary Annoyance. I’ve of course written off to ask what’s up, but don’t really expect a reply.
