Thanks so much to everyone who wrote and helped make my first shop update such a success! It was a lot of work but so much fun, that I think I will keep it up for the time being. I'm already toying with themes for the next one...'Ménagerie' and 'Alice in Wonderland' keep floating around in my head...While I've loved Alice since I was six, I'm so excited about the Tim Burton movie that I have Alice on the brain (though I do fear Johnny Depp is too pretty to be the Mad Hatter).
I plan to do another update in mid/late August before I go on vacation, though it might be a bit smaller than the Shakespeare update (there are still a few dolls and plenty of prints).
I'm entering week two of broken knee-dom, and have already coming a long way in terms of mobility. I say an orthopedist on Friday and was given the green light to put partial weight on my knee as long as it's straight and partially supported by the use of a crutch. It makes simple things so much easier, as beforehand I had to keep my leg straight out in front me, making just going to the bathroom a pretty wearying affair. I also got my stitches out, but the healing there has not been as positive. I have a small but raised bump of scar tissue on my chin, and nurse said I might need plastic surgery to remove it, if doesn't go down by itself. Right now my vanity is feeling much more wounded than my body. Le sigh. Here is the offending chin - you can't really see the scar in this picture, but it's there:
In other news, I have decided to take a break from custom orders until further notice. This does not include anyone who has already ordered a piece - I will of course honour any commitments I've already made. I've had some wonderful experiences with custom orders, and feel they've really added to my sculpting skills, as well as pushing me to make faces with more character and variation. On the other hand, I am always very concerned about pleasing the buyer and get quite tied up in knots if I'm not able to make the piece exactly as they hoped it would be. I'll also have less time in the fall when I go back to school and begin another teaching-assistantship in the Theatre History department, so this is one way of ensuring I don't have too many deadlines at any one time. But I truly appreciate everyone who has trusted me with a custom order - I've learned so much.
Well, convalescence can be a tad dull, and a bit heartbreaking in these short summer months because I can't walk to park or ride my bike in the sun or go for a swim to escape those humid days. But I'm so grateful to have a backyard that I can hobble down to and get my outdoor fix - otherwise, I would have surely lost my mind by now. And books are also very important (though I confess reading a little too much Vanity Fair!) Right now I'm reading Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, which is just so beautiful. Next on my list: The Odyssey. I'm ashamed to be a literature student without ever having read it.
I've also been watching a lot of movies, and my favourite has been Coraline.
I saw in the theatre and fell in love, so if you missed it then, it's so worth renting. It's almost entirely stop-motion animation, which is truly staggering to think about when you see the gorgeous detail and the complexity of some of the scenes. There are also some great mini-features about its making on Youtube, including videos about the construction of the puppets, the hand-knitting of the teeny-tiny sweaters and gloves, and the making of eensy-weensy wigs.