What's Better Than a Dead Man's Chest?

A live woman's chest...Arrrrrrghh...or so my husband says. I know from 20 years of history of attending these shindigs that the two months between now and CONvergence will be going incredibly quickly. So I have some catching up to do on my fantasy films, and those saucy Pirate films are just the ticket. I got my email today that said that POTC Dead Man's Chest will be Arriving on or around: Thursday, May 07, 2009.

That's right, I subscribe to Netflix so I can watch all the movies I want and not fill up a house that's already overflowing with videos and books. I've tried to have the conversation with my husband, when he was saying what a great gift such and such book would be. I told him "No more books!" and he promptly responded "But you'll really like this one..." to which I replied, "I'm sure I would love it but we don't have room for more books...NO MORE BOOKS!"

I know, I'm really evil, it's completely wrong of me to say, but we have to cull the herd one of these days so we actually do have room for some NEW books.

Half Blood Prince is Coming!

After several years of multiple fantasy films coming out, the selection has dwindled and I am eagerly awaiting Movie 6 in the Harry Potter collection. So much so that I like to stop by Mugglenet to check out what they've uncovered as we get closer to the release date of July 17th. The latest news is that you might be able to catch a glimpse of it in AMC theaters:

We've now learned that AMC theaters have started playing a Half-Blood Prince sneak peek of their own, and MuggleNet visitor Ellie wrote in to tell us all about it. This feature was seen during a showing of the new Disney documentary Earth, before the trailers.

New footage included a shot of Slughorn's head popping out of his armchair disguise. The armchair then unfolded and shrunk into Slughorn. There was also a conversation between Harry and Dumbledore atop the Astronomy Tower, a group of Hogwarts students in the Quidditch stands looking up at the sky (maybe at the Dark Mark?), some funny shots of Lavender hitting on Ron, and new interviews with director David Yates and producer David Heyman.

As excited as I am for the new movie to come out, I also see that the end is in sight for this era of fantasy fandom. Once Movie #7 has come and gone, what will become of all the people on Mugglenet or other Harry Potter fan sites? The sites themselves will go the way of the dodo and become only a memory in our minds. This is the web and things change pretty quickly around here. All the more reason to enjoy the present and make the most out of the fan resources that are out there!

Wyrdhaven Studio Notes - May 2009

Happy May Day! I'm taking my newsletter and putting it on the blog for everyone to enjoy. I've done it in the past, sort of re-posting the html version that I send out, but it makes more sense to just do it right here in the blog, and send a link to the post to everyone with a few highlights. To begin, the blog has a new masthead and title "the Wyrdhaven Chronicle" to make it sound more like a newspaper from my own little fantasy village of Wyrdhaven. Want to link to the blog? Here, download this banner:



New Store!
So now that we've freshened up the blog a bit, the really big news is that we've launched the Wyrdhaven Zazzle Store! (And the crowd yells Huzzah!!!) In fact, I will be concentrating on that store pretty heavily over the next couple of months. I want to get all of my artwork on some zazzley style stuff. All seven sprites have made the transition and are settling in quite nicely. A Fairy Realm is currently being developed, and did you know that you, yes YOU, get to customize your stuff? Because it's all about you baby! Do me proud and make something cool and magical.

Since the store is BRAND NEW, I could use a little help getting the word out about it. Luckily, there is a solution for that: The Promote This Store Page has several options from sending your friends an email, to posting a flash panel on your own website. How cool is that? Even if you're not in a shopping mood, you can go and leave a comment on your favorite sprite and tell the world how much you love my artwork! It's like getting a hug every time I read something nice. :)

Upcoming Shows
In the previous post I talk a bit about CONvergence. Well, I contacted the Art Show Coordinator, and I will be able to do demos during the Convention! Here's the details on that from my email:

It's a fairly laid-back process. A few years back, one of our artists didn't want to give up the painting time to come to the convention, but his wife dragged him to it, so he set up shop in the art show and painted all weekend. People seemed to enjoy watching the process and it drew people in to watch, so we set aside a few of the tables along the wall with the windows for artists to setup and work. It is also a promotional tool for the artist since they can say "If you like this, my art is hanging right over there...":-)

But as for the process itself, if you just show up and say you want to demo, we can find you a spot. Any time we're open. Sunday you might get the dazed look, but that's just because we're fried on Sunday. Currently we don't schedule it or anything like that so that people keep coming back to see what's happening.

That's the skinny on doing demos at the con, so if you're an artist, bring your sketchbook and take a seat in the Artshow anytime! Click here to Register for the Convention - pre-registration discount expires May 15th.

Wyrdhaven Studio
Don't forget my main website, where there are links to all kinds of fantastic treasures for you to choose from like...

Officially Licensed Stickers, Bags, Magnets, Mousepads & More from Ellen Million Graphics ~ Click Here for Fairy & Fantasy Gifts

Wyrdhaven Gallery
The archival prints in the print gallery are available in a variety of sizes, our hottest selling print this spring is Greenman Awakens. Carved in stone in many churches of Europe. This pagan nature spirit is also sometimes called Jack O the Green. Here he comes to life out of the stone, he has awakened to his power. A butterfly, a symbol of transformation, flies near. Celtic knots on the corners remind us that as life is ever-changing, it is also never ending.

Thanks for stopping by the blog, you can also follow this blog throughout the month by becoming a Follower of Fantasy, just look to the side panel for that or RSS feed options.

Enjoy your May Day!

Fantasy Fans Converge Here...

Have you heard about CONvergence but never gone? I run into that from time to time, from fans on the outside of Fandom. What is fandom? It's the gathering of fans of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Tonight my keyword is gather, so of course I'm trying to find a way to convince you to come to CONvergence in Bloomington, MN, this Fourth of July weekend.

What is CONvergence? It's four fun filled days with people who think a lot like you do. If you've watched the Big Bang Theory, I can introduce you to characters a lot like Leonard (my husband David), Sheldon (my friend Kevin) and even the occasional Penny from across the hall. You can pre-register and save yourself $20 off the At The Door registration price, so it's $50 Until May 15, 2009.

I'll have my artwork in the Art Show of course, and my husband David will be in the Science Room much of the weekend as well. Unfortunately we will not be staying at the hotel this year, we didn't get our requestin soon enough and the hotel is sold out. The commute is pretty quick for us though, being local. At least we had the good sense to pre-register, so we'll be all set when that spectacular weekend comes! I'm even going to see about doing some demos in the art show, it sounds like fun and a chance to Play Art with an audience!!

Artemisia - Equal Rights for Men

Oh yeah, now that's what I'm talking about! More beefcake, less cheezecake. Scantily clad men, woohoo! AND cover art reviews. This is a website that a girl can really sink her artistic teeth into, seriously. I think I'll be visiting regularly, just for a little girl art power pick-me-up. You need that every once and a while as a fantasy artist. Sweeeet!

Musings on Moving

I remember when I moved into my college dorm way back when I first graduated High School. It was my first time away from home for an extended period of time, and I packed fairly lightly since I was sharing a tiny room with a roommate. Not a month went by when I realized that I missed my copy of The Lord of the Rings terribly and I asked my Dad to send them out to me as a care package, along with more of my art stuff. Fandom and fantasy art go hand-in-hand for me it seems. That's why this blog is becoming more focused on the fan part of things, with my art as an expression of that.

Believe it or not, there are fantasy artists out there who don't care a flying fig about the books, movies, and other fantasy artwork out there. They just jumped on the bandwagon and got in tight with a manufacturer and viola! Fake Fantasy Art. If you're a true fantasy fan artist, like me, you started out showing your stuff at the SF&F conventions, because you were going there anyway! But I digress. It seems that anytime I move, or begin a new phase in my life, I re-read The Lord of the Rings. Nowadays, I tend to just watch the movies again because it feeds more of my senses.

When I was painting the rooms in this house, I put my CD from The Return of the King in the boombox and went to work. Now we are just gathering the last bits from the garage at the other house and we are done! All I have to decide is how I will next experience Middle Earth in celebration of the next great adventure in my life, having just one house!

P.S. Please let me know if you like the new masthead for the blog!! ~BHB~

CafePress is Confused

I came home from watching a very cool movie on Earth Day, Rivers and Tides, to browse through my email and find an email from Cafe Press, where I have my fantasy art for sale on t-shirts, mugs, mousepads etc. It was a very strange email, which frankly didn't make much sense. Poor Cafe Press, they think they are a licensing and manufacturing company. Nope, they are merely a printing vendor for artists.

In one foolish move they changed their business model, and are going to lose buckets of money as a result. They decided that I only need to get 10% of anything they sell in the marketplace of my artwork. Nope, sorry, that's my artwork and I get to decide how much I make off of it. So I'm off to Zazzle to set up shop there instead. See Cafe Press? You are just a vendor and selling venue for me as an artist.

I LEFT traditional licensing behind me, with some very few exceptions, because of the low pay-out. And guess what? I was getting more from CafePress in a month than I did in a year at other places. Now I'll be getting those checks from Zazzle instead.

Are you a CP SK and need a pep talk? Visit the AngelCityArt Blog, cause she's been there, done that. Helloooo Zazzle!!!