My Friends,
I’m experiencing a self-imposed studio sequester (say that 3 times fast) and will be for the foreseeable future. Most of you lovely folks who visit here with me know I’d like to someday utter, “Yes, I’m published.” Well, I’m digging in my hooves and applying the only magic I know – persistent work. Feeding my family be damned (kidding, of course).

As I create the many monsters for my project, I’m learning or rather that is remembering as I proceed: If you rush or overwork your art, have a trusty garbage receptacle nearby. My trashcan is named Wandel.

There is a point where one must change direction but I can be bull-headed. When an idea in my head isn’t translating to paper, I often waste too much time trying to make the unworkable work. And then, when I’ve invested so much effort, what is the next logical step? Of course, trying to make it work. When Wandel starts talking to me, I know it’s over. I feed him a delicious snack of paper and scribble. He’s most thankful and I must begin again. In the end, I always get something better. It’s the letting go of what didn’t work that never gets easy.

I share with you below a failed attempt at a Jersey Devil. I’m too embarrassed to share the previous renderings which were worse. The Jersey Devil is supposed to be a winged half-man and half-horse creature (according to some eyewitness accounts). After several iterations of trying to create an original looking character, I gave up and fell prey to an easier approach. What I got was a red Pegasus with a migraine. I keep this unfinished devil nearby to remind me: Wandel needs to watch his weight and I shouldn’t feed the trashcan so much.

One can learn much from a devil 😉
Thank you. May you dream of angelic devils who dispense sage advice.