It’s been, again, far too long since I’ve posted here. I’m a little better about making micro updates and posts on the TOBYSBRAIN FB page, but I’ve had a bunch of post ideas-a list, in fact-I just haven’t had the time to get to them. Rest assured you will see them with your own two eyes. At some point. Promise.
Anywho, a lot has transpired in the world of Toby that I’ve wanted to comment on (and I will…I haven’t forgotten. I made that promise just last paragraph). I’ve made some Plunger Monkey art. There were the annual Plunger Monkey xmas envelopes. I’ve been toying with the idea of a strictly PMD history/gallery page for this site. I reached a milestone in my manga self-portrait project. I saw the new Star Wars…3 times (Star Wars is by far my biggest creative influence). I started reworking a project for someone. I still have a half dozen or more projects kicking around in desperate need of my attention.
But, since it’s been a while, and since the holidays just passed, I thought I should start off the new year with a Studio Stuff entry.
I swear I didn’t cry. I’m too manly to cry. Seriously…
One of the best gifts I received in 2015 was a simple hat, from my parents, on December 28th (the day we all managed to get together and celebrate xmas). It was wrapped in tissue paper in a generic card board box, along with a photo…
…a photo that now sits right above my monitor in my studio. Guarded by Boba Fett, apparently.
That is my late grandfather, my mother’s father, whom we kids all called pepere (mom’s side of the family is basically all French Canadian). Yes, for those of you with great memories (or nothing else to remember), the same pepere of the lamp.
He was a man who lived through and participated in a pivotal point in history, World War II, a fact that always fascinated and impressed me. He served in the 825th Tank Destroyer Battalion. He never was able to talk much about it, at least around me, but back in the year 2000 I had the opportunity to tag along with him and some other family members to an annual WWII reunion down in Myrtle Beach. I met and befriended many wonderful people during that experience (a few of which I still try to stay in touch with), which gave me another avenue to learn more about my pepere. I think I attended a total of 4 or so (the last one my wife and, at the time, 1 year old son came) before the dwindling participation brought the tradition to an end. I have some fantastic memories of those trips, and now I have a physical reminder of those times, those people, but mostly, my pepere.
No, the hat doesn’t emit it’s own light. That’s some Photoshop trickery to make it more noticeable.
When I sit at my desk, I’m surrounded by objects that provoke memories or inspire creativity. It’s no accident that many of those objects come from friends and family.
Before I sign off, it dawns on me that this little website is just about a year old…I should come up with something to commemorate that. Also, if you’re observant, there’s a sneak preview of one of my current projects somewhere in this post…
Nice thoughts about pepere. So happy mom thought to speak up and ask for the hat from memere, and to give it to you. Don’t think we’ve seen or been in your studio for quite a few years…don’t recognize it…maybe it’s the large mirror on the window wall that’s making it look so different.
Possibly. I did shift the mirror over to next to my desk, rather than behind it, sometime in 2015. It makes it easier for me to make faces at myself when I work.