Dart Revisited

I (Jozef) recently received a Facebook post from a comics reader that started a conversation about the comics miniseries Dart, which Black Mermaid Productions worked on and which Image Comics published in the mid 1990s. 

The series revolved around Erik Larsen's famous female vigilante hero Dart who became the leader of Freak Force and used darts as her weapon of choice. Erik gave us a specific brief – he wanted a challenge on her name and indentify within the context of the story, as well as a bar-room brawl scene where she wards off her attackers by using the aforementioned darts. Everything else was up for grabs. 

The first story we pitched was sort of like a cross between Alias and Nikita (well before they came out on television), which featured Dart as a spy who was going to use her darts to assassinate a major baddie while he was performing in an opera or ballet under great security protocols (we're going to have to find the original source material to remember all the details). We do know that Dart wore her darts as fancy disguised earrings with her beautiful evening dress, which is why she sets off the metal detector but looked so innocuous that the guards let her through). 

Erik asked us to re-pitch because the first story didn't completely fit the brief and we came up with an alternative story which featured a team of fashionista superheroes called Blood Chic who help Dart resolve the issue of commercial identify theft and fight off the supervillains called Vogue Attack .

The series sold very well and we made the Wizard Top 100 but the story was met with a mixed response by Dart and die-hard superhero genre fans – some loved it and others disliked it intensely. And we get it! The story wasn't a spoof on superheroes as the dangers were very real, but our heroes didn't exactly stop the world from being destroyed – only a shopping mall with lots of innocent people so the stakes weren't as high as a Superman or Spiderman story. Our own characters were also a little out there, although we really wanted to honour Dart and Erik so we worked hard to get her psychological profile right through a series of flashbacks.

However, what was significant about the story – at least from our point of view – was that it introduced Deathgaze one of the first gay superheroes in comics of the day who unfortunately remains forgotten (that's him in the top cover at the extreme left hand side). The series also featured one of our signature mermaids but that's another story.  We invented backstories with a twist for each of the characters. We don't really know whether we will ever do anything with them in the future, as we want to focus on Elf~Fin, Mermist Seas and another property dear to our hearts. However, we think it's noteworthy to mention that gay superhero characters have only recently come out of the comics closet so to speak and have now been embraced by comics publishers and readers alike, which is pretty marvellous! (As an aside, we also featured a gay couple – Marron and Paffa – in WaveDancers).

To get back to the initial topic of conversation in the introduction to this blog post, we've been given permission to publish the abridged  Facebook conversation here by Stephane. We think it may be of interest to you. We've also published the Dart cover with all the girls he refers to in the conversation (Dart, who is copyright and trademark to Erik Larsen, is the centre figure with the blond hair and silver outfit).

February 2

Hi Jozef
Thanks for accepting my invite. The Dart comics you made is one of my favorite, I love how over-the-top gay and girly it is, completely different from the usual Image comics hehehe
Stephane

February 3

Hi Stéphane,
I'm glad you liked it in this way. So, what in Dart would you say was over-the-top gay and girly, I'm curious.
Thanks Stéphane.
Best,
Jozef

February 3

Stéphane
Hehe I hope you didn't take it in a wrong way
Well to answer your question, I loved your comics cover at the 1st sight because it looked so different from the other Image comics at that time, super colorful and the characters are super feminine like in a girl toy line.
Your women have plenty of girly details, detailed makeup and the outfits sure are very different from usual superheroes. And the men in the group, well... They sure don't look like your usual male superhero either! They look like girls toys too, but much more gay and sexy lol I totally loved your approach for sure!
I didn't see more about you at that time, without internet and everything.
But I was talking about your Dart comics to a friend yesterday, so that's how I searched and found you on facebook. I have yet to see your more recent work, but Elf-Fin sure looks amazing

Just a bit of nostalgia to give you an insight into our comics publishing history. We're really pleased that these stories are still conversation starters to this day.

PS Another piece of trivia about Dart is that the story featured several lines of dolls and toys. About ten years later, Jozef brought out his own line of fashion dolls. You can see them here on his Deviant Art page.

An Elf~Fin Message from Jozef to our Readers

Plans and best intentions were that Elf-Fin was to be released by the end of 2012. Though all effort was directed towards this end, there needed to be a balance between the output of the painted Elf~Fin pages (with each page taking many days to complete… all without pay), and unrelated art output for paid jobs. So I'm sincerely sorry to those who had their hearts set on the 48 page first issue comic book to be released by this year's end. The production is still moving forward for a release in early 2013. I'm thankful for your support as we move towards the finish line for this issue.

"The Art of Jozef Szekeres" Exhibition Report

I'd never publicly exhibited my original artworks before. I had been in several group exhibitions over the years that showed copies or prints of my artworks, but never the originals. A solo art exhibition was due.

As a prize winner of the Out Loud art exhibition, I won a week of exhibition space in the window gallery at The Tap Gallery in Darlinghurst. But still I was not yet ready to exhibit. I had to find the right time.

I met Charles Heyen mid 2010. He had come to Australia from the USA to do a post graduate course in Sydney as a curator. He had been following my work for several years and met with me one week after he arrived. At that first meeting we discussed the possibility of us working together to put on a showing of my artwork.

My partner Todd Barry urged me to pick a time for the exhibition in order to make it real. I started looking at possible time slots, but I wanted it to mean something special to me.

I knew that our good friend Colleen Doran was visiting this year as the guest speaker at the Australian Society of Authors (ASA) Comics MasterClass and I thought she would be the perfect person to launch it. After asking Colleen if she would be so kind as to be the guest speaker and open my art exhibition, and her heartfelt confirmation, I finally had a date. The day after the MasterClass – Monday 21 November 2011. I then had three months to put the exhibition together.

Charles and I looked over the collection of my original artworks that had been sitting in drawers for storage... some for 15-20 years. He was surprised to see so many originals to choose from. With his help to shape the look of the exhibition, we made our selections.

Stephen Frizza also supported me by helping me decide which digital artworks would best support the originals in the exhibition, then created the amazing collection of digital prints from my artworks on archive quality photo paper.

Three weeks before the show opened, The Tap Gallery informed me with some alarm that the window gallery space had been double-booked. We then relocated the exhibition into the middle gallery space, and the new larger dimensions allowed the numbers of artworks to be put on display to grow.

The Elizabet Bizelle and sister Kotalin Bizelle dolls I had created also had their place set for the exhibition.

Todd helped me by purchasing the frames for the art exhibition. All from IKEA. The many colours available helped group the original and print artworks into period themes.

The day of the opening, Todd's parents – Ken and Rhonda Barry– helped Charles, Todd and myself put up the artworks onto the walls.

It, of course, took longer to accomplish then planned. In total, 40 of my works were displayed at The Tap Gallery.

My sister Elizabeth arrived with food, while I ducked home to shower and get presentable for the opening that evening.

Elizabeth had offered to organise the food for the opening night. With her three friends – Christine, Barbara, and Vicky – the food she created and prepared was amazing. I wanted to grab a mouthful as I had hardly eaten all day, but I was aware that I would be constantly in conversation with my guests who attended the exhibition. Last thing I wanted was salmon breath, or food stuck in my teeth. Rhonda also created lovely slices and rum balls to the delight of the guests.

Todd had purchased white wine to share with the guests, and Ken and Rhonda looked after the wine glasses.

Julie set up the Black Mermaid Shop table where our Elf-Fin: Hyfus & Tilaweed Preview comic and Mermist Seas prints were available for sale.

When Todd, Charles, Colleen and I arrived back to the exhibition at 6pm, I was surprised to see about 20 people already there and milling about looking at my artworks. 

Then came a greater swell of people arriving through to about 7:15pm. The room became so crowded, it was almost shoulder to shoulder in the exhibition space. People spilled into the adjoining exhibition spaces to make room. It was so full of people coming to see my artwork and wanting to talk with me about the works, it was overwhelming for me. My knees started to feel weak and shake.

Finally, it was time for the speeches. Charles introduced himself as the curator of the event, and spoke of his experience of my artwork, how it had reached out to him all the way to America, and how when he came to Sydney to study, one of his first few tasks was to meet me. He explained how the artworks were shown right to the edge without matting, to further showcase the art.

Colleen Doran [pictured right with me and Charles] did a wonderful speech about how "... out of shit, good things grow". This was in reference to how we met – when we experienced a common publisher that gave us both grief. She mentioned that the colours of my work speak to her in a unique fashion, and that my work has significance in her home country of USA.

I did a quick speech to thank everyone that had helped to create this event, and to all who came to experience my first solo exhibition opening night. I dedicated this first solo art exhibition to my father, who passed away earlier this year. He had always supported my art, and it was his dream to see me exhibit. I didn't get to realise that while he was alive, but I felt his loving spirit in the room with me on opening night. (I am thankful that the last time I saw him awake he got to see the Elf-Fin comic book preview... it made him so very happy.)  I thanked my mum who had always been there with love, supporting me in my artistic journey and through all things beyond that. I thanked my wonderful partner Todd Barry who has been there beside me all the way with great love and without judgement in all things. I thanked Julie Ditrich and Bruce Love, whose partnerships in comics influenced so many of the artworks I had on the walls. I thanked Charles Heyen for his expertise in curating this event. I thanked Colleen Doran for her continued friendship and artistic and professional support in my career. I thanked my sister Elizabeth for constant love and support and with the help with the food, and I thanked my brother-in-law Michael Moor for helping me financially so many years ago with the loan to help me realise the dream of creating my own doll line. I thanked Ken and Rhonda Barry for being there with love and support. There were many more wonderful people to thank, but my mind was too overwhelmed to continue.

Several original artworks sold – one original WaveDancers piece actually sold prior to the event opening to an American collector. Many prints were also sold during the course of the exhibition. Thank you to those people that believed in my work and purchased my art. I'm extremely grateful of the support and interest in my work. As an artist, I earn money from the artwork I create so I can survive. These sales will help me get into the new year and allow me to create new work.

The Tap Gallery announced they wanted to extend the exhibition by an extra week at their expense. 

"One week is not enough time to showcase the extraordinary talents and polish of this internationally significant artists' work. Jozef needs to have a two week show" - Leslie Dimmick

Over the entire two week showing, I was present for all but one day, which was covered by Charles.

Several nights after the opening night, I apparently was talking in my sleep. I ended up waking myself up by my own words, "Thank you for coming to my exhibition". It was obviously a dream made a reality and then returned to my dream life.

I loved the experience, I had never seen so many of my own originals on display all at once myself... and all framed. It was surreal and wonderful.

I do intend to exhibit again, it was too good an experience to do it only once in a lifetime.

Thank you to everyone that was involved, some of those of whom I have mentioned in this retelling of the events. I hope to see you all at my next art exhibition.

Best,

Jozef Szekeres

Mermaid Smurfette

I had a mermaid Smurfette when I was a kid. I remember purchasing her with great excitement from a BP petrol station – the only place in Australia at the time that was selling Smurfs. She had a display place of pride in my bedroom and I loved looking and engaging with her and having her with me.

Unfortunately, one day when I wasn't home, my mother allowed some visiting children to play in my bedroom. After their departure when I returned. I found my room in an awful mess – artwork I had been working on was vandalised with texta scribbles all over it, and several small items were missing... including my mermaid Smurfette. I was quite distraught.

After that I banned ALL children from visiting my bedroom without my presence.

So for about 20 years after that I searched for a replacement mermaid Smurfette. Then Ali, a friend of a friend who had heard my tale of loss and woe, mentioned she had one at home and that she would give the figurine to me as a gift. I was so happy and excited that I promptly returned home and drew in coloured pencil and from memory the original mermaid Smurfette which I had owned and loved, which I presented to Ali as a gift in exchange for the actual toy.

In the process I thankfully got a b/w photocopy of the image. Unfortunately no scan of the original colour pencilled art exists because I didn't have a scanner in 2000.

Ten years later, I stumbled upon the photocopy in my files while looking for another artwork, and decided it was time to finally scan and colour it. So here she is ... drawn in 2000, and now coloured in 2010.

For the past 10 years, I've had the actual mermaid Smurfette toy sitting in pride of place on my computer desk. She's lovely and she's adored.

I call mine Merfette... ;-)

Smurfette.Mermaid Artwork©JozefSzekeres2010
Smurf/Smurfette©Peyo

Jozef Szekeres Interview on YouTube

Finally broadcast and now open to share with you online is my first TV interview about my artwork.

The interviewer/host is Yianni Zinonos of "Yianni's City Life". The program was aired on the community TV station CTV1 in early 2008. The interview covered my commercial artwork and paintings, my comics with co-creator and business partner Julie Ditrich, and the dolls I have created. Interspersed is animated footage of the commercials that I've animated and/or directed.

Only in hindsight did I realise that I should have kept my red t-shirt untucked... but it was my first interview and I'll know better for the next one.

Report on the ASA Picture Book Creators' Retreat

I was a guest speaker at the Australian Society of Authors Picture Book Creators’ Retreat held from the 7th til the 10th of November 2008 in Adelaide.

I gave a talk and workshop on the definition of comics and graphic novels which included a powerpoint presentation created by Julie and myself. The presentation introduced the medium and its expression through many forms, styles and genres. I also spent some time discussing the accompanying jargon to help solidify participants' understanding of the origins of comics.

What emerged from the discussion was that many mainstream children's publishers are seeing the buzz associated with the graphic novel and the accompanying financial success from overseas publishers so they've decided to jump in with their own graphic novels. Unfortunately, these publishers are seeing comic sequential language and the graphic novel format and presentation as just another extension of their children's book line. The same checks and balances and gatekeepers are involved.

What the presentation did was illuminate the differences between the comics medium and traditional picture books, showing the former as a vessel in its own right that can be filled with any genre, style, topic, or targeted audience. The presentation covered the various genres including horror and superhero; various styles including black/white and color; and how graphic novels can be targeted to different markets such as women, teenage, and the like. I also explained how the comics community embraced new original work that is self published outside of the editor gatekeepers usually associated with any book publishing because ultimately it is the readers who decide the success of a new work.

All this information was excitedly received by the audience. Afterwards they exclaimed that they could now write and illustrate beyond their previously preconceived children's book boundaries for the very first time, exploring ideas they could not easily fit within the traditional mainstream children's book market. Furthermore, they were excited about the idea of self publishing without the stigma of vanity press.

After the presentation and workshop many delegates thanked me personally for the presentation and the information that opened their creative minds.

Waterhouse: Circe

On my very first and recent visit to Adelaide I had dinner with a new friend I had made on the trip. Prior to the dinner I was at a children's book illustrators and writers retreat for four days and three nights. My friend and I spent hours after the final night dinner viewing his collection of art books collected by himself and his mother. We were in complete sync in regard to our artistic interests. We discussed my love of Sir Edward Poynter's work, specifically "The Visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon" which hangs in the Art Gallery of NSW (and which was my greatest inspiration for my own "Queen of Sheba" artwork), and my friend said there was another Poynter in the Art Gallery of SA that I must see on my last remaining day. He in turn discussed his love of John William Waterhouse, which is one that I shared. He also urged me to to see the Waterhouse painting of "Circe", which was housed at the same gallery.

I had seen "Circe" once before when she toured Sydney in the "Love and Death: Art in the Age of Victoria" exhibition (I believe it was in year 2000). I was astonished at that time to see that the figure in the painting was life size. Sure there were notes to the dimensions in the art books where I had seen this artwork printed before, but those were summarily ignored to focus on the tight gorgeousness of the printed artwork. Never before had I seen the artwork larger then the height of an art book. So knowing that "Circe' was there in the SA gallery I had to make a visit to view her and renew my acquaintance.

So, the organizer of the retreat and I ventured forth to view the gallery with my specific interest in seeing "Circe". On arriving at the gallery and enquiring as to her whereabouts we were told that "Circe" was in preparation for packaging as she was about to embark on a whirlwind international tour that would only end when she returned home in March 2010. Crestfallen to have missed out on seeing her, we viewed the other beautiful paintings then went to the gallery café for lunch.

Half way through a lovely meal, my companion said to me, " Look over there, they're moving a huge painting". I glanced over my shoulder to see to my unbelieving eyes Circe en route from the art lab (where she had been prepared for her journey) to the packaging room downstairs. We rushed out and were able to see her up close as she was being carried away. I had come to see her, and she acknowledged me by making an appearance. Timing IS everything.

Testimonials are KEY

One of the powerful messages I got at the "Big Mouth, Big Money" speaking seminar, was that testimonials are KEY to credibility, and are the voice to a new audience to tell them how good you are when they know nothing about you or your work. Authors have them as quotes on the back of their books, and no one is too big to benefit from a testimonial even Stephen King, a tried and true author.

Of all the speakers at the two day event, it was Joel Bauer that reached and moved me the most. I was so touched by his presentation that I gave him a set of my collector card set in appreciation. Well a few days after the event I received an email from Joel, and I feel I can share it here as his testimonial to my work.

"Dear Jozef,
Love your work, energy and focus...
Hope to see you soon!
Thank you for translation of your lifespan in dreaming!
Joel"

Thank you Joel.

Mermaid Treasures 7

I recently discovered a beautiful collection of mermaid cards called "Tarot of Mermaids" artwork by Mauro De Luca, text by Pietro Alligo.

I bought it on Amazon on my birthday while I was in a mermaid-purchasing frame of mind. I came across this set, and just automatically added it to my shopping cart without knowing what I'd find inside, although the cover illustration was lovely. I figured one way or another I'd have a lovely set of mermaid images.

Well when I got it I was blown away with the beautiful artwork – it was very well drawn and amazingly colored. Any mermaid lover will love this set.

As a pagan goddess figure it also make sense to see mermaids in the Tarot. I've done readings with Julie on mermaid related projects using her various mythology-based tarot card sets, and funnily enough, the mermaids within the tarot pack all made an appearance in the readings.

I showed the pack to Julie a few weeks ago, and we asked some questions about Elf-Fin. Being that all the cards were mermaids, it wasn't now about what mermaids surfaced in the reading, but which ones in particular. Well the reading was very favourable although it highlighted a need for patience. I think that the mermaids in this tarot pack are excited about Elf-Fin...

The Choice To Come Or Go

I just discovered the musical talents of Matt Marfoglia. I got so excited about his music I chose to "demand" he come to Australia through a website called Eventful.

Now to "demand" he come to Australia, I had to join the website, which I did. You can track your demand, create and share groups etc, and get updates and all sorts of offers.

The moment I joined I was flooded with emails offering all sorts of events around the world, and I wasn't too happy about that for that was not the reason I joined. I then decided, I had done my duty in "demanding" the musical artist come to Australia, and from thereon, I was happy to leave this site, and cancel my account.

Well I looked everywhere on the site where I could cancel the account, and this led me to the FAQ, and this is what I found...

How do I cancel/delete my account?

Unfortunately, we don't have the functionality in place to delete or cancel accounts. You can unsubscribe from any emails you're receiving, however.

Currently, the best solution to this problem is to do the following yourself:

1. Log in to Eventful.com and click on your username (upper right corner). This brings you to your profile page.
2. Click on every event, performer, venue, group and calendar which you have created, joined, favorited, friended, or commented on.
3. Delete comments, withdraw demands, events, performers, calendars, leave groups, and unfriend users.
4. Go to your user's preferences and change your email address to something unrecognizable
5. Delete any saved locations inside your preferences as well.
6. Remove any description or interests from your public profile section in the user's preferences.

This lengthy process effectively removes any activity you've done throughout our system. There is still a small chance you may show up in certain situations, and your profile will still be accessable and visible.

If you would like, you can then re-join under a different username. 

I was appalled. They don't have this functionality in place yet? And they present "the best solution to this problem is to do the following yourself"?

I totally disagree with this system.

The best solution is that they create the functionality to cancel and/or delete the account in its entirety.

So I did what I had to do to make this site disappear from ever annoying me again. I was so angry that my choice to leave was taken from me. The homepage on the website does not hint at this non canceling system they have prior to joining. So I'm warning others. If you want to join, it seems a fine site, but be prepared – there's no real way to delete your profile once it's up there.

I believe any community you wish to join whether in the real world or online, should have an opt-out facility and the right at any time to decide it's not for you so you can leave. Otherwise to me it reeks of a cult.

Old Dog, New Blog Tricks

Hi there,

I've personally not posted a blog yet with links or with any pictures ... and to be perfectly honest I still haven't looked at how to do these things on here. I'm one of those people that never reads and just throws away (or more likely misplaces) the instruction booklet for every new appliance I buy, and then bemoans the fact that I don't know how to use it beyond the most basic of functions.

Julie is WAY ahead of me in understanding this blog's functionality, so I will be exploring these things for my next posting.

Mermaid Treasures I'm told are my next topic... ;-)

The Mermaid Calendar

The Mermaid Calendar was not a planned purchase, and the only cues I had to help me make my decision to buy were the cover and the title. 

I like mermaids, and thought this would be a collection of mermaids from different sources. However, the calendar is actually a collection of photos by creator Jason Gold. Generally for me, mermaid photos usually lack interest, as the magic is not as present as when the mermaid is portrayed via a painting.

Jason's mermaids are nicely photographed, making them look like unobserved snapshots – the type you'd expect taken from a boat in the same way you'd take shots of dolphins. As the mermaid is treated as a real subject in these works, the shots of the mermaids are not always that attractive because they are more integrated into the shot like a wildlife photograph, without the posed glamour. This device works well to present the mermaids as real.

In the entire calendar, there is only one clear face shot of a mermaid, so the emphasis is not the mermaid's face and beauty, but more on the essence of the full mermaid form. About 50% of the mermaids presented have tails that look too PhotoShopped to be real, which I feel takes away from the mermaid/wildlife aspect of the shoots. However, when the mermaid tail is correctly realized to look real and part of the photo, then the mermaid and photo become convincing as if we are viewing a real captured sighting.

It's a lovely calendar to have, and I'm glad to have it, but it's not the calendar I thought I was purchasing from the Amazon presentation page. I love it as a reference source, but it won't be put on display or used, as I found it to be a bit too bland for my mermaid tastes.

Dial-up Past, Broadband Future

Would you believe till this very day ... I have been on dial-up with my internet connection. Today I have joined the world of Broadband. I'm excited to see how this will change things.

H2O: Just Add Water – Random Episode

I don't really watch TV – the exception (with commitment) to that (atm) is Desperate Housewives – nothing comes between it and me. So I often miss out on new series. Julie does her bit to encourage series to view that she has either heard are worthwhile, or has tested herself.

I also have a friend who has kindly dogged me to watch a series about mermaids, but each time it was on, I was nowhere near the TV. I also don't have a video recorder, so I constantly missed it. This wonderful friend then saved an episode to his hard drive, and burnt me a copy.

With excitement he delivered this to me to view. Because I was busy and kept forgetting to put it on, I got around to it about 2-3 weeks afterwards. But I did finally watch it. Thank you so much good friend for doing this for me, and dogging me to watch it.

The series is called H2O: Just Add Water. Four seasons have been released on DVD. It was filmed in Queenland, Australia.

Spoilers
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I watched this totally random episode, and got the gist of the story pretty quickly. The opening and closing credits have some lovely mermaid scenes, and there are a few mermaid moments that occurred in this episode, but the mermaid aspect in the story did not feel too comfortable in context – partly due to the very pedestrian high school story that worked around it with somewhat questionable acting. The swim sequences of the mermaids are like torpedos, and no tail or graceful movement is portrayed beyond the opening credits ambled swim. Superficial... for sure, but I know what I want to see in a mermaid. So I loved the idea of it and the fact that there are mermaids in it, but did not like the execution or the mermaid story or the acting. However, this was the response to an episode out of context, and when I first saw my first episode of Seinfeld, I was not impressed or liked it either, as I didn't know the characters and had no idea of the unique comedic rhythm of this series. Later, I ended up watching the series, and loving it as one of my all time favorites.

So with that in mind, I've purchased the four seasons of H2O: Just Add Water, and will see if I will connect with the series. I have hope. If it's good, I'll inform Julie and the Black Mermaid Blog.

Lyrical Story Telling

I'm a huge fan of Audio books, I'm listening to one right now as I paint the first issue of the new Elf-Fin comic – in this instance it is a Stephen King novel called Lisey's Story.

It takes time to paint, and the time can fly past very quickly as you moosh around the paint for hours. Tt's only a small space you work on for that extended period, and sometimes those few 3-5 min songs don't cut it, even the 1-2 hour musicals can be over in too quickly a time. But the spoken novel can sometimes take well over 20 hours to tell. So here is a journey that I can experience that is in tune with the timing processes of creating my artwork.

It used to be that I would refuse to listen to an audio book till I'd first read the book. I did this because I liked my own voice – created in my head – for each of the characters, and somehow, the characters would always be so much more alive in my own head than when listening to a spoken book. It was also good to read it first because sometimes I did not like the reader's voice (even with an actor such as James Spader whose film work I love, but who I cannot stand listening to when he's reading a book... I've still not listened to it all the way to the end). I lookat the audio book as my way of revisiting a book I liked and had read once already, but with the lazy ease of replaying a favorite musical. I have some audio books that I listen to again and again (like The Chrysalids, by John Wyndham), almost yearly because they are so beautiful or amazingly crafted, or they move me so.

After my first relationship ended after 11 years and we divided our goods, we made a decision that all the printed books went to my then partner, and all the audio books came with me. After that time, with an empty bookshelf in my lounge room, the need or experience to have the printed book lost its meaning to me, and I plunged head first into experiencing audio books as a first time listener/reader of the works. This has been an interesting discovery, for I'm now totally at the mercy of the story twists and turns in a way I'd never been before. This can be fun and exhilarating in a new way. However I know I've lost the experience of having my own voice attached to each character by reading it as a book first.

This experience for me of audio books originated with childhood musical "book and record" stories. These were little book/albums that had lovely picture-books and a vinyl record with the story either spoken or sung (or both). I remember some of them only partially, but remember them fondly:

Segments from Thumbelina:

Thumbelina Thumbelina yes that's me
Thumbelina Thumbelina full of glee
A cup of tea will be my lake, a boat of petals we can make
Thumbelina Thumbelina oh how glad I am
Thumbelina Thumbelina oh how glad we are
Thumbelina Thumbelina oh how glad I am
I'm me.

Sleep well my pretty little bird
Cherish the songs that we have heard
Together, You and I
Fly up high, in the stars so high.

Segments from Hansel and Gretel:

I drop little pebbles as I walk along
with every little pebble dropped i sing this song
Please little pebble where ever I roam
Please oh please help us find our way home.

Segments from Blinky the Lighthouse Ship:

Blink blink what do you think, i have a friend that goes blinkety blink
What do you think, i have a friend who goes blinkety blink

He blinkety blinks with all his might
Blinkety blinks the day and night
He blinks for all the ships to see
Blinky Blinky, that's me.

The old north wind gave a party, for he was a very merry chap
the rain pitter pattered, the lightning struck, and the thunder went clap clap.

I think these may still at my parents' place. I'll see if they are there, so I can record them and listen to these wonderful children stories and musical numbers as I work on the comic. If not at my parents home, I'll be looking to hunt them down.

My First Flippant Recollection

Welcome to the Black Mermaid Productions Blog (for me and for you).

It's Jozef here from Black Mermaid Productions (BMP for some). I've been a bit scared as what to write for my first Blog posting, as Julie seemed to have created such a brilliant opening post, I was humbled. I'm co-creator with Julie on all our BMP intellectual properties (IP), and the Illustrator half of the creative team. That said, Julie and I comfortably edit each others work only to strengthen the whole.

I've always loved mermaids from early childhood. With family reminiscences, I recount the story of my parents antique furniture shopping with me in tow (about 3-4 years old). Where finding a beautiful nude wooden mermaid statue almost to my own height, an instant and enduring bond between us was created. Her tail looped around to meet at her waist, creating a teardrop negative space, I hooked my arm around her tail and apparently did not let go, I'm sure she held back just as tightly. My parents bought the statue for me, and she and I went home to spend our first night together. Laying close beside me, looking at her with my falling-to-sleep eyes was very comforting. However being huge and made of wood, she was not a soft figure to bump against during the night in a childs' single bed, and surely without my conscious knowledge, I kicked her out of the bed. I slept on in the top bunk as she fell, only a small light bruising on the bridge of her nose marked the incident of her fall. In the morning I saw her on the carpeted floor, looking at her I was so grieved that I had forced her out of the bed as I did, having damaged her nose. I sought my father to help with the situation of the mark on her nose, and he with his talented creative hands smoothed her nose with a polishing blanket followed by a new oiling of the whole wooden statue. This seemed to repair her and even bring a new, before unseen color and glow to her. It was deemed by my parents that she was no longer to be my sleeping buddy, and had earned her place in our home, greeting guests as they arrive in the entry to the house. Still my beautiful mermaid resides there, Statuesque in her place of honor. I'm sure she's forgiven my child action, for every time I visit my parents home she greets me as I enter, and we share a knowing smile, for you see, I've never forgotten our special night together, and I don't think she has either.

When I travel, or even in my everyday life, whenever I see a mermaid statue, or doll or artwork, I take it as a "sighting" to prove to me that mermaids are real (if only in my heart). If it's something I can only capture through my camera, then I'll take a snap (or more), and treasure the captured image. There are so many mermaids out there, and they're all so beautiful and unique.

When I met Julie at the age of 20 (through Bruce Love), I was amazed that I'd found another mermaid-lover like me. So this connection created a bond between us. She introduced me to mermaid books and art I hadn't seen before, and helped me to collect these books for my own art library. The three of us even went to a halloween evening event fully costumed, with Julie as a beautiful blue-green sea spirit/goddess, with me doing her make-up. Maybe one day she'll post those photos here on the BMP Blog if you ask her nicely...

I guess there are so many things I've discovered I want to say and share by creating this first posting, it would be prudent of me to deliver it over time on the BMP Blog, for that's what Blogs are for.