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  • Faerymarketcomplete
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  • Nadel_punch_zubehoerset_0
  • Plastic_bags

August 10, 2008

Songstress Priscilla Hernandez Robbed!

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Priscilla Hernandez, the beautiful singer/fairy artist from Barcelona that I recently wrote about in Faerie Magazine, was robbed at the airport after she and her boyfriend Hector returned home from their performance at FaerieWorlds!  The thieves cleaned them out of everything, equipment, their earnings from FaerieWorlds, passports, and personal possessions.  After this devastating attack Priscilla and Hector are appealing to the fairy community to help them get on their feet again.  Please read the infoormation below.

Here follows an extract from Priscilla's post on http://www.myfaeryspace.com:

"...Just as soon as we stepped from the airbus airport two big guys attacked
us robbed all our studio equipment and personal belongings, they poured a
substance over us and they wanted the black case in which we carried all
important things, so we've been stolen all the cash we made in faerieworlds,
our laptop, our mobile studio and soundcard, our photocamera, our hardrive
with our data, our videocamera, all our memories, our flat and car keys, our
passports, and almost everything of value I had with me, thanks god they
didn't took my carry on so my original paintings are safe. I'm pretty sure
we were spotted and they did know which case they wanted..." Priscilla
Hernandez

Donate via the Faerieworlds website appeal.
http://faerieworlds.com/priscilla.html

Direct donation to Priscilla via Paypal
http://www.yidneth.com/?pag=donations


Visit Prisiclla's personal website here:

www.yidneth.com

August 08, 2008

Excerpt and Mermaid Work in Progress

Exciting news for Julia Jeffrey, the incredibly talented illustrator for my children's book: Lament, by Maggie Stiefvater and illustrated by Julia, is now available for pre-order on amazon!  Images of that book and ordering information can be found here:

http://www.amazon.com/Lament-Faerie-Deception-Maggie-Stiefvater/dp/0738713708/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1218228642&sr=1-1

Julia has just sent me a wonderful work in progress of the mermaid for my story that I thought that I would share. Into the Gloaming is set in Scotland in the 1880s, and follows the adventures of Alfred and Eliza.  The children travel from London to the Highlands of Scotland to discover the whereabouts of their father, a fairy anthropologist, who has been kidnapped by the fairies.  A series of dreams and other clues lead the children, Macintosh the westie, and the hobgoblin Robin to a watery grotto where they meet a mermaid.  Below is Julia's image and an excerpt from the story.

Mermaid1

While the others gazed about in wonder, Eliza instinctively knew what to do.  On the farthest left hand side of the grotto beside the pool’s edge, there was a small pile of round stones.  Gathering up three stones, Eliza threw each one into the center of the pool.  The sound echoed hollowly in cavernous grotto, and brought the attention of the others, who came to stand beside Eliza.

Everyone held their breath for a long moment, and all that could be heard was the dripping of water.  Suddenly, a face broke the surface of the pool, water streaming from her green streaked golden hair.  Seaweed twined with gold filigree thread was wrapped around her brow and hung in strands on either side of her head.  Eliza found herself gazing into eyes as green and as ancient as the sea, in whose depths there seemed to lurk secrets and strange creatures.  Eliza gasped, for it was the mermaid.

“Who calls me?” asked the mermaid, drawing a hand across one cheek, and sending up a spray of water with the flick of her tail.

“My Lady,” Robin said reverently, bowing his head.  Macintosh had also assumed this respectful attitude.

“I did, my Lady,” Eliza replied, taking her cues in manners from Robin, something she thought she’d never do, but this creature was a part of the hobgoblin’s world. “I have had dreams that have led me to you.”

“Dreams,” sighed the mermaid, “can be dangerous things…" 

Text Copyright Chandra Cerchione-Peltier

Image Copyright Julia Jeffrey

August 04, 2008

Showing Up in Interesting Places

I am sad to report that my elf is STILL unfinished due to illness.  I went to the doctor last week and learned that I was suffering from a severe bout of bronchitis, but now medication will hopefully have me on my feet again soon.

Cdc_collage

Since I have been able to do little else I have spent a lot of time on the internet, and ran across something interesting: Contemporary Doll Collector Magazine is using a spread from their Gallery section that includes my marionette Monsieur Marmot!  He is the figure in the upper left hand corner next to the Gallery banner.  (In a side note, my friend Bonnie's doll is just below mine - I am keeping good company!)  I am pleased that CDC deems my work worthy of this honor to assist in promoting their publication.  This spread is on the homepage for their site, and it can be seen here:

http://scottpublications.com/cdcmag/index.shtml

My elf just needs a little more stitching and a wig, so I hope to share pictures of him soon!

July 31, 2008

Cover Story for Faerie Magazine

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The new summer issue of Faerie Magazine is now out, and I have one of the cover stories.  For this issue I wrote about goth/fairy songstress Priscella Hernandez, who hails from the Canary Islands and currently resides in Barcelona, Spain.  She is one of the headlining acts performing at FaerieWorlds this weekend and can be seen later this fall at FaerieCon in Philadelphia.

July 27, 2008

Mab in the Fairy Market: finished version

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Hi folks!  My fabulous fairy artist, Julia Jeffrey, has just finished Mab in the Fairy Market, another illustration for my story set in Scotland in the 1880s.  This tiny image doesn't do it justice, so please click on the picture for a larger view.  A link to Julia's MySpace can by found under my Artists Links.  Although I have posted other excerpts before, below is a more complete excerpt that goes along with the story.  Alfred and Robin have traveled to the fairy market in order to fetch some fairy oinment...

"Mind that you don't touch anything!" Robin warned, slightly digging his claws into Alfred's shoulder. "Last thing that I need is to have you go larking about!"  Alfred mutely nodded, feeling almost bewildered by all of the sights and sounds that assailed him.  As they moved through the brightly colored stalls it took all of Alfred's energy not to openly gape at everything that he saw.  In one stall hulked the massive and shaggy shape of a man who stood bent over, deep in conversation with a diminutive gentleman about one third his size.  Alfred nearly gasped when the giant turned his head, revealing a pair of glinting horns.  The bearded man beside him, wearing a green and yellow checkered jacket with enormous buttons, gave Alfred an arched look as he tipped his top hat.  Alfred swallowed hard, and bobbed his head in return.

Robin paid no attention to this exchange, instead was happily drinking in the familiar sights.  As much as he liked the Roane-Twistleton family, Robin felt a bit homesick for his world.  Before him spread the pavilion tents, billowing in the wind like a rainbow of colored fabrics, and each one seemed to promise rare and exotic fare.  Robin and Alfred passed willowy ladies with a slightly greenish tinge to their skin, who were exclaiming excitedly over a bolt cloth made of spider silk.  Robin recognized one of them, and was on the verge of calling out to her when he checked himself.  The hobgoblin didn't feel prepared to explain his current humiliating shape, particularly to a beautiful woman.

The midday sun beat down on the Market, thronged with People.  The pathways between the stalls were crammed with bodies, occasionally parting in order to make way for the passages of sedan chairs.  This particular mode of transportation resembled a box with curtained widows and side doors, and was carried on poles by two bearers. Sedan chairs were more commonly used during the 17th and 18th centuries, and while Alfred knew about them from books, he had never seen one in actual use before.  Whoever rode in these vehicles were obviously persons of great rank, for upon their appearance the crowd would instantly melt away to make room for them.

Rounding a corner Alfred and Robin were confronted with the sights and heavenly scents of the food, vegetable, and fresh flowers section of the Fairy Market.  That it was harvest time was in evidence everywhere, and stalls spilled over with fatly ripened produce of all sorts.  Luscious, ruddy-red apples set Alfred's mouth watering, as did the enormous baskets of glistening berries.  Behind the vegetable stall a small man dressed in dark green cap and jerkin bowed, and offered Alfred a sample.  Alfred moved quickly on when the fairy gentleman smiled, revealing row upon row of glittering, pointy teeth.  In the next booth the attendant was selling shaved ices in small silver bowls that changed color as they were consumed.  Alfred saw two fairy children greedily eating these, and sticking their tongues at one another, laughed merrily to see their tongues change color as well.

Under a brilliantly colored tent that was striped gold, green, and violet sat fairy women of surpassing beauty, absorbed in the task of weaving floral wreathes for one another's hair.  At the entrance of the tent were two spiral topiary forms, covered in tiny buds.  Alfred drew closer to look, as the buds appeared to be on the point of blooming, but instead the buds turned into butterflies, blue, buttery yellow, and crimson, and flew away.

Through the crush of the throng came yet another sedan chair.  Robin, who was feeling rather out of circulation, craned his neck to see who rode inside.  It was a fairly opulent vehicle, even by sedan chair standards, the surface covered with all manner of scrollwork and filigree.  A lady's hand trailed from the window, her sleeve dripping with rose tinted lace.  A large, sparkling jewel flashed on her finger before the hand was drawn back inside, and the lady's face momentarily peered out of the window.  It was a beautiful face but cold and calculating and Robin knew it well.  "By Oak, Ash, and Thorn," swore the hobgoblin quietly, "what on earth is Mab doing here?"

Text Copyright Chandra Cerchione-Peltier Image Copyright Julia Jeffrey

July 25, 2008

Elf in Progress

My apologies for failing to post this past week, I have once again had to battle congestion.  I've tried to be very careful after last year's bout with pneumonia (which landed me in the hospital), so I've taken it easy this week, with loads of rest.  Before falling ill I had managed to finish a sculpt of another elf, and he is currently waiting to be completed.  Below you can see the wonderful felt beads that my good friend Troy gave me for my birthday, soon to adorn the costume of my new elf!

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I think that the elf must be enamored with the felt beads, for I caught him rolling around in them!

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Here is some of the fabric that I'm thinking of using in his costume.

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My health willing, I shall have more up soon!

July 17, 2008

Birthday Gifts and New Projects

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Unexpectedly my mother, the fiber diva herself, decided that for my birthday she would give me a needle felting attachment for my Bernina!  Additionally, she gave me tons of felt, replacement needles, and a brass stiletto.  My mother passed on to me her great love of fiber art, and while I am primarily a figurative artist I try to encorporate as many fiber arts applications as I can.

I've just about finished sculpting another elf head, and will use the new attachment to create his costume.  I'll post more pictures soon.

July 14, 2008

Plastic Bags

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Please follow this link and pass it on!  I hate plastic bags, and try to avoid using them as much as possible.  I never use the plastic bags in the vegetable department in the grocery store, I just put the veggies in my cart and use storage containers at home!  Also, I save bags for bread and tortillas (etc) to reuse them.  The petrol consumed to create bags is reason enough to stop using plastic bags, let alone the environmental impact!

Thanks, gang!

END TO THE PLASTIC BAG......This is important.  Please consider passing it on.
Once in the slideshow, use the bar on the right side of the small screen to scroll through. 

July 11, 2008

My Birthday

Ah, once again 7 11 rolls around, and I look to convenient stores everywhere, created in honor of my birthday.  I have known a few folks to share this auspicious birthday day, and we have quietly conspired to form a secret society, with an initiation ceremony involving a rather dreadful application of the "Big Gulp".  ^_^

This year's celebration ought to be a bit brighter than last year's, as on this date I had only been released one week earlier from the hospital after a severe bout of pneumonia.  I remember laying in the hospital bed longing to return home and to my story.  I had left my character Eliza on the back of the hobgoblin Robin, currently in the form of a crow, and Robin was flying Eliza to the rescue of her brother Alfred, trapped in a hollow hill with a load of unruly goblins.  It was the image of Eliza on the crow's back against the starry night sky that willed me to keep getting out of the hospital bed, forcing myself to walk around it before collapsing, all in an effort to make myself strong enough to go home.

It is a year later and the first draft of my story is finished.  Now there is only the synopsis, glossary of gaelic terms, bibliography, and historical abstract to go!  Julia has created some stunning works of art, and it is my dearest wish to see it published and in the hands of readers.  That would be the fulfillment of the ultimate birthday wish!

  Rabbit

(Willaim Morris, hare pattern.)

 

July 08, 2008

New Story for Faerie Magazine

Pris_fairy

Today I am working on a writing assignment for Faerie Magazine about Priscilla Hernandez, a singer/songwriter and fairy artist originally from the Canary Islands, now living in Barcelona, Spain.  With music described as "ethereal gothic", Priscilla will be performing at the upcoming FaerieWorlds and FaerieCon (https://faeriecon.com/).

Pris_art

For the last issue I wrote about author Holly Black and the performance art/musical group the Daughter of Elvin.  It is my fondest hope that I can turn this around quickly, due in no small part that my birthday is Friday! 

To see more of Priscilla's art and to hear her music, please check out her MySpace:

http://www.myspace.com/priscillahernandez 

Clowns and Marionettes

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    Inspiration for my clowns reaches as far back as the 16th style of street performance known as Commedia dell'Arte (my Punch is a direct descendent of Pulcinella) as well as drawing from more modern sources like the wondrously imagined Cirque du Soleil. Here and there I take historical reference in the construction of certain aspects of the costuming process, but I love the freedom that clowns offer to pursue the most whimsical, ludic, and even absurd directions in their attire. A couple of my marionettes have found their way into the pop culture: Mlle. Senyah was created for a how-to project on HGTV's "That's Clever!", and I was commissioned by Grammy award winning singer/songwriter Darrell Scott to creat a portrait marionette for the cover of his cd "The Theatre of the Unheard". That cd became a Top 100 Critics Choice for Rolling Stone Magazine.
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