4th November 2008

Well, another year is drawing to a close - and the year to come looks like a challenging one to say the least. However, as the mouldmakers at Holland Studio Craft were encouraged to say, "there's no problems only opportunities!" 2009 will certainly bring some not insignificant changes with it but I'm sure if we keep our nerve we'll emerge at the end of it pretty much in tact. Well, here's hoping!

I hope you like the changes that are taking place with this website - credit of course to the Maestro for that. I intend to boost the number of pieces for sale on here during 2009, building on Dragonmaster and Marauder's success. We are well over half way through the wizard's edition now, and that's without any serious advertising or promotion, the Dragonmaster pages on the Sorcerer's Library website notwithstanding.

It was great to meet those of you who attended the 2008 Dragonsite UK Event in Northwich recently. It never ceases to impress me that so many of you are prepared to travel the length and breadth of the country to support this event - and I always worry, every year, that you might not think the effort was worth it. I can't quite decide whether what we present on the day is audacious amateurism or homespun charm. Either way I feel we have been getting away with it for far too long, and the event needs to be reconsidered for 2009. Having said that, if the in-store promotions go ahead that Adrian is planning, there may not be a need for the delights of October at the Floatel! Shame!

Despite the economic blues I still believe that dragons and fantasy are a strong contender for the market place, and let's be honest we could all do with a little escapism at the moment. With the Hobbit movie hopefully hitting our cinemas in 2010, dragons are going to feature prominently in the media between now and then, and although I concede that toys are always more likely to be the beneficiaries of high-profile movie merchandising, there is bound to be a knock-on effect into collectibles to some degree. I would still love to sculpt a large Smaug rising up from his bed of jewels, his priceless second 'skin' glittering along the length of his belly. I wrote Glimmerscale into the fourth Enchantica novel to enable me to sculpt such a dragon without having to go through the boring process of actually getting permission to do Smaug, but unfortunately I parted company with Enchantica before I was able to get my hands on him. I can still see this figure in my minds eye - scores of crystals sparkling amongst the silver and gold as his body catches the light. One day!

I am currently finishing off the last of the four new Bookwyrms that will be released in the first half of next year. As well as restoring the masters for the 'Seven ' range. Sloth is currently in production, Avarice is nipping at its heels, and wind in the right direction Pride should be making his return sometime in the New Year.

As previously mentioned I shall be making some introductions of my own in due course - first sight of these will come via the newsletter, so make sure you are signed up if you think you might be interested.

Thank you for your interest.

27th October 2007

Thought I had better put two fingers to keyboard before too many weeks drift by. Well, we had the event, and it was great to see all the old faces aswell as a fair number of new - a big thank you to everyone who came and made it such a special day.. 'Staffordian' our event piece for 2007 went down very well and all of the stock that we had produced for the event was sold on the day. In addition to this we also received orders for a further twenty or so. According to Adrian (Dragonsite co-owner) the number produced will be below 60, so 'Staffordian' will be something of an exclusive dragon for those lucky enough to have him!

Onwards and upwards, I am currently finishing off the two interacting dragons, and thinking about the Year Piece for 2009 - well there's nothing like planning ahead - and there is also the small matter of three new Bookwyrms to complete before the NEC in February. Ah........so many dragons....not enough hours in the day!!!! Catch you next time.

14th September 2007

This is the dawning of a new era - I am writing this diary entry and loading it on to the website all by my little self. So if you are reading this on the website, I remembered my tutorial from John and pressed all the right buttons. Here's hoping!!

There is just over two weeks to go before the big day (the Dragonsite Collectors' Event at Northwich) we are beavering away - Adrian Tina and myself - getting things ready for the day. Tina is setting her brushes on fire painting all the 'Staffordians' we require, as well as prototyping a somewhat larger piece for public presentation (tease! tease!) I am fast becoming a media sensation, before long I won't be able to walk down the streets of Stafford without being mobbed by autograph hunters. I have appeared in no less than three, count them, three major local papers: the Express and Star, the Stafford Newsletter and the Stafford Post. I am really proud of Staffordian, not only because it has successfully aroused the interest of the local media and therefore promoted the event but also because it is a British Dragon that was created from concept to finished piece within a fifty mile radius from my house - and all in four weeks. It just goes to show, we may not be able to match the prices of China but for one-off special pieces we can sure beat them on lead times and flexibility.

As to the event itself, Adrian is doing a lot of work putting it all together. We will be having a 'Paint Your Own Fairy' (Floatel management permitting) so if you've always fancied decorating a mythical being in the colours of your favourite football team now's your chance! There will be the usual opportunity to preview all the goodies that are in the pipeline (including new Bookwyrm 'Twelfth Knight'), hear about our plans for future introductions, purchase our very special event piece 'Staffordian', meet the people behind the fantasy, ask those questions you've been dying ask for the last twelve months or even years, take part in the traditional auction of paint trials and one-off colourations, do the quiz and the colouring competition - YES! A COLOURING COMPETITION!!! - and generally make your presence felt. I'm looking forward to either meeting you for the first time, meeting you again after all these years, or renewing our acquaintance of last year. Whichever it might be you are all most welcome to share in our special day.

As to my immediate future, professionally, well, while I'm waiting for News at Ten to call, I shall be working on a pair of interacting dragons that will form part of our new range for 2008/2009, and I have a long list of projects to follow them. I also have a bit of a back-log of unfinished pieces to clear, mentioning no names, that will hopefully be seeing the light of day during 2008.

So, unless someone pulls the plug, I shall see you at the Floatel on the 7th!!

I'm trying not to look at the date just below. At least I got this entry in before the year was up!

24th of October 2006

Northwich 2006 has come and gone, and I hope was enjoyed by those who attended. Thanks to all who made the trip, we couldn’t do it without you. Well we could but there wouldn’t be much point!

The Sins seemed to be going down well, I lost count of how many I signed. It was gratifying to hear and later read so many encouraging words about Gluttony. It’s one of my favourites too, I hope you feel the same way about Lust and Avarice when they are revealed in their finished state. Not to mention Envy and Sloth which, of course, are next in the pipeline.

I took the usual ‘class of 2006 photo’ that I shall publish in the next forthcoming newsletter.

Thanks to Adrian and the Northwich posse (Cheryl, Jon and the boys) for organising and manning/personising the event. Thanks also to Tina for attending, and also for her stunning work on the auction pieces, most of which she gets little or no guidance on regarding colouration. I know she got quite a lot of re-paint work from the event, deservedly, which is of course a compliment in itself, but unless you have ever had a go at painting resin figurines yourself, it is easy to take for granted the skill and talent that is required to produce such beautiful work.

I am determined to finish off “The Dragonmaster” wizard figurine that has been loitering around my studio for far too long, so look out for him in the not too distant. I also have a half finished figure of a minotaur that I must complete and decide what to do with.

That’s all for now – come back soon!

Andy

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8th of July 2006

I realise that it’s been quite a while since my first and only diary entry. This is due mainly to a prolonged period of manic house hunting which as anyone knows who has been there, tends to be all consuming. However, to be honest, there isn’t a huge amount to report, so I’ll just try and bring things up to date.

I am currently working on the next Sin, which is ‘Lust’, and it is going well….(you wouldn’t expect me to say anything else, would you?) Lust, along with Envy, is probably one of the hardest of the seven to interpret but I think I’ve come up with an ‘interesting’ version. Only Adrian has seen a (very) roughed out wax, and John saw some twisted wire, and both were a bit tight-lipped – so we could be in for an ‘interesting’ reaction. Theresa, obviously, has seen the work taking shape on a daily basis, and her only meaningful comment so far has been “Is that dragon doing what I think its doing?” “H’m……!”

I am putting together a work-in-progress page with John when I get the time. It will feature the first two sins: “Anger” and “Pride.” I’ll try and get it posted as soon as possible. Of course my first newsletter is now overdue, don’t worry, all those who have registered will receive it hot off the press. Thanks for your patience.

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8th of June 2006

Welcome one and all to this brand new venture. Its very exciting having my own website at last: an online portfolio of my work past and present. I am very grateful to John Webster whose expert knowledge and enthusiasm have made this site a reality. John has invested a lot of time and effort on my behalf and I’m sure you’ll agree the results are truly impressive. Nice one John!

In this diary, which I will update as regularly as I can, I shall give details of my current work and anything else of interest that I’m involved with that I wish to make public on the ‘typewriter telly.’

Of course at the moment a large proportion of my work is commissioned by and sold through the Dragonsite.com. So naturally their website is also a good source of information for my current ranges (see Links Page.) However, I am selling a few items of my own as well which can be ordered through this site (see ‘Work for Sale’)

So what am I working on now then, I hear you ask. Well, I have recently completed sculpting on four new Bookwyrm dragons, and I am very pleased with the way they have turned out. We should start colouration work on them very soon. They should prove worthy companions to the existing four.

Sculpting is now complete on the third dragon in the ‘Seven’ series, following on from ‘Anger’ and ‘Pride’ – a collection of UK manufactured dragons depicting the seven deadly sins. The sculpt in question is ‘Gluttony’ and he should be taking a trip to Mouldart very shortly for moulding and production. (You can of course see this piece under development on my mugshot fronting this site.) Funny how I tend to think of all the ‘sinners’ as ‘he.’ Work on the next Seven piece has already begun.

If you would like to receive an occasional Newsletter with news and photos of projects and events please forward your email address by filling in the form on the Newsletter page on this site. Please also feel free to sign my Guestbook

As to the Work in Progress page this is still under development but will be up and running soon.

I hope you like what you see on this website, and will come back and visit regularly (and tell all your friends about it!) I can’t promise something new every week but John and I will update and develop as often as our day jobs allow.

Bye for now.

Andy Bill