OK – so technically I didnt wake up in NYC. We took the train up for the day. This was a belated trip for my birthday. Happily – the belated time frame meant we could see the Frouds’ exhibit at Animazing Gallery, and perhaps a festive holiday window or two? 

“Faerie Tale” and “After the Party” – polymer and mixed media by Wendy Froud. 

polymer and mixed media sculpture by Toby Froud

Concept sketches for “Labyrinth” by Brian Froud. 

This detailed sketch of Ludo was incredible. so detailed in the face, yet so loose and fluid in the figure.

The exhibit is a must see if you are a fan of the Frouds’ work. (It runs into February.) I was excited to go – naturally. I have my original copy of “Faeries” by Brian Froud and Alan Lee – dog-eared, tattered, and well loved. I cannot think of another artist who influenced me more during my adolescence and early teen years. To know that there were working artists, creating fantasy artwork, seriously and successfully was huge to the fledgling artist in me. I feel fortunate to have met Brain and Wendy at FaerieCon, as I have discussed previously. But this exhibit was simply outstanding. Original paintings, in luminous color, that reproductions sadly do not capture perfectly. Sketches – the doodles, thinking out loud, as it were – the look of “Labyrinth” at its inception. Sculptures in the round, textures, fabrics, leathers right there in space in front of me. Images that I know well from the Heart of Faeries Oracle, seen framed on the gallery walls. 

Recently I borrowed and watched Wendy’s Faerie Figure DVD (available at Gnomon Workshop. Thanks to Sarah!) I dont sculpt figures very often, but I do create 3D work. It is a phenomenal video, and her hands work magic right in front of you! But to have seen the process, and heard her tricks and techniques, which she gladly shares – and then to see the originals! Simply breathtaking. I am humbled and amazed. 

“Story Teller and listeners” Wendy Froud

And always humor mixed in with the magic and the mystery: 

(He was a tiny wee fellow. The reflection of buildings, the angle, the cropping – do give him a sense of grandeur, do they not?)

Please stay tuned for parts 2 and 3 of the NYC adventure. Wait until you see the Macy’s windows…and the Flatiron art installation. Come back tomorrow.