Image: Some artwork by Jules Maximilian Strohlein, inspired by the Field Note called "Lord Zabble and the Castle Fanglor".
Good morning, It’s February. A little update on this weeks work.
For most, February is the middle of winter, but here in BOK… things really start to come alive. Wildflowers bloom up in the hills along the ocean facing canyons and I often take a walk in the past there to reflect on things. That’s what I’ll be doing this February. I’m on a clock this year.. a clock that only I know about. A clock that’s been running about 4 years. Tic toc. I’ll be reaching a goal of mine soon and Hadder is along for the ride. As a matter of fact, this whole Hadder tale started just about that time… down by that old tree. Anyway, it was a pleasant surprise along the way and now it’s become something for me. And so Hadder will stay with me now.
Narrations, Logos and Blown Speakers: I didn't add any new "Field Note" audio narrations this week, as all of my time was spent creating artwork and character designing for the book. But I think Medlin and Mattix will finally come to life next week. Part of releasing merch for the record is gathering unique LOGOS for each of the characters and for Diamonds Hadder as well, as I wanted a few different designs for the release of the record and for T Shirt designs, and so I was doing that all week as well. It's another little piece to a very large puzzle. I did blow a studio monitor in my vocal booth this week while tracking some "Dead Rabbit" stuff, I took that as a sign to go back to artwork, so it’s never a dull moment in the tower.
Narrations Artwork: I’ve commissioned artwork for the first 2 narration field notes so far, one of which was completed this week. My dear old good friend Lord Jules, who’s done about 8 pieces of art for me to date, has created a wonderful rendition of “Zabble and the Castle Fanglore”, so I thought I would share that today. Each of the narrations tell an important part of the Hadder story, I gave lord Jules free rein, to create an illustration based on the narration as he saw it. We talked a little about the narration of course and I discussed some key elements I thought personally were important, but really, I wanted him to show me what he felt or thought about it through his art. And so we have this delightful illustration of Diamonds Hadder, Ezra, Skylark and Lord Zabble in Raven form all hanging out in the Gardens at Kilwaughter. The relationship between Hadder and Ezra here in this first narration is very important, for both Hadder and Ezra… who both seem a little out of place in this world. Ezra took to hadder when he arrived and I suppose he took to her as well. I don’t mention much about Ezras 2 siblings, a brother and sister to be precise, both of which were much larger than ezra.. who was the runt of the litter, but perhaps we’ll see them down the road… I’ll bet we do.
Dune City: I thought I would just mention this quick. I’m not sure where this is going but it’s been showing up in my thoughts. This week I imagined a Dune City somewhere between Europa and the Gorgon Bridges… A large stretch of Land covered in strange golden dunes with odd red luminescent streaks. The red color is actually iron fused with Kyon atoms in small particle form… travel through the dunes is a bit treacherous and a world of its own. The people who grace these lands have adapted quite well to the ways of the dunes. Blacksmiths keen on their own magic similar to the art of Kyon, a word which perhaps originated from the magic dust. They use the magic iron particles.. to build machines and structures that utilize the sand for travel as well as for fighting. Some of the weapons made with a high concentricity of these Kyon particles are quite powerful and not all blacksmiths have the know how to build such weapons, but some do. Of course there are varying degrees of smithing and more common iron dust particles themselves are quite available throughout the dunes.You can generally tell the worth of a weapon by its color. I imagine the sand machines they build, called "Sand Ships", using a vacuum motion to move the sand in and out of chambers creating their own momentum. Some machines even have storage areas for the sand, recycling it, allowing the machines to travel on open land. The iron Kyon particles of course are a hot commodity inside of Europa. Worth noting is that without these sand machines, it would be near impossible to travel across the dunes. And so, where there is a need… well, there is an opportunity. Dune city is the center of this bustling area on the southern outskirts of Europa. “The Sanded Gateway” they call it. The machines they build are quite stunning really and with so many characters in the market for travel to and from Europa, having the fastest machines with the best weapons can be quite lucrative. Ok, enough of that… we’ll see what comes of it. Perhaps Lord Skynn and Mr Hadder will need passage through the sanded gateway on route to Europa. Perhaps a character or two or a famous sand ship or two might become an important chapter in this tale. Some ships have a spirit of their own, perhaps why they all have names.
Finally: When I lived in the hills, a Ceanothus Silk Moth would arrive on my screen door each February… it stayed a few days.. I imagine it was looking for a mate. I took it as the sign of the approaching spring. Soon after that, the swallows would return to their nests under my roof. Yes, a fire may have taken that special place I remember… but the moths and swallows still return to that land each year. Perhaps I’ll go see them this month. I hope you all have a kind winter and that your own spring arrives soon. Farewell.
-j
Image: A narration for "Lord Zabble and the Castle Fanglor", the meeting of Diamonds Hadder and Ezra. More at www.diamondshadder.com/fieldnotes