Legendary Pewtersmith, Graeme Anthony

        The next Australian to be invested into our pantheon is pewtersmith Graeme Anthony. Graeme’s pewterware is instantly recognisable, from his craggy faced wizards to his flawless elven complexions, and his work continues to fetch high prices around the world. If you haven’t seen Graeme’s goblets before you’re in for a treat.

Galadriel

Gimli

Gandalf

        Remember, these goblets were made decades before the films came out. Indeed the Gimli goblet looks so much like John Rhys-Davies you’ve got to wonder if Peter Jackson didn’t use it as a reference. The Galadriel goblet perfectly captures her unearthly beauty and is it just me or does Graeme’s Gandalf look a hell of a lot like Christopher Lee? (apparently Christopher Lee met Tolkien and got his blessing to play Gandalf if a Lord of the Rings film was ever made- perhaps Graeme knew that?)

        Graeme's an interesting guy- he did a bunch of things before his current incarnation as sculptor and designer, including teaching science, practicing as a chiropractor and lecturing in anatomy and physiology (somewhere along the line picking up a PhD). Graeme was also the first artist in the world to interpret Lord of the Rings sculpturally and perhaps most impressively, when he found he couldn't achieve the level of detail he wanted using existing pewter-casting technologies, he developed his own.

        Powerhouse.

        Anyway last week I contacted Graham with a few questions and he kindly took time out of his busy schedule to answer them.

"1. Why did you choose fantasy as subject matter for your goblets and specifically Tolkien?

        I've been interested in science fiction and fantasy since my primary school days.

        I carved my first chess set when I was about 8 and developed a small business making chess sets whilst attending Uni. My first popular chess set was based on Tenniel’s drawings of the characters found in Alice in Wonderland. It was around this time, about 1973, that 2 friends who were huge fans of The Lord of the Rings suggested I make a set based on it. They did the original character selection and I did the sculptures. That set was hugely popular and the first edition of 50 sets sold out in about 8 weeks. Today those sets are very expensive.

        Back in those days I was the only person in the world making sculptures of Tolkien’s characters.

2. Pewter work is an unusual pastime. How did you get into it?

        I actually started making things in pottery, then moved onto polyester resin and fibre glass, then onto plaster then plaster reinforced with fibre glass, then polyurethane, acrylic and wood until the desire to make things that were difficult to break led me to pewter.

3. Do you make sketches first or does the design come to you as you work?

        No sketches. I work straight from my own mental picture of what I perceive the character or thing should look like. The process of sculpture helps in its own creation. As the sculpture progresses it suggests its own evolving form as you work.

4. Some of your goblets have runes. Do you write in Tolkien’s Dwarven Khuzdul language and how do you decide what to write?

        I used the Dwarves Runes found on Thror's Map. I was fond of signing people’s goblets when I was touring for my Joint venture partners Royal Selangor. I would personalise their purchases.

5. You were making Lord of the Rings pewterware long before Peter Jackson made his movies. What affect did the intense interest they generated have on your business/art/life?

        I started interpreting Tolkien's works in sculptural form in the early 70s. I had the market to myself. The making of the films brought Tolkien’s works to a much bigger audience and produced a huge increase in demand for my chess sets and goblets. But this was a double-edged sword. Like all popular things, the popularity encourages hundreds of other opportunists into the field and it does not take long for there to be an oversupply of memorabilia. When McDonalds gets into the field you know the end is nigh.

6. How long does it take to make a new piece from conception to the final product?

        Anything from 5 hours to 3 months. Chess sets...months. Goblets....days , dragons..hours. Simple cute things ...half a day.

7. Have you ever made miniatures (28mm/15mm)?

        No, miniatures are and have always been a thing for centrifugal casters. My work is much, much more complicated and difficult to make and cast. I spent almost 7 years perfecting the making and casting of my goblets. In fact the process I use was invented by me and nobody else knows how I do it (except Royal Selangor whom I taught and they are sworn to secrecy).

8. I noticed you had an Iron Throne piece on your website. Has anyone approached you to work on a bigger Game of Thrones project?

        I am approached often by various people and groups and clubs etc to do commission work. Unfortunately most want to pay labourers wages for sculptural work and I and my fellow artists feel our abilities deserve better than $25 per hour. This is probably why I tend to do only my own ideas. It usually pays better.

9. What are you working on right now?

        I am working on a fully illustrated e-book on Real Mythological Creatures. It's a lot of fun inventing even more weird and wonderful creatures. It allows my imagination to run wild. If it's successful I might even produce 3 dimensional versions of my nightmarishly wonderful critters.”


        Man that would be cool. When it happens we’ll stick a link to it right here:

        [RESERVED]

        The goblets shown here are just the tip of the iceberg or should I say hoard. Graeme also makes chess sets, combined pewter/glassware, dragons of all shapes and sizes, bottle stoppers, even incense burners!

        Trollwood does not stock Graeme Anthony Pewter at present but head on over to Graeme’s website (graemeanthonypewter.com.au) and have a look through his collection. It’s a magical place.

        Happy travels,

        Mike

(Australian Gods, Part 3)

Outlander (2008) Film Review

        Space marine crash lands in a Viking fjord with an angry alien on board. Glorious mayhem ensues.

        This movie is as fun as it sounds and a lot better than I expected.

        I can understand why people might be a bit sceptical about the idea of Vikings vs Aliens- but really it's no crazier than Green Berets versus Aliens when you think about it.

        Outlander could have been terrible- a ridiculous, verbose, campy, CGI-ridden trainwreck of a movie, but it's none of those things. The dialogue is sparing and limited to exchanges that advance the storyline. It's obvious the film-makers knew they were dealing with something totally outlandish (see what I did there?) and so made every effort to ramp up the plausibility level. And they succeeded.

        The performances are strong. Jim Caviezel is not an actor known for his wide emotional range, but his slightly distracted, otherworldly onscreen presence works well here in the role of Kainan, the stranded space marine. John Hurt plays Viking chieftain Hrothgar with trademark intensity (he's popping up in all my favourite shows lately- Jim Henson's The Storyteller for one) and Perlman is totally absorbing as Gunnar the warhammer-wielding berserker. Sophia Myles and Jack Huston hold up their end too.

        The alien Moorwen is a menacing, lightning-fast displacer beast and its den will feature in my nightmares for years to come (I'd be surprised if there were that many people in Dark Ages Scandinavia to begin with..). The action sequences are gripping and immersive, except for that bit where the massive beast is supposedly hiding behind Viking laundry (sorry- I had to get that off my chest).

        If I have one criticism to make of Outlander it's that it drags a bit in places (the same could be said of most movies I guess). The lengthy eye-contact sequences between Kainan and Freya in particular had me glancing at my watch- but these are minor criticisms of what is a highly entertaining old-school Swords & Sorcery romp...with frickin' laser beams.

Between the Lines: Interview with Aaron Pocock

        Last week I introduced the artist behind the Trollwood logo, Aaron Pocock (here's the link in case you missed it). After the project I asked Aaron for an interview and he very kindly agreed- Aaron has given a number of interviews over the years so I've tried to ask questions that haven't been covered before.

Dryad (from https://aaronpocock.wordpress.com/)

"1. In another interview you mention the Narnia books as being a big influence. What in particular about them appealed to you?

        Narnia is how I see the world. I can't be sure if it shaped the way I see the world or if it echoed how I see things. There is magic in everything, universal laws are constantly at play AND, dare I say it (for fear of being ridiculed a nutcase) ... I've had many experiences that that have proved to me, without a shadow of a doubt, that there are indeed other 'places', a little removed from our own 3D view of this world.

        Remember that CTW (makers of Sesame Street) cartoon version of 'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe'? That was etched into my psyche some time before I read the books. I think also, it's a timeless tale, like 'A Christmas Carol' or The Original Star Wars movie, they speak to something very deep within us, a 'knowing'...

2. I notice the monsters you draw tend to look friendly or benign- none look genuinely scary. Is that a deliberate decision on your part?

        Yes, it is a deliberate decision on my part. I'm tired of seeing violence everywhere, I've tried to keep my images as gentle as I can, hinting at stronger emotions maybe... I don't believe you need to see so much blood and gore and all that stuff. It's just not me. A friend of mine once suggested that I make my images appeal more to males as opposed to 'for the ladies', as males love their fantasy art; 'Hello, I'm a male, at least I was the last time I looked'. And I don't set out to appeal to any one sex. I just do what I do and the best I can hope for is that people like it.

        Also, I don't paint and draw the stuff I do with sales in mind. Maybe I should? Don't know... What I do know is that, as an artist, I should try my best to bring my own visions to life. There are enough great artists out there painting and drawing that angry stuff far better than I ever could. If anything, I'd like to be instrumental in drawing forth more positive emotions with my own stuff.

3. Which fantasy movies had the strongest influence on you as a kid?

        Wow, great question...

• The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
• The Never Ending Story
• Beastmaster (the original one). That had a lot going for it, Marc Singer was great.
• Conan the Barbarian
• Willow
• The Princess Bride
• Labyrinth

These were the movies that probably had the most impact on me.

4. As an artist who draws inspiration from the natural world, do you find the Australian bush as inspiring for fantasy work as say, a European wood? What elements of the Australian environment find their way into your art?

        My apologies to any Australians reading this, but no. I don't think I'll find anywhere in the world that inspires me as much as the landscape in say, Cornwall or Wales or Scotland... New Zealand comes very close, I 'feel' a special connection with the land in the UK, spent the first 30 years of my life there.

        What elements find their way into my art? The trees, the green, those little streams that trickle through the woods and into those old rustic towns. I've spent many years of my life in and around those places and the memories (and experiences) will stay forever with me.

5. Your black and white lineart is exquisite. How did you end up specializing in this particular form?

        Thank you Michael. My love of pen and ink is directly related to my love of the work of Arthur Rackham, Charles Vess and an old friend, David Wyatt. All masters of the inked line. David turned me on to those guys in my late teens and through them I found the work of Berni Wrightson, through him, Barry Windsor-Smith, Franklin Booth etc. One thing leads to another... There are some amazing artists working in comics nowadays also. I'm entirely self taught so much of what I now know has come from intense study of these guys work, all cobbled together into a style that has ended being my own.

6. Do you ever make fan art? If so, of which stories/characters?

        Actually no. I used to draw comic characters all the time growing up, Spiderman was my favourite. But I don't have much time for that kind of thing nowadays. However, I'm always open for commissions, so who knows?

7. What do you draw for your own pleasure these days?

        Aside from commissioned work, I love any excuse to work on larger canvases using acrylics or oils. At the moment I have a bit of a' fantasy female' theme running through my work. I loved the Pre Raphaelite guys (used to go to the galleries in London as often as I could and sit and gaze in awe) and those who followed shortly after, (Waterhouse, Dicksee, Rossetti) my personal work aspires to that kind of thing. I intend to pursue that for as long as I can. I enjoy sketching for the sake of sketching and have made somewhat of a habit of warming up with at least one or two or those every day before I get on with my paid work. I also love painting with watercolours, so any excuse I get to use those I take full advantage of. When it comes down to it, I want to be the best I can be, at whatever medium I use, so no matter what it is I'm painting or drawing, I'm always trying to push the technical aspects of what I do. That said, I feel I've reached a point where my style/s are becoming far more intuitive and less conscious, which is a great place to be, so I'm not aggressively pursuing technical ability as hard as I did in my 20's and 30's.

        Subject matter-wise, I'm still painting and drawing the same things I've painted since I stepped onto the fantasy art path, namely, any excuse to paint a beautiful lady, creatures of the forest, a well rendered landscape or mythical beasts."

        Aaron's not just a great artist, he's humble and approachable and a pleasure to work with. His art will be appearing on Trollwood whenever we can secure his services.

Update (02/07/2015):

        I'm excited to announce that Trollwood now carries a wonderful range of Aaron Pocock art prints that can be purchased either as print-only or pre-mounted on high quality matboard ready for framing.


        Find the whole collection through the linky> Aaron Pocock Collection .

        Happy hunting.

        Mike

Other interviews with Aaron Pocock:

5 Questions for Aaron Pocock (wherein Aaron discusses the artists who have inspired and influenced him)
Aaron Pocock Interview... (wherein Aaron discusses the Mythical Creatures stamp set he created for Australia Post)
Interview with Aaron Pocock (wide-ranging interview with Constanza Ehrenhaus of emg-zine)
Artist Spotlight- Aaron Pocock (Aaron talks art with fellow fantasy artist Selina Fenech)
Aaron Pocock’s Fantasy Artroom (wherein Aaron discusses the fae world and mentions a dream encounter with a native Australian fairy)