Shop Update!

The new reproductions have arrived today and thus I am happy to announce my shop is once more filled with twenty new Shadow-Puppet reproductions. Enjoy!

LINK (my shop at Etsy)

LINK (my shop at Dawanda)

De Bullebak - A Dutch Folktale

I know I said last time I would draw one of the legends I collected during my trip in France, but for some reason I just could not get to it yet.

However an image of another legend, I grew up with as a kid, haunted me for days, till I at last put it down on paper. It is the story of the Bullebak. A Dutch water spirit used by parents to frighten children and keep them away from the water. Something of which we have a lot here.

Now the word bullebak is hard to translate literally, but in means as much as bully and refers to someone or something which harasses another person because he likes to do so. This word is used in general but also refers to a terrifying water spirit. Its description is quite diverse and parents have become very creative with it as well through time.

One of these descriptions is that of a creature living in the water with the head of a bull. Others say that the creature has never been seen but has the habit of luring children with shiny little stars to the waterside and then grab them. Many of these descriptions also include a big fish.

I however grew up with the story that the Bullebak was a gigantic bullfrog. When it caught you it would drown you and eat you up whole. I can't even recall how many times my grandmother warned me for the Bullebak, but it must have been often. Even now at the age of 25 I still can recall the images I had in my mind as a kid when listening to these stories.

Well, that is the story of the Bullebak I grew up with! (And for those who are interested, prints will soon be for sale at my shop.)

Book Update!

It has been a while since I have spoken with you all about the Tell me a story - project. I know some of you might even have had doubts if the book was ever going to be published.

But I can assure you all the book is now almost finnished and we are very close to the publishing date.

I probably don't need to tell you that self-publishing is a lot of work if done properly and of course I wanted to do it properly. That is why I decided not to do it all on my own, instead I have been working with several people: proofreaders, editors and a most talented graphic designer. For the last couple of months we have all been working extremely hard. All texts were edited twice, after this process a couple of people have been proofreading the texts several times. While in the meantime designs for the cover and inside pages were made. The above image is just a sneakpeek of the hardcover design we are working on and beneath you can see the title page of the book. To make the whole project complete we are also working on a paperback version, for which we created a whole other design.

Albeit it has taken all of us lots and lots of work to create two beautiful books on which we all can be proud of. Still there are some minor things which need to be done but soon, very soon I will be able to show you the book; Tell me a story!

(Those of you who have participated in the project will receive an email from me within the week in which you can read your own (edited) piece once more before it will be published in the book.)

More Shadow Puppets!

The Good Fairy

Aladin and Djini

Mary Poppins

And again I have made another series of new (hand-cut) shadow puppet designs.

I hope you all like it!

Reproductions are soon for sale at my Etsy shop: LINK

Alice in Wonderland - Shadow Puppets

Again another series of new (hand-cut) shadow puppet designs!

This time I made puppets for my new Alice in Wonderland collection.

Reproductions are soon for sale at my Etsy shop: LINK

Saint George and the Dragon

Again, another series of new (hand-cut) shadow puppet designs !

I know I have made these puppets before, but I just love the story of Saint George and the Dragon. So, I decided to make them once more and try to improve them.

For those of you who are not familiar with the legend please check out the following LINK

Reproductions are soon for sale at my Etsy shop: LINK

Fairy Tale Shadow Puppets

Rumpelstiltskin

The snow queen

Little Red Riding Hood & the Big Bad Wolf

Another series of new (hand-cut) shadow puppet designs. Reproductions are soon for sale at my Etsy shop: LINK

I hope you all like it!