The Lugubrious Dr. Tetanus

the harbinger

It follows me. I know not from where it came or what it foretells of my future, but it follows me. I first noticed the smell, a heavy earthen aroma like that of mushrooms turning sour. Others near me do not smell it. It is a nauseating foetid smell unlike anything of this earth. Then came the movements, deep in the shadows. Is something there? Who is it? I could have sworn I heard a wet rustling, like dead leaves being turned by a gravedigger's shovel. They are beginning to think me insane, but I know it is there, just out of sight. I can sense the blank, lifeless stare of eyeless sockets and the cold stench of a dead, tendril-like hand. Sometimes I think I can see the slow, glowing draw of a cigar butt, and the thick gray smoke billowing from the dark corners, but no others can attest to these sensations. I am terrified of the devilish portent that this soothsayer brings.

It follows me.

Banjo Ghouly Has a Friend for Dinner

When My Ideas Pop

I don't know what the reason is, but I find that many of my best ideas pop into my head early in the morning. At some point in the first hour between waking up and driving to work, there is an epiphany...a eureka moment...when an idea is so clear that it is just burning a hole in my brain. Maybe the act of sleeping allows me to work out details that I am not able to focus on when going about my day to day routine. Maybe the idea has to fester in the dark hours of the nigh, forming an oozing pustule that breaks free into my consciousness upon awakening. Maybe at night my creations slither, crawl, or scuttle up to the side of my bed and whisper the plan into my ear. However it occurs, I absolutely love when it happens.

Today was one of those mornings.

I have a piece I have been working on for a while that I believe is a solid concept, but I have been struggling with the name. I have been running lists of different ideas, consulting my kids and my wife, but nothing felt right. This morning as I was half asleep, eating my breakfast and sipping coffee, the name erupted into my head so clear that I just know it has to be right...almost as if it was always there deep in the grey matter squirming its way to the surface.

In the coming days, watch for a new sculpt entitled "Banjo Ghouly Has a Friend For Dinner"