Hi everyone!
I apologize for the radio silence for a while here...my BF is moving apartments in less than a month, and a decent amount of my things are here, including a good chunk of my collection. It's been a bit of a frenzy, as this has all materialized within the last 2 months (April & May). It's exciting to get to move to a new space, but it definitely doesn't leave as much time as I'd like for hobby things!
That said, I felt that I really needed to make time to sit down and make this post. Yesterday, I listened to the most recent Mares in Black podcast special, an interview with Barb Bacon, site runner of Stonehorseref and more recently, Breyerhorseref, the database format identification (and more) websites. Barb noted that her main reason for all of her efforts is to document our hobby history, to preserve it so that it isn't lost to future generations.
This morning, I woke up to the news that incredibly influential and well-known hobby artist Elizabeth Bouras has passed away. I'm not sure if I ever had the opportunity to properly meet Liz, but I think she may have attended a few Region 10 shows that I was also at. While I am not as much into the artistic side of the hobby, Liz's name is among the greats, one who inspired many of the artists of subsequent generations. She was especially well known for her dapple gray paint work. Prior to the passing of her close friend Judy Renee Pope in the 2000's, the two would sometimes do collaborative work.
The outpouring of love expressed in the hobby, both this morning and in the last couple of days, when we heard of the news that Liz had entered hospice care, has been incredible to see. She touched so many lives and had an influence on many hobby journeys. Lots of folks turned their Facebook profile and cover photos to a purple color, featured her artwork, and/or posted photos of their Breyer Crois (Connemara Mare), Liz's favorite Breyer mold.
Mares in Black re-shared the interview that they had with Liz last year - Episode 68 - it's worth a listen if you missed it back then.
All of this is an important reminder to all of us that someday, there will be no one left who remembers our hobby as it was at the beginning, in the 1960's and 1970's. If you have time this week, this month, or maybe at BreyerFest this summer, take some time to sit down and listen to the stories of the folks who were there in the beginning. Track down and read (or re-read!) the older books by Marney, Nancy, or Felicia & the Kellys. Grab yourself an old hobby magazine or two and peruse the articles, and discover or re-discover what the hobby was like back in the day.
Personally, I was born a few months after the inaugural BreyerFest, so I did not have the chance to see what the hobby was like back then (and I didn't get my first Breyers until age 9, not really discovering the hobby proper until the early 2000's), but hobby history is so important to me. Not only learning about the models themselves, but learning about how the hobby as a whole has evolved. How our art and our ways or interacting have grown over the years! From rudimentary customs and straight re-paints, backyard live shows and mimeograph magazines, to intricate originally sculpted & casted or drastic customs that look like they could come to life sometimes, and large networks of hobby shows (live & photo) all over the world alongside thriving internet communities. And everything in between!
My favorite blogs to read about hobby/Breyer history include:
Comments
Post a Comment