NOVUS CAELUM
There comes a time when your outlook on life changes drastically…. or you just simply have new options and opportunities sprout that makes the outlook feel like something new to fill the void of ‘I don’t know where I’m going with this’. I can’t exactly settle on which it is for me or if it’s both but nonetheless, this feels like a turning point. A big one.
I realize I’ve been practically neglecting my poor lonely artistic talents which I’m sure alot of artists do at one time or another. Well tada! Here I am- Odysseus hath returned from the fray after years and years only to find his dog had waited for him long enough to see him one last time and die there on the spot… Doesn’t that make you all warm and fuzzy? I’m joking about the connotation, there is none and no I didn’t come back to anything bad. But I have come bearing gifts of sorts.
The Neo Dulcimer has grown exponentially in the past year, especially this past quarter. In doing so we have not only grown but grown close to another airship crew that found themselves in distress. With what crew was on hand at the time, we came to their aid to the best of our abilities and together pushed through a fight. There is now a blood pact between us and we are now tight knit family. Brothers and sisters ready to face anything. That airship is christened Airship Isabella. There will be no place they go that you won’t see us by their side and vice versa. I’ve found a family in the midst of the chaos that is life, ASI to me aren’t friends, they’re brothers and sisters I was never able to have before. They came and filled in that void and with them came a wave of inspiration and feeling that I myself can be like them and make something of myself and my talents. They have given me hope where I had none.
We have taken the Con circuit by storm in just a short time. After the tiny Anime Overload convention in Austin this past weekend, through networking we are booked solid through for the next year. It’s a daunting thought, but chillingly exciting just the same. We are dealing with part time jobs that are stingy with our time but have no problem with mistreating us, whereas the con lineup IS a job. There is so much preparation that goes into each one and with the guest perks comes the merch tables. Any free time that can possibly be scrounged up, I’ve dedicated to the production of merch for these events.
It’s funny, in just the last quarter of this year I’ve grown so much in respect to my skill sets. Dear God, constructing the Steampunk Mad Hatter alone was monumental for me. I had one month and one month alone to build the costume from scratch. I’ve never done woodworking, metalworking, resin casting, LED and electronics wiring, any of that. In a month I not only learned and had to learn really quick, I constructed that beast of a task. I’m proud of it. I believed in something and I did it. Completed it to my own satisfaction which is something I haven’t ever done before. Yes, I’ve never been satisfied with a work of art I’ve produced before this. More pictures are on the way of the costume btw.
All of those things aside, I’ve found what I feel is my true calling. Cedric Whittaker, Captain of the Isabella, took me on as a leather working apprentice. Sure I’ve had a bit of experience in leather work before but it was nothing compared to his 17 plus years of skill. In just a few days, he opened up my knowledge and craft with this medium to endless possibilities that has practically no limits to applications. Keep your eyes on my gallery, it’s about to be dusted off again. Slowly but surely my set of leather working tools has been growing. I feel free when I’m set loose on constructing a project now. I guess I’ll close with this… The possibilities of what I could have been have now become what I am and more beyond what the horizon can hold. Look out world, here I come.
— Captain Lazuli Delacru
Airship Neo Dulcimer
