Friday on a Wednesday ... 
yeah well, sounds strange, but the jungle drums hit so hard these days and we are busy as hell. One bad thing that really hurts my heart: In September we missed MASSIVE VOODOO's birthday. Completly. How stupid, but somehow we did not find the time nor the energy to rock the Jungle bells.
 
Well it was MV's 4th year - blogging since 2009 straight out of the deep jungle canopies.
4th Birthday.

And we missed it. The last years we celebrated the Birthday always with a cool event and something to win - for example the second workspace gallery. Really cool was the first one too. Last year we arranged the start of one of the biggest online contests ever - MV Bananalicious Painting Contest - with way too many figures to count and a lot of happy participants. The contest reached into the year 2013 with a lot of work to finish it for you all who painted like madmen for it. During that time Raffa and I also were in the middle of the progress of finishing our Artbook-Project and the jungle was ultrabusy.

Enjoying many contests this year so far was great too.  
Bruessel's Painting Crusade was the bomb. The Apes have been to Chicago to the Crystal Brush, enjoyed a sunny Duke of Bavaria, Spring Angel in Moscow, Miniature show in  Kulmbach was nice too, we went to Games Day Germany and many other smaller events, plus will see the Scale Model Challenge and Monte San Savino soon. Seems like we have seen a lot this year - but if you compare this to all the great offers of events the miniature scene got, it is not much. So many figure shows around Europe, Russia, USA, etc.  ... I mean seriously, I think I won't be able in my whole life to visit all of these amazing days of passion and hobby sharing.

This year we enjoyed five MV beginner's painting classes, one in the Netherlands is yet missing as it takes place in December (really looking forward to that!!), three super-BAM-classes made BAMALANG! at some german wetpalettes and some serious private coaching in our studio took place, where still two more will follow this year. A lot of "teaching". Well this always sounds strange, but as the feedback from other painters often says "Thanks for the help, I learned a lot!" we must do something right.

As this year was busy so far and still will be madly occoupied with our brain's and brushes working twentyfourseven to bring you a very interesting year 2014, I am still searching for the right excuse why we did forget the Birthday of the jungle and find none. Maybe it was because of big or small projects, big or small articles, big or small plans, big or small explosions or fat white sharks, no one can tell.

We missed the birthday cake party, I can tell, but let's not dive in the past. Enjoy today and charging the future ahead. We are looking forward to this with you!

There is one thing I can tell for sure: Massive Voodoo is not just those ladies and gentleman here on the blog. It is all of us. Without the support and trust of our readers the jungle would be an island with just one palm tree, maybe two. Massive Voodoo's jungle is all the painters out there who feel what we do, who start sharing too to their friends, who infect more and more people with painting figures. You can call it even a virus and that virus is us, Miniature painters that help eachother, enjoy and spread a hobby that is one of the greatest on this planet.


The jungle made new friends this year, saw many old friends again, found family here and over there, some friends turned into members of the jungle gang, some of the jungle gang found a serious work, we meet many painters here and there and saw a thousand great figures by our own eyes. Important for us always is to share it. Sharing emotional ups and downs during projects, sharing new ideas, sharing newly made experience when it comes to painting and so on ... sharing is what we do! But not only us, it is you in the end too, because you read here, because you tell your friends what you learned from painting this and that trick, you will share your experience in the future, you will recruit new painters, you will charge the future. Sounds epic and it is. Massive Voodoo is like an ocean, everybody is a drop of it.

Deepest thanks to all our followers, supporters, close friends, friends and all the friendly painters who we were able to meet, to everybody who shares his painting, to everybody who spreads the word about miniature painting, to everybody who paints small little soldiers with passion from the depths of his heart! You rule!


Good Memories from Chicago!

Yacki-Di-Yack at the Duke of Bavaria, with legends!

















painting with the austrian pumpkin-painter gang ...

Beautiful memories of burgers at the painting class ...
Mjam, mjam ... plus painting, mjam, mjam ...

You know this crazy guy there?? Do you? 



Eating Massive Voodoo cake from Sebastian was just sooooooooo great!!
Painting class in Detmold was a lot of fun!






























 There is that guy again ...

 Valérie paints with paranormal activity and mind control ...                             Meeting great Karol ...


                                                       That guy again ...










Matt and Matteo ...











































Documentary books ...







... but we found pride while looking at the books. Thanks to all our campaign supporters!











Great figures at the Painting Crusade X ...

 
We saw a tent full of figures at Kulmbach!


While I was preparing this post latest reports already bring some impressions of the Scale Model Challenge 2013 ... thanks to Phil for some great photos ...



Mad skills in propeller and jets here!
Submarine ahoi!



More to come this year, like I said Monte San Savino show and a painting class in the Netherlands. Additional to that we are already preparing to enter the year 2014 with strong ideas about Happy Painting. Thanks to everybody we were able to meet and enjoy the hobby together.

What I am trying to say here is ... Man we missed the Jungle's Birthday because of traveling way too much and keeping up with daily work... stupid us, but somehow this reason still seems worth it: Meeting as many fellow miniature painters, friends and hobby lovers as possible. Thanks so much to everyone we meet, who supports us, who cares about the passion, who is a part of the jungle!

Thanks to you! Yeah you! You reading this wall of text ... you!
Let's raise the glasses high to welcome a new year of Massive Voodoo - let's see if the Jungle grew older meanwhile ;)

Thanks to everybody!

Now make the jungle roar, show us who is reading here and post a comment to celebrate with us! There is nothing to win if you do ... Raffa and I were just doing bets on how many comments this post might reach ... now roar!! Let us know what is in your mind after reading this big wall of text and reached the end of this post ... let's try not to forget MV next birthday :D

Keep on happy painting!
The Massive Voodoo Team