Dear all,

the Massive Voodoo family wishes all of you and your loved ones a happy, healthy and colorful new year! May 2024 be full of positive energies, inspiration and projects that bring you happiness and satisfaction!

With the start of the new year, we thought to reflect a bit on what we would wish 2024 to be, hobby-wise. So, in the following, we outline our goals they relate to our beloved miniature-painting and modeling hobby.

Andy

New year, new opportunities ;)

I stopped making nonsensical New Year's resolutions years ago. Plans make more sense ;)

I'm still in my non-creative post-Monte blues when it comes to miniatures. I had finished a lot of things by then and the drive to start something new wasn't there until the end of the year. The creative energies will definitely come back soon and when the time comes, there will be a rough plan of things I want to tackle this year. Among other things, the following points are included:

1. Start and finish 1-2 scale models (a diorama and a civilian vehicle)
2. Painting a hipster head that brought me a proud bronze in sculpting standard in Monte
3. Tackle a small-large secret project with my MV brother David

In addition, three shows are already firmly planned for this year:

• the new Bembel Cup near Frankfurt in March
• Kulmbach in August, and the
• Scale Model challenge in Eindhoven in October

... maybe we'll see each other there, I'd be happy ;)

Hansrainer

Last year was busy with life and not so much Hobby - this year might be busier with hobby, but before any ambitious painting project, we have a lot of work ahead of us to get our new, German miniature show off the ground: The Bembel Miniature Cup will take place on the weekend of March 9th and 10th in Rodgau near Frankfurt (you can find some Info already here https://bembelminiaturecup.com/, more after the relaunch that will happen soon, alternatively find us on Instagram or Facebook (https://www.instagram.com/bembel_miniature_cup and https://www.facebook.com/bembelcup). 

Josua

Reflecting on the bustling year of 2023, my focus primarily centered around tabletop-related projects easily storable and effortlessly resumed due to long workdays. In 2024, I aim to shift towards more intentional painting with the following goals:

• Artistic Expression: Explore diverse styles and mediums while concentrating on painting more animals.
• Storytelling Through Art: Inject emotions and narratives into my pieces, placing a strong emphasis on crafting compelling stories.
• Community Engagement and Teaching: Stay committed to attending local paint meetings, sharing my passion, and exploring the possibility of hosting workshops.

My artistic aspirations for the upcoming year involve a return to focused painting with a renewed commitment to experimentation, storytelling, and community engagement.

Kilian

Hello jungle,

you haven’t heard a lot from my side and I am afraid this will not change in 2024. There are a lot of private changes and challenges coming to me and my family this year. So my Hobby goal for 2024 is really simple: just find time to paint once a week. Even if it is just for an hour, paint a bit, relax a bit and try to escape everything that is daily life and struggle.

Petra

New year, new me?

Nah, I'll be the same nagging person I was when the old year left the house (and it did for good!). But: I still want to try out new things and change things - because we all know: the only constant is change!

So, I actually want to get back to a topic that I followed for a bit a long time ago: I started reading self care books (yeah, I am now in "that age"), because I wanted to understand my brain better and why for the sake of it, am not able to work through a project start to finish, but get side tracked all the time. This always results in a huge pile of WIP miniatures (or WIP-any-other-project), which I then only finish when a new Show is around. But I finally also want to be able to have something finished *before* the week prior of a show. And this is mildly driving me nuts - as I know I can create decent art when I have time and enjoy; I also know I can cut it short when time presses and I sometimes work better this way.

However - a couple of years ago, I stumbled over the book "Refuse to choose" by Barbara Sher, which kind of described me in a nutshell: a multipurpose dilletante who gets too easily interested and invested in a ton of hobbies for a bit, but never really deep (or in her words: a "Scanner"). I really liked the first chapters, but when it then came to the practical part, I was super hyped but couldnt just get into the flow of following her advice on a regular routine. Back when I followed the first couple of chapters of that book, I even went all the way to creating and designing my daybook for her tips, my ideas and the follow up examples; even filled a couple of pages, and then put it away again - even though it helped!

So, this is my new years resolution: doing all the things, everywhere, all at once (and finally finishing stuff - a lot of it); but with more organisation in my brain. ;-)

Petrelka

Roman

2023 was a good painting year for me. I was busy teaching, painting and helping others to grow. I really enjoyed that. I also enjoyed to tackle some bigger projects, like framed dioramas that I was able to finish. Creativity and the muse was with me the last year with ups and downs of course, but I am grateful. I am never able to call these resolutions "Hobby goals" as my work is connected to my passion.

My plans for 2024 are:

• Finish some WIPs that I am really eager to finish as I think they can turn out really cool
• Less subconscious stress from social media. Working against it with clear social media time and meditation.
• Finishing the work on my homepage to have a smoother workflow, FAQs and enrollment options for all my workshops, courses and coachings.
• Enjoying and living happy painting while becoming a dad for the first time!

David

Looking back, I was really happy with my hobby-year 2023. While I did not touch brushes or colors for much of the first half of the year, I was productive in the second half and the hours spent on my projects were filled with joy, calm and relaxation. In the new year, I mainly plan to continue on that trajectory - but also have a few concrete goals. So, in 2024, I plan to:

1. continue enjoying my hobby-time in the same relaxed way I did in (the second half of) 2023
2. work on setting up a new Massive Voodoo website
3. make sure to meet my MV brothers and sisters at least once in person
4. finish at least one scale modeling project

How about you?

What are your hobby goals for this year? Did you make any New Year's resolutions? Let us know via the comments.

Best from the whole MV Team!