BIG Paintingbuddha News

Greetings my most marvelous miniaturists, 

As promised, today we have some rather BIG news for you. Something we have kept secret for over half a year now. Coincidentally, we announce this PaintingBuddha news on April 8th, the Japanese festival of Hana Matsuri (花祭, flower festival) - celebrated on Buddha's Birthday. I just found this out this morning, and found it rather appropriate ^^

Now we all know which Buddha they must have in mind - the PAINTING BUDDHA, of course! :D 

And in some way it actually is a birthday celebration, as today I can finally announce that after today there is no more 'I', but a whole lot of 'we'. 

When I moved back from Tokyo to Germany exactly a year ago, I moved to Berlin. There, I talked to some of my friends about my 'dream' of creating a company with a clear commitment to the miniature painting & gaming community. High quality, low price and reinvestment of profits in charity and community - those were my main company ideas. With a solid business plan it did not take long to convince the two guys I 'wanted' on the team so badly...

So with no further ado, I am proud to announce that no other than the incredibly talented sculptor Mati "Badsmile" Zander and the man that needs no introduction: Ben "White Rabbit" Komets have joined Paintingbuddha as full-time partners of our little enterprise. Mati holds the title of "Art Director Body" whereas Ben will henceforth be known as our "Art Director Soul". 

left to right: Ben "White Rabbit" Komets, Mati "Badsmile" Zander and Michael "Zaphod Beeblebrox" Bartels
And yes - I did shave my head for this momentous event - Painting Buddha Style! :D

As the last week has already proven, working together as a team on a daily basis makes us much more efficient and things are moving along and a much quicker pace. 

So, what can you expect from us? Well, first of all, we are committed to finish our first instructional DVD set as quickly as possible. Tomorrow, Rafael García Marín - the famous Spanish painter who goes by "Volomir" in the miniature world, will come over to record his part for the first DVD. After some additional heavy investment in our equipment we are convinced that the DVD set will now even be better than planned.

Secondly, we have a whole bunch of 'additional' community stuff and other hoopy ideas lined up. We will announce them as soon as we are confident that we can hold any release dates (yes, we learn from mistakes :D).

I feel privileged to have the opportunity to work with these two outstanding friends - and I feel humbled that I have the opportunity to fulfill my 14 year long dream of creating a company for you - the painting community. 

Thank you for your ongoing support!

Share & Enjoy ^^

Michael
aka Zaphod Beeblebrox