ELECTRIC DREAMS – ARCADE KNIGHTS, PINBALL WIZARDS & CONSOLE KINGS

I have been pretty lucky over the last couple of weeks to take part in some fantastic conventions!  I did intend on writing up reviews straight after each event but as I found myself swamped with restock and prep inbetween I have waited until I could spend the time deserved to do a write up of each convention.

I had the great opportunity this year to take part in the first annual North East Retro Gaming [NERG] convention in June (Saturday June 29th and Sunday June 30th).  I am only new to really taking part in the convention circuit here in the UK and was cautious to throw myself into a none art or comic related convention, but as a girl who has grown up on games and often spent my weekends hanging about in arcades trying to best my older brother (and succeeding on more than one occasion I might add), gaming has been a pretty big part of my life and influenced my hobbies and even my art over the years so even I was there 100% as a gamer and I wasn’t going to miss the chance at once again playing on the arcade machines, consoles and gear of my youth.

NORTH EAST RETRO GAMING 2013

Traders were given the opportunity to arrive and set-up on the Friday afternoon before the convention and I am so glad I took up the offer as I got to see the whole place come together and see all the machines roll in one by one and the room to become a real thing of beauty.  

THE MACHINES BEING SET UP.  ALL WORK AND NO PLAY...
OK, LOTS OF WORK BUT LOTS OF PLAY TOO!

My attention jumped straight to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle cabinet which I had spent far too much of my pocket money on as a child busting through the levels with my older brother everytime we visited the arcade.  When I finished setting up my table and had a chance to look amongst the machines I was stunned at how many I recognised, had played and how many I hadn’t – don’t worry, I soon made sure I had a go on everything I could get my grubby mits on!  Guests when they arrived on the Saturday were greeted with over 50 arcade machines and more than 50 pinball machines as well as old gaming consoles and computers, all free to play after the admission fee.  When you consider some of these games would run on a couple or pounds a credit the value for money was unbelievable!

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES - I ONLY EVER MANAGED TO DEFEAT THIS ONCE AS A KID WITH MY BROTHER, GETTING ANOTHER GO AT IT WAS GREAT!  I FORGOT HOW HARD THEY USED TO MAKE THESE GAMES THOUGH...

I went through a pretty serious pinball obsession in my mid-teens and they were always my main target in the arcade on a weekend, so seeing the machines all lined up and ready to go was glorious!  A few I knew I had declared numerous vengeances upon as I had lost my last ball in a fit rage over a long lost weekend.  There were also a lot of machines I hadn’t had the chance to play before and NERG was hosting an exclusive ‘first-time’ appearance of The Matrix pinball machine which was a thing of beauty in itself.

SO MANY MACHINES READY AND WAITING TO BE PLAYED - THIS WASN'T EVEN HALF OF THE PINBALL MACHINES THERE EITHER...

THE MATRIX PINBALL (via North East Retro Gaming)

  

The weekend also boasted official merchandise, cosplay, raffles and a whole host of traders – retro gaming dealers with stacks of classic consoles, games and accessories, to modern merchandise dealers, apparel, retro sweets and jewellery.  I was pleased to see my friend Charles Bazaar was in attendance with her goodies as she has quickly become one of my favourite traders to pester because she is so damn awesome!  I had lots of awesome customers over the weekend and met some awesome people, it was a really great weekend.  I worked on a bunch of new cards and prints especially for the weekend including retro characters and games like Link, Megaman, Princess Peach, Metroid and Day of the Tentacles (a personal favourite).

MY TABLE AS OF THE FINAL DAY - I WAS TRYING LOTS OF NEW IDEAS AND LAYOUTS FOR DISPLAYS OVER THE WEEKEND AND HAD A BIT OF FUN WITH SOME OF THE 8-BIT PIXEL CARDS AND CRAFTS I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON.

It was quite a surreal experience and I joked at one point over the weekend about it to my older brother who attended as a guest (and table helper).  I was sitting eating a happy meal, a slushie drink and 20p mix-up at hand, the distinct smell of smokey old arcade cabinets and the music and sounds of all the machines blending into an old familiar hum… I honestly felt like a kid again and it really did make me smile.  This little experience alone made the weekend a wonder for me and I think I am not the only old gamer who experienced it.  It is an even bigger delight to feel this way myself and then to see kids with their fathers and mothers experiencing all of this anew and with massive smiles on their faces.   This unfamiliar world, a gathering of machines and players, high on the power-ups and the free plays… I do love modern gaming and the developments made over the years but the days of meeting friends at the arcade to play the machines and attempt to crack some unknown nemesis only known to you as some 3 letter highscore villain have long sinced passed.   NERG brought that all back and I will be smiling for a long time yet for having gotten to relive that feeling again.

The event was a huge success and I can’t thank the team from NERG enough for putting the event together.  The guys and gals who made this happen along with all the machines owners who put in a hell of a lot of work to make the weekend happen and they did a fantastic job.  They announced in the last few days NERG will be returning again for 2014 with even more machines and fun plan, I am going to be there without question and I hope any other gamers in the UK (and beyond) make the trip because it is a great convention. 

You can stay up to date with North East Retro Gaming via Facebook for all the news for the convention in 2014.

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Katie White Art - Online Shops and Outlets

Where can you buy my prodcuts?  Well, recently I have been lucky enough to start selling products outside of conventions and have quickly expanded the choice available!  While I have lots of new designs in the pipeline there are already quite a few items you can choose from and not just from my own online shop!

BIGCARTEL

http://katiewhiteart.bigcartel.com/

This is my main shop where everything is handled and shipped by me!  Some of these items are handmade (by me) and some are my designs that have been printed or produced by others, but all of them have my name behind them and the designs are all my own originals.

My store currently boasts my Star Wars themed Tote Bags, my acrylic charm necklaces and my handmade Say It Pixel Jewellery!  There are lots of new goodies in the process of being made and will be listed oh so soon too!  I also have may Say It With Pixel handmade cards which will be added to the site after my current stint of conventions is over, but in the meantime you can view them here on my Facebook page and if you can contact me if you were interested in buying one!

GO SHOPPING!

SAY IT WITH PIXEL CARDS

REDBUBBLE

http://www.redbubble.com/people/pai-thagoras/shop

I also have a store open now over at Redbubble.com which currently has a small selection of tshirts, apparel and stickers from some of my old designs people have been requesting, some new and extra cute work is due to be added over the coming weeks too!

MY REDBUBBLE SHOP!

DARE TO WEAR CLOTHING

http://www.daretowearclothing.co.uk

The very awesome Dare To Wear Clothing are now hosting a set of exclusive tshirts, hoodies and other apparel with my Undead Girl designs on them!  This is the only place online you will be able to purchase these designs on apparel and so far include three designs.

Zombie Bride

Mrs Frankenstein

Lady Vamp

 So be sure to check them out and grab yourself an exclusive design!

MY DARE TO WEAR CLOTHING EXCLUSIVES!

Doctors, Robots and Jedi, Oh My!

There is a particular day in May when we geeks, nerds and fans happily develop a lisp and gather together to joyously declare to one another "My the Fourth Be With You!".  This May the Fourth I got a chance to take part in something very special, a convention event local to my area called Screen-Con! Screen-Con was being hosted for the very first time this year and was boasting one hell of an official guestlist, including Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett), Sylvester McCoy (Dr Who, The Hobbit), Alan Harris (Bossk) and many other big names, alongside movie props and some fantastic exhibitions and events throughout the day.  One of my earliest memories is watching the original Star Wars trilogy every Christmas with my older brother and my entire life has revolved around all things geeky and nerdy so when I discovered this event happening on my own doorstep I think my inner child squealed like a  Wookiee castrato.  Then the fully grown me did it as well, because I could get a chance to meet Boba Fett and Bossk!!

SCREEN-CON 2013 POSTER (via Screen-Con)

After stumbling upon the event I was quick to get in touch with the lovely event organisers and was flabbergasted when they offered me a table and extended the offer to my very talented friend and usual partner in crime for anything arty, Chris.  We were both totally elated at the chance to take part and immediately swung into action.  As the day approached I was getting more and more excited as more people I knew were getting involved, either buying tickets and supporting the event or getting their own tables.

To honour the date and one of the special guests I worked on something special.  I designed two tote bags (my first tote bags ever in fact!) to sell at Screen-Con and used the services of the a talented local business called North x North East (NXNE) to print them.

 

BOTH BAGS ARE PRINTED ON ECO-COTTON BAGS (100% BIODEGRADABLE, MADE FROM NATURAL UNBLEACHED COTTON) USING PERMASET AQUA INKS (100% SOLVENT FREE, ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY AND VEGAN).

As the morning dawned the excitement hit me hard!  I had little sleep the night before as I wanted to make sure I was fully prepared and loaded for the day ahead - even the lack of sleep couldn't keep my down as the day pumped me with so much excitement and adrenaline I was positively flying about my stall!  We arrived to set up and from the moment our feet touched the floor of that hall the day was great!  We met a lot of wonderful people and had a fantastic day!

MY TABLE PACKED TO THE BRIM WITH ART, CARDS AND OTHER HANDMADE GOODIES ALONGSIDE CHRIS'S TABLE WITH ALL HER FANTASTIC ART!

The Boba Fett bags pretty much sold out and Chewwie wasn't far behind!  I even gave one of the Boba Fett bags to the great man himself, Jeremy Bulloch and it was immediately added to his stand and put on display! 

JEREMY BULLOCH'S STAND AT SCREEN-CON 2013, MY TOTE BAG LOOKS RATHER NIFTY UP THERE!

NXNE also attended Screen-Con with their own stock of apparel so I made sure everytime someone came by and commented on the bags I sent them down to the people responsible for making them such high quality.  We also had the pleasure to see the very talented Charles Bazaar and meet another local creative David Shirley of angelKat Entertainment who was on the table next to me and Chris. 

NXNE HAD A GREAT SELECTION OF THEIR OWN PRINTED MERCH AND I AM STILL TORN ON WHICH ONE IS MY FAVOURITE!  EVEN MY CLOSE FRIEND AND LOCAL DJ ASH, PART OF THE TRIO RESPONSIBLE FOR THE NEW AND #1 ROCK NIGHT IN NEWCASTLE, ALPHA IS IN AND HELPING OUT! (via North x North East)

The whole day was one of the best I have had!  This was only my second convention and fourth public event trial running my own stall but is easily going to be one of my favourite convention experiences and will be quite hard to beat!  The atmosphere and excitement for the event was amazing I can't even begin to describe how well the event was run - for the first of it's kind locally the Screen-Con team totally hit it out of the park.  I hope I can be involved in the future events and have so many ideas in mind for the upcoming Scream-Con in October!

I can't say enough how great it is to be invited to to take part in these events and how important it is to support them.  These events take a lot of work and people can often mistake the day as being about them and their sales, but it is just as important that you take part and add to the experience.  This day was about every person who attended and everyone who made it happen, I am really honoured to have been able to take part.

Before I finish this blog I want to make a special mention to a very talented actor who was to attend Screen-Con 2013 but sadly passed away just before the event.  Richard LePermentier, known iconically as Admiral Mottie in Star Wars passed away April 15 2013 and was sorely missed at the event.  I am glad to say the day was dedicated to him and his memory as part of something so close to a lot of people's hearts.  I also wish to dedicate this blog entry to him.  It is great to think that on a day that was really about fans coming together to commemorate a great genre and so many great creations, one of those involved in it's making who sadly couldn't be with us can be remembered.

Here are a few more pictures from friends and family of the day and some of the other antics that ensued!  You can find more pictures at the Screen-Con Facebook page and if you are local to the North East of England you should definitely drop by for the next event!