The Wier Cult: Wilbur Whatley commissioned a piece of art for us!

The Wier Cult.

It is amazing to reflect on the progression of Between the Bolter and Me, now that we are approaching 10 years! It has grown substantially over the years, branching out into a podcast, a Twitch channel, a YouTube channel, and even a growing Discord group. Although we primarily started blogging to share our creations and thoughts, we quickly realized the best part is connecting with others who have shared interests. It is building and connecting with a wider hobby community. We have tried to do this in different ways, like holding hobby challenges (Death Guard, Bonereapers) and showcasing some of our favorite hobbyists each year. Ultimately, we just enjoy chatting with other people involved in the hobby! While we hope that we impart to others a fraction of the inspiration we get from these interactions, it can sometimes be difficult to know if we are having an impact, particularly with the decline of blogging and the faceless aspect of podcasting. Recently, this niggling thought was silenced by our friend and fellow blogger Wilbur Whateley, when he gifted us a piece of artwork he commissioned Roberto Cuevas Guerrero to create, featuring the three of us as Tzeentchian cultists! It is a fantastic piece, fitting Guerrero's signature style using the sharp contrast of black and white to emphasize all of the fine and often unsettling details he incorporates. Getting such a thoughtful piece of artwork was really touching and we wanted to share it with all of you. Now we just need to find a place in our respective hobby spaces to frame and hang the artwork!

Left at the Bottom of the Garden: Hoodie Crows

A pair of delightful hoodie crows!

Last month, I painted Deirdre, a small ghost model, created by Andrew Rae of Statuesque Miniatures. It was a fun process, and it encouraged me to consider painting some of his other creations like Left at the Bottom of the Garden, a series of lost and abandoned toys. I settled on painting a pair of adorable stuffed birds, the Hoodie Crows!

Dragged into Turbolasers Episode 91: Mental health and miniature wargaming

Gretchin, better known as Greenstuff Gretchin, joins us to speak about the incredibly important topic of mental health. Mental health is something that affects everyone, but is not often discussed openly, despite how it can envelope our lives. In the episode, we talk about how mental health impacts everyones’ personal hobby journeys, both positively and negatively. We touch on how it can be difficult to acknowledge if you are struggling and to find the appropriate help, and how support can sometimes be lacking or out of reach when you do seek it. Finally, we talk about how supportive the hobby community is, and encourage people to reach out to ourselves and others if they need support.

A look back: Notable Hobbyists of 2021

Shortly after the turn of the new year, we reflected back on all we accomplished in 2021. Having finished this, we turned our attention to the more exciting topic of considering what hobbyists and artists inspired us most throughout 2021. Like in past years, there were an astounding amount of hobbyists producing fantastic work, which made it difficult to acknowledge everyone we wanted to. Furthermore, we purposely did not choose hobbyists that we featured in previous years, although many of them are still creating incredible work, so we would encourage people to look back on our selections from previous years!