I have just returned home from Tokyo after enjoying the Golden Demon in Japan.
As this has been my first Golden Demon event I was meet with many, many different emotions along the way.
As the day started out I awoke many times throughout the night and into the morning for some reason I must associate with worry about the contest. I had to assume that this was a normal feeling for the moment as I have heard from other participants along the way that it was the same for them.
The Golden Demon in Japan is very different from other countries as there is much smaller gathering and events are limited to the painting competition.
I only entered the diorama category with my Istvaan III scene and hoped for the best.
I got to meet Hugo from Ichiban Painting fame and had a good time hanging out with him throughout the event.
As the day came to a close and the decisions were made I ended up wining the Bronze Demon in Diorama. This is the very interesting part as I was unsure throughout the event about who would win everything, but I was confident that I didn't win Gold as the diorama that won was what I called out from the beginning, but when I received the trophy I couldn't help but think, "BRONZE, what do you mean I only got BRONZE". Again this is kind of funny as the entire day I was wondering if I was even going to place!!!!! WTF was I thinking!.
My first demon back home with my diorama.
Hugo ended up smacking me in the head telling what an idiot I was for thinking that I didn't do good... I don't know how I got to this thought pattern but I guess it happens after spending so long working on a piece. I don't mean to be ungrateful, but it was going through my head at the time ( I guess it is better than booing the winner like in Germany). This was a good reminder that not many people have enjoyed the pleasure of receiving a golden demon in their life time and that I should be happy. When I think of it that way I'm much happier with my achievement and I smiled all the way home.
You can see many more pictures of the entries on my Facebook page.
I ended up talking to the Judge and learning about what the weaknesses of my entry were. I look forward to trying again next year..
I must say congrats to Hugo for winning the Slayer Sword. You deserve it man!!!!