THE HANDS ON WORKSHOP

The birth of Philippe August René LeMarchand & The Pandorics:

Many years ago, I became fascinated by a mythical puzzle box from a cult horror movie called Hellraiser. The puzzle box was called the Lament Configuration and was created by an unknown toy maker named LeMarchand. Very little information existed other than that...until I came along to change all of that.

The Pyramid Gallery

After searching the internet I discovered the Pyramid Gallery back in 2001. A remarkable website managed by a shadowy gallery curator named Max Lichtor. His site was dedicated to producing replicas of puzzle boxes with a strong emphasis on finding and showcasing new talent.

I immediately contacted Mr. Lichtor about contributing work for his site. This began a 12 year association where I created the work and fiction and then submitted it to the Pyramid Gallery. Over the years I have helped many artists who aspired to have their work appear on this site. Always willing to help, I have been a guide, a mentor, and in some cases have actually helped to finish the designs so they could be shown on Mr. Lichtor's site.

In 2012, I decided it was time to focus on my work and the Followers of the Pandorics. The website had been started two years prior but always seemed to take a back seat while real life kept me busy. So with the mantra and attitude of "it's now or never", I began compiling the massive 12 year body of work to unleash upon the world.

Early in 2013 I decided to stop showing my work on the Pyramid Gallery, I announced that I was departing to present my work on my site Followers of the Pandorics in it's entirety as it was intended.

It was a remarkable 12 years to be able to watch the Pyramid Gallery grow from humble beginnings into it's current state. I wished Mr. Lichtor all the best, focused my attention anew on the designs and fiction I created over the years and began to rethink the site design for the Pandorics.

"By the prickling of my thumb, something wicked this way comes..."

I put myself in the mindset of LeMarchand thinking "if I were the Toy Maker, what else would I create?" Each design I fashioned had to look like it was created by the same hand, the same time period, and with the techniques available. I am proud to say that in the span of one hot Florida Summer, I created a foundation of over forty new Pandorics.

The Pyramid Gallery was sending numerous requests urging me to submit the history for each Pandoric. Each new history I submitted was responded with "what comes next?" from a very excited Mr. Lichtor.

Many hours of research and fact checking were logged while I began blurring the lines between known history and crafting the elaborate background of the boxes and the history of the Toy Maker that I felt they needed a suitable name, As the Toy Maker of the what? It came to me in an instant and I christened them "Pandorics".

To this day I still receive a lot of mail asking if my work on the Pandorics is fact or fiction from fans that further explore the stories only to discover records of historical events.

The history of the elusive Toy Maker, LeMarchand

Little to nothing was known about LeMarchand back in 2001...and then I began working in ernest. When I began to create the histories of the Pandorics, I also began creating the history for a fully realized, and after much thought, fully named Toy Maker named Philippe August René LeMarchand.

Many hours of Q&A were spent in private conversations with core members of the Hellbound web where I let a few trusted confidants know where I was taking his history and my concepts and working designs on the functionality of the Pandorics.

A good friend named José, being an avid bibliofile, repeatedly suggested that I compile the work from LeMarchand's point of view into a book or diary.

Creating the Toy Maker's Magnum Opus:

As the stories became more involved from cross over arcs it soon became clear that I had created a major history on LeMarchand and a large number of Pandorics. This was only the beginning.

The collected works were christened "The Toy Makers Magnum Opus", thats right, works as in compiled into three volumes or "acts" filled with art, diagrams. journal and diary entries, the dark history of LeMarchand, his creations and the Pandorics.

To the left is the original concept design of The Toy Makers Magnum Opus. The cover was designed to look like a wax seal impression and several concepts were sketched and then modeled in 3D.

Here is the actual finished Toy Maker's Magnum Opus showing how close the 3D concept design was to the finished prototype.

Considered now to be one of the authorities on LeMarchand and Pandorics:

I began to explore the new dimensions of 3D and CGI animation wanting to take my work to the next stage.

My first test animation was on The Jeremiad Enigma. The work was crude but held to the core concept I wanted to project. Discover the Followers of the Pandorics on YouTube.

The Followers of the Pandorics:

With over seventy viral videos of the Pandorics on YouTube and a growing cult following, I appropriately named my channel "The Followers Of The Pandorics" with more being added monthy as part of an on-going project. With so many animations completed, I now offer a LeMarchand's Portfolio of the Damned is available on DVD to experience the animations as they were intended.

Become a follower:

Visit the portfolio page to explore the Pandorics. Find links, see more animation and CGI rendered images all dedicated to the toy maker.