July 2024 Artist Spotlight
Profession: Miniature Wargaming Terrain
Favorite Tool: Precision Engraver
Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/FoofighterubuTerrain
Anita Moore runs Foofighterubu Wargame Terrain Studio where she creates incredible pieces for many different tabletop games. Many of her terrain designs are modular and feature realistic detail and excellent paint applications.
My Story
“I’ve always been an artist, enjoying drawing, sketching, and painting. I learned from watching William Alexander on PBS, mastering techniques for water, sky, trees, and shorelines. Helen Van Wyck also influenced me. Art classes were scarce in 1970s Alabama public schools, but one teacher in four years taught me a lot. Despite limited formal training, I kept doodling and taking occasional paint classes. Understanding these basics is crucial for creating effective three-dimensional diorama scenes. People often ask how I make my water effects, and I always say it starts with knowing how to paint water, which is my specialty.”
My Store
“Fast forwarding through the years: I got married in 1987, had my first baby in 1988, the second in 1991, and my husband passed away in 2000. With some insurance money, I helped a friend open a game store in Ringgold, later renamed Exit Zero. We built terrain for Warhammer tournaments and sold it on eBay to pay the bills. My business partner, Kenny Waters, found Hot Wire Foam Factory tools, and we switched from makeshift tools to professional ones. My favorite tool was the Precision Engraver, as I love to draw. I have them make me a custom tapered, sharpened tip for precision work.”
Birth of Foofighterubu
“After 2.5 years, the store faced closure, but it was a positive decision. I made sure our young gamers took home their favorite terrain pieces and gave tables to avid players. Parents helped us move and close the shop. Within months, a leaky roof led my church to help clear my attic, creating a 30×14 ft workspace. I moved an 8×4 ft table, shelves, terrain-building gear, leftover paint, and Styrofoam from the store into this space and started Foofighterubu Wargame Terrain Studio. I sold creations on eBay, using Hot Wire tools extensively. Eventually, I upgraded to their newest tools with on/off switches. The Precision Engraver remains my most-used tool.”
“What began as both of a love of working with Styrofoam and a pretty cool way to make extra cash paid for yearbooks, new shoes, band camp, and other extras and necessities that the survivor benefits and interest from a few Investments didn’t necessarily cover. As the years went by I got better at what I did, expanded my horizons and began accepting commissioned orders until I was doing more commissioned work than original work. Granted, all commission work is original work it’s just someone else’s ideas executed in my style and way of doing things.
Today I am still working, although the economy has greatly slowed businesses for a lot of independent and sole proprietor business people. But I still keep learning and growing, experimenting and finding new expedient ways to produce fantastic terrain.
Last thought: observe your world! Notice structures, natural features, kewl art. Your phone is also a camera for capturing ideas for future projects and reference material to draw/sculpt from.
Socrates said “we learn what we are doing by doing what we are learning.”