Work has begun on a new live show! We are currently in the writing and design phase, but I thought I’d put up a little teaser image. The show is based on a comic strip that we developed a few years ago and I think it’s going to make a fun puppet show. We’ll be working on it for a while, but stay tuned for further developments!
Here is a fellow that is having a costume made. It looks like he’s lying on an operating table (which I guess he really is). I like his nubby little hooves.
This is Francis, the Pig. He is the third puppet that I ever built. I made him about eleven years ago (I can’t believe it)! He has always had the same personality. It’s funny, I can see all of my Thistledown characters very clearly in my mind before they are built. They have very real, distinct personalities before they are made. Francis definitely represents the goofy yet insecure part of myself. You can see him in action in some of my YouTube videos.
Unfortunately the years are beginning to show, inside and out. I’d like to tackle a rebuild sometime, but I’m not sure when. I know that inside (physically) he’ll be very different because I’ve learned a lot about puppet building in the eleven years, and I feel like I’m still just scraping the surface of the possibilities.
Please take a moment to go and take a look at this video (link below) that a local TV station did on Norman Schneider’s work. It’ll be great for those of you that speak German. For the rest of us, it’s just great to see beautifully made puppets in action! Congrats, Norman!
http://www.wdr.de/mediathek/html/regional/2008/02/11/lokbi_01.xml
Another “through the body” shot. I really love the way foam catches the light. It’s beautiful stuff, really.
I like this up-close shot of a foam hand before it has the fleece covering. One of these days I’m gonna just dye the foam and leave it uncovered because I just love the look of reticulated foam.
“Hello all! I have given Pudgy boy, Cupid, the day off. After all, I am more masculine than him, no? That’s what I thought, he-he-he. I would most especially like to say Happy Valentine’s Day to all of the Weemuns out there! Oh, and go watch my Veedeo!!“
Hand stitching can be tedious work–and it has to be done right. No shortcuts, or it will show in the final puppet. I pride myself on attention to detail–sometimes to a fault, but I love a “polished” look to puppet faces. I love to have all of the seams disappear and let the character shine. Well…back to work!
This one’s from the vault. This is a puppet that I made last year for Kanja Chen’s Chimp TV project. With all of that flowing golden hair, she had a sort of Miss Piggy quality about her–so I gave her this diva pose.
Hey–nice mug!
