ARTWORK ~ PUPPETRY / VISUAL ART:

I have been making dolls, puppets, and other creatures since I was very young (funny, I never played with dolls, I was strictly a stuffed animal gal!).

"General" is the first bunraku-style puppet I made.  Using Celluclay for the head, hands, and feet, foam and fabric for the body, and wood and string for the crutch and neck joint.

My "Robber" puppet has an articulating jaw, and blue LED eyes that can light up and glow behind his sea glass glasses.  The neck joint is different from General's in that I am using a ball for movement and glide rather than a series of strings to attach the shoulders to the spine.  You can open up the back of this puppet's head to change the battery and make repairs to the inside of his face as well.

It takes me quite a long time to finish my more intricate puppets (like the two described above), usually about 1-2 months of work (unless I lose focus and get involved in another project which frequently happens).  Other less complicated puppets and mask projects can take anywhere from a couple hours, to an afternoon, to a week...
I have in my current inventory of visual art everything from Bunraku style puppets, to Hand and Rod, Projector Puppets, Ball and Scarf, Sock Puppets, Hand Puppets, and various styles of mask and dolls.  One of the things I like most about puppetry is that each new artistic vision presents a new challenge in construction, materials, approach, and mechanics.  I also work pretty extensively with pen and ink and varied forms of sculpture - including costume, set, and prop design.  There is always a new equation to figure out...

There are some performance shots included here, created with my puppet group "Elephant Tango Ensemble".  In "The Couch", written by Jill Gibson, I created the hand puppets and Dylan Gould designed the shadow puppets.  "The Crunkruckle", written by yours truly, features projector slides of my design, shadow puppets from this show were made by Brendan Burns.  "Baby Zombie" photos are included, written by myself and Lainey Schooltree, all puppets depicted were made by me except the "1+1" photo with work by Brendan Burns.  "Aesops Fables" puppets were designed by Dylan Gould using mechanical rigging designed by myself.  Pictures of single puppets and figurines or other pieces I've made over the years are in here too...