I think Rob and Soli Joy are fantastic.  If you haven’t vistied their website yet please do.  Any parent of a young child knows the value of a great children’s enteretainer.  They write:

I have said it before and I will say it again, I am a big fan of fellow Canadian Mathieu René and his company called Créaturiste.  The thing that people may not know is that he has several blogs that he posts on and he is very generous with his discoveries and ideas.

I am putting this plug (which he knows nothing about) out for his online workshop that he is offering and to encourage others to go and see his newly posted online portfolio.  It is beautiful.

While you are there poke around and check out more of his stuff including this cool little puppet he built (among other things).

 In English that translates into “Wonderful Puppets!”  That is exactly what you’ll find from German puppet builder Norman Schneider (please note the website is in German so you may need to use an online translation tool to fully understand it). 

I had a chance to visit his website and I can say that I am an instant fan.  His characters are wonderful and he using a great combination of painting as well as standard puppet fabrication techniques in his building.

 I am personally interested in using more painting with my own puppet building.  Norman has given me some really great inspiration.  To see more of his work be sure to check out his company website called Figurenschneider (which I believe means “Figures by Schneider”).  They are beautiful!  He also has an awesome blog with tons more pictures here.  Check it out.

Ever since Philip Hatter came on the puppet scene this past year I have been a big fan.  I even bought a few of his puppets (what a pleasure to have hired him).  Well, Philip teamed up with fellow Puppet Buzz contributor and owner of Project Puppet, Pasha Romanowski, and redesigned his company’s whole image.  That is they have a new logo, website and even a new blog!

I think it looks spectacular and I highly recommend that people take the time to go and browse around.  Maybe buy a puppet or catch a show, but definately check it out.

You don’t need to be a seasoned pro to have fun with puppets.  No, in fact more and more I see new people online who are just having fun with puppet building.  One of those people is Jeffrey Barnes from Arkansas, in the USA.  Jeffrey has always been interested in puppets and puppetry and like many people had no idea where to begin building one of his own.

He was lucky enough to stumble across Pasha Romanowski’s fantastic website called Project Puppet, that helped to send him on his puppet building journey.  Armed this these super patterns and a book called The Foam Book from Grey Seal Puppets he bagan to build many of his favourite characters from television. 

See more of Jeffrey’s puppets here.  I think the puppets are cool and I love the fact that he is just building. 

So build I say!  Take a page from Jeffrey’s book and take the plunge.  Cool things can happen when you do.

I have been meaning to post about these clever little puppets for a while now.  These are simply small stickers that you can attach to you hand to create small puppets.  They are the brain child of puppet builder, craft expert and all around artist, Nikole Horkin.  Nicole sells these cool puppets in her online “Etsy-store” called Puppets and Pals.

Nikole is a wonderful artist with a great imagination.  She is currently doing a double major at the Univeristy of Hawaii, where she lives with her husband and son. 

As a primary school teacher and puppet builder/puppeteer myself, I have a great respect for her desire to teach children drama and art through her use of puppets. I for one will be very interested to hear about when she gets her Masters in Puppetry and opens up her own small children’s theatre, which is something that she hopes to do.  Check out Nikole’s stuff and hey, whilke you are there why not buy something.  The prices are great!

After my new found appreciation of shadow puppets, I am delighted to write about a new show offered by The Victoria Philharmonic Choir (in Victoria, British Columbia, CANADA).  It is Dvorak’s The Spectre’s Bride and it brings together the artistic talents of awesome puppeteer Tim Gosley, puppet designs of Michel Gagne (see some samples here) and is led by artistic director Simon Capet.  Capet says,

“The music itself is fantastic, and now we have wonderfully fresh English lyrics by Victoria writer Mollie Kaye, who has done a remarkable job – the words are dramatic, humorous, visual, andoften funny. A musician herself, she has created images and phrases that further enhance Dvorak’s evocative score. I think you’ll find the results very immediate and a lot of fun,”

Performances are Tuesday October 30^th and Wednesday October 31^st at The University of Victoria’s Farquhar Auditorium.  Tickets for The Spectre’s Bride are now on sale through the UVIC box office, 250.721.8480. Ticket prices range from $15 to $29.50.  For more information visit the Spectre’s Bride website here.

After coming back from the Puppets Up! Festival in Almonte, Ontario, I have been rejuvinated in my puppet passion and I have decided to write about some of the acts (and people) that I have enjoyed.  When the festival first started (three years ago) I was asked to help out doing puppetry improv from the balcony.  I agreed and did some puppetry on the balcony for maybe two or three 20 minute stints.  I can tell you it is hard work. 

 Talking for 20 minutes is challenging enough, but in the direct sun too, now that was hard.  But that is nothing compared to the other people who helped out.  One of those people is Jamie Douglas.  The truth is that he along with Will Richardson and Allan Martin, ended up being in the hot sun a lot longer than me. 

There is a great video interview of Jamie Douglas talking about The Balcony Puppeteers on the MuppetCast website here. The acts were a hit and before you knew it, they became their own puppetry team.  The are called “The Balcony Puppeteers“, and what is great is that the passion that these individuals have becomes infectious.  They are all super entertainers and have the ability to do it in the hot sun for rediculous amounts of time.  After my short stint on that balcony I have a huge amount of respect for the stamina it takes and for them as performers. 

I am happy that I was able to meet these guys and I encourage anyone visiting the Puppets Up! Festival to pull up a chair and watch them in action.

This past month I had the pleasure of taking a workshop and speaking with Connecticut based Jim Napolitano (aka “Nappy”).  As a UCONN Puppet Arts Program alumnus he has a bunch of television credits under his belt including Between the Lions and The Book of Pooh.

There are many people and things that I admire, and one of those things is the passion that people have towards whatever they do.  Jim has it and I admire that.  After taking his workshop I am now ready to investigate this form of puppetry more.  I would like to thank Jim for that. 

And one more thing I should mention.  As a teacher I know a lot about good ones, Jim is one of the best I have ever had a workshop with.  Great pacing, extremely clear; I would highly recommend hiring him. School event, daycare event, corperate team building event?  What not look at taking a workshop with Nappy?  Hats off to you Jim!  Go check out his website.

In my opinion Philip Hatter is an amazing young talent when it comes to puppets.  As the owner of Thistledown Puppets in Virginia, he has done a bunch of puppet videos for Youtube that has received some attention.  Most recently he has decided to make a little introduction video that has him talking a bit about his puppets and his studio.

I think this is a great idea.  It acts as a sort of demo reel, but with more of a personal touch.  After watching it, I feel like I know him personally.  This works really well in creating customer confidence.  I have long been planning to make my own demo reel and after watching this video I am convinced that I need to do it sooner than later.

Make sure that you check out some of the puppets that Philip has made and check out his new blog called Thistledown Puppets: Behind the Curtain.  Awesome job all around Philip!