I am a big fan of the puppets and artists from the U.S. (New Jersey) based Puppet Heap.  Well, it appears that the company is looking to hire new artists.  I know that if I were able to apply, I would jump at the chance.  Would you?  The ad (found in the Backstage magazine/newspaper) asks for costumers that deal with pattern-making, dye and surface decoration, tailoring, excellent stitching skills, etc. Prop builders should include a history of building miniature realistic props for television and film, casting and molding, etc. For puppet builders they’re looking for seasoned builders with professional experience only. They are also looking for interns.

The contact says to e-mail current resumes and three to five samples of your best work to jeff@puppetheap.com.

Thanks to Muppetguy @ Muppet Central for the info.

“Can you tell me how to get to…?” is a question near and dear to the hearts of Sesame Street and Google fans alike. As we all know, Novemeber 10, 2009 marks Sesame Street’s 40th anniversary. Happy anniversary! In celebration, starting November 4th, Google has incorporated a famous character from “the Street” in their logo. (Google is known for this, modifying their logo to celebrate certain events, people, and other stuff.) Yesterday Big Bird (or at least his lower half) became part of the Google logo. Today…Cookie Monster! Check it out – www.google.com. I imagine the Google Doodle will continue to say “happy anniversary” right up to the 10th.

If Google is not your preferred search engine, it should be…at least for the next week.

I’ve recently been in contact with Ian Greeb, artist and fantastic sculptor of soft foam, and just had to share some of his work with everyone here on Puppet Buzz. Ian’s creations are entirely sculpted from blocks of soft foam and yet, as you can see, incredibly detailed. I’ve always been a fan of an exposed foam finish for puppets; Ian’s creations illustrate just how beautiful foam can be. Truly inspiring!

To the left is a sculpted foam fish puppet fabricated (from the client’s design) for a PSA. Notice the spider character in the background. Yet another fanciful foam creation from the mind of Ian Greeb.

If you’d like to see what else is creeping through Mr. Greeb’s imagination, check out his illustrations at www.candycartoon.com

I recently came across these great needle felted finger puppets by made by moxie. I love the personality in these tiny little creatures, especially the one above.  They truly are works of art, and as moxie says “art is my oxygen”. You can purchase some for yourself on her Etsy shop,or check out more images on her Flickr page.

Swazzle Studios has just released a whole bunch of videos demonstrating how to use their Audrey Two puppet.

They have videos for each of the four plants that are used throughout the play. Videos include how to get the plants set-up, how to puppeteer, how to eat the actors, and a lot of very funny moments.

A lot can be learned from these videos.  Also,  pay close attention to all the details on each plant.

The best part is you can rent the plants in the video for your very own Audrey Two production.

See all the videos here  <————–

also check out the website www.audreytwo.com

Happy Halloween!!

This is a photo of my Halloween costume from this year. I’ve had the idea forever. I’m so happy to have finally done it.  So, what do you think of the costume?

I look forward to sharing my knowledge of puppet stuff, ideas, materials, etc.. with all of you in future posts. Till then go and eat some candy.

Funded by The Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts as part of a sculpture comission awarded to Wayne Zebzda. A group of 67 elementary school teachers and staff learned to create shadow puppets and performed (implimenting everything they built) a small shadow play which was totally improvised in real time.

Has this happened to you already? You were walking along, unsuspectingly, and suddenly, staring back at you from a store window – is a spooky pumpkin!

It’s Halloween in Good Old Germany, too! And, if you don’t know what you’re going as to the next party, then perhaps you can build your own partner, like my former trainee, Johannes Gundlach, with his corpse bride. They are definitely eye-catching!

Puppet, photo and makeup: Johannes Gundlach

Here is a proprietary real-time character animation system. Developed by Fernando J. Montilla in co-production with the Atlantic College MoCap Lab in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico and brought to life by the Atlantic College MoCap Lab.

Personally, I’m a “hand puppet guy”, but I never get tired of watching great marionette tricks. I don’t know very much about the Grangers (the puppeteers in the video), but I do know that to get a marionette figure to actually walk, one foot in front of the other, takes a genius “behind the strings”. Of course, the other fabulous things these characters are able to do are likewise a testament to a brilliant mind and impeccable skill.

If anyone knows more about the Martin Granger Marionettes, please share it with us in the comments!