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Exhibition Opening

February 16, 2010

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It's official, and my name is on the list :-)

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Better late than never

Well, it took longer than expected (1.5 years longer, to be exact), but it was well worth the extra time. In July, I finally finished the course requirements for the Academy of the Wooden Puppet, conceived, created and facilitated by Bernd Ogrodnik at www.worldsofpuppets.com . It's been a fabulous two and a half years of learning and doing. Bernd is an excellent instructor and brings more content to the course than simply how to carve wooden puppets. While I enjoyed the entire course, I really appreciated the philosophy of doing things "in your own good time". There were no fixed deadlines, no exams and no grades, simply constant encouragement to keep focused and to experiment and learn as we went along. As well, the camaraderie among the students was immense. People from all over the world bonded through their puppets, their challenges in making them and ended up supporting each other in many ways that went beyond the confines of the course. One of these days, perhaps ...

When the end is just the beginning

Well, she took a while to come together, but she's finally ready to walk. Tante is a table-top puppet in the style created by Bernd Ogrodnik at https://worldsofpuppets.com . While the mechanics and techniques used are his, the character design and costume are mine. I've really enjoyed the fact that Bernd has encouraged us to change his designs to make our puppets more unique. No two puppets produced in the course have looked alike, even though we were all given the same plans and instructions. Tante will eventually become part of a small puppet show I hope to create. For now, she and I have to get to know one another. "We" tried walking today and I realized that much more practice will be needed before we are both proficient. However, those first steps were very exciting and are a sign of more fun steps in the future. The year of puppets, after 14 months, has officially come to an end. I say "officially", as there are no more modules to be released and our...

Still carving

With all the unpacking, settling in, exploring, gardening and looking for work, it's been a challenge to slow down and make time to carve puppets. My previous post shows Tomba, assembled and dressed in March. I still have one puppet to finish before I complete the year long course I started two years ago in Bernd Ogrodnik's online academy . It's a bit (a lot?) more complicated than the ones I've already made and I guess I was putting it off. The bandsaw and drill press were assembled in the bike shed (no dedicated workshop yet). What was I waiting for? Three weeks ago, I finally took the plunge, drew the pattern and found the wood I needed in a tote in the greenhouse (we've had to get creative with our storage in this smaller place). A long fluroescent green extension cord connected the power from the house to the shed and I was able to start rough-cutting the pieces. I broke "only" two blades - good thing the wood was free for this puppet! There was a b...

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