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 we'll be able to get together - it is already happening in ones and twos here and there in different corners of the world. 

I put together a slideshow as a memory of my journey through the Academy. I could have added more, but it would have been  impossible to include everything I wanted to say in just a few minutes of film. 

Many thanks to Bernd, to Mark, to the rest of the team at Worlds of Puppets and to my fellow travelers on the Academy journey. I look forward to continuing my journey of the wooden puppet through to the end of this year with many of my Academy classmates in Bernd's Mastermind program and then beyond, when I finally strike out on my own. I'm curious to see where the journey takes me.