I have always been interested in puppets of all kinds. The way one can make these in-animate objects appear to come to life with hidden hands is something I still find delightful (Although I know many folks who find it creepy!) My toy-making adventures as a child included hand puppets with felt bodies and heads made from styrofoam balls covered in fabric or paper mache, and full-bodied animal puppets stitched from my own patterns made with plush fur, in addition to the childhood puppetry standards-paper bag puppets and sock puppets! My brother had a fantastic clown marionette when we were young and I wanted one of my own, but never thought of making one. In recent years though, I started a couple of times to create a marionette bear, but became side tracked with other projects (as I often do).
Then, last month, when I came an online marionette class taught by one of my favorite doll sculptors, Diane Keeler, I had to do it. It was a birthday present to myself. The class was fantastic, and I finally finished a marionette! It's a young Mad Hatter. If you'd like take a class from Diane yourself, you can find some here along with classes from other talented artists! www.aforartistic.com
Here are some in-progress photos:
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| The parts are sculpted from polymer clay |
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Diane Keeler demonstrated her step by step
method for sculpting perfet ears! |
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My experience in doing "face-ups" on my BJD collection helped with the
painting! |
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The wig is made from a scrap of mohair plush in
the "use what you have" spirit! |
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| I am pleased with his chubby hands. |
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| This is a "use what you have" project. I bought nothing new. |
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| Here is my finished marionette! |
