One of my (many) obsessions is children’s picture books, and I’ve been enjoying the various articles posted over at The Horn Book Magazine’s website recently in celebration of Picture Book Month. I had to laugh when I read some short pieces first published nearly fifteen years ago, by artists discussing their favorite medium for illustrating picture books.

Chris Raschka titles his piece ‘My Next Medium‘ and declares “My favorite medium, my ideal medium, is the one I haven’t used yet.” Oh how well I know that feeling. People often ask me about my favorite kind of puppet. Marionette? Hand and rod? Shadow or table-top? And like Raschka, I’m always tempted to say “Whichever one I haven’t tried yet.”  Raschka goes on to say “Or maybe it’s the one I’m contemplating using, toying with using, in my next book Lordy! I think to myself, Lordy!, in my next book, I’m going to CUT LOOSE! In my next book. With my next medium.” There is endless magic in the possibilities of the future.

I often feel like I don’t have a very sophisticated process as a puppet builder. I have been working for the past week on brainstorming object puppets for the first half of Cabinets of Kismet and it mostly consists of me picking pieces up and turning the over and trying to imagine them coming to life. So many of our previous shows have featured humans and animals that I find I have to work hard to overcome some automatic assumptions. For instance, I keep having to persuade my brain that not every puppet has to have a face or two arms or two legs. These are object creatures and they are unique in their world.

A mouth made of a zipper?

I like the shape but I think it needs color.

This is the first in a series of posts about the various and often unexpected places we find materials to make our puppets. Enjoy!

A recent trip to New York City took me to Brooklyn, where I discovered a gold mine of objects, ready to be recycled into puppets. Film Biz Recycling is located west of Prospect Park, in the Gowanus section of Brooklyn.

Film Biz Recycling is a non-profit organization that diverts set materials from films to local charities. It also operates a prop shop and creative reuse center, which is where I spent most of an afternoon looking through all of their fun items. Along with furniture and large times which are for sale and for rent, there are shelves of small props such as telephones and typewriters, clocks and suitcases.

At the back of the store is a long wall filled with boxes, each with a neat label. “Thanksgiving in a box,” “Restaurant in a box” “Beauty Salon in a box” are just some of the  ones offered, and they are filled with all kinds of small items, which you can buy for just one or two dollars. I found old kitchen tools, hair curlers, and wooden spools, which will hopefully turn up in some of the object puppets we are creating for Kismet. If you ever find yourself with an afternoon to kill in Brooklyn, stop by Film Biz Recycling to find something unique for your home or maybe your next theater project!

Genna gets the megaphone for this next edition of Favorite Tools. She says:

The hot glue gun has been and continues to be my favorite tool…for now. Once upon a time, I sewed all my puppets and while the end result was a more durable puppet, there have been more times of late when puppet building needs to be fast and puppets only need to hold up for a short run. Plus when working in foam (ah…foam, I love thee), it’s really the very best adhesive for holding odd geometries of cut foam together forever. And I cannot deny that the hot glue gun has saved the day for a quick fix before a show.

The way people feel about duck tape (i.e. it can solve any problem) is the way I feel about the glue gun when working in fabric and foam. However, I readily admit that my penchant for this crafter’s tool is a naive one. The problem with this love affair is obvious. Glue as well as duct tape is not a miracle medium. Hot glue fails under heat, and it doesn’t stick to everything. It makes a mess and you go to sleep with strings of it hanging about your ankles. But I keep believing in it because in ordinary circumstances and for foam building, it’s my hero.