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.

The first half of the story of The Amazing and Marvelous Cabinets of Kismet (or Kismet for short) is about a community of puppets that are made of found objects. As we start our building process here, we’ve collected boxes and bags of various odd objects or pieces of objects, from thrift stores as well as our own closets. We also depend on SCRAP DC, a local ‘thrift store for artists and crafters’ which has many interesting materials for us to use. Here are a few photos of our objects, ready to inspire new characters.

I was taught to use a sewing machine by my grandmother when I was 13, but didn’t use my skills regularly until college, when I spent four years working in the costume shop as a stitcher. We didn’t always make costumes by hand, but there were always alterations to be done and I learned how to cut patterns, pin fabric and put together the pieces. After finishing school, I went without an electric machine for almost six years. I finally got around to buying my own machine last winter and  it was one of the best purchases I ever made. It makes sewing the backdrops (and everything else, like costumes and puppet bodies) SO much faster! Now if I could just get a little better at filling bobbins….life would be perfect.

This is the first in a series of posts on our favorite puppet building tools. As someone who isn’t very good at serious building, I love this compass saw because it is so easy to use. 10 inches long and simple to work with, it is perfect for small jobs and can handle large ones if you have a little patience. I use the compass saw for cutting wood, dowels and PVC pipe.  This is definitely one of my favorite puppet building tools!

The children at Chevy Chase Library in Maryland had a great time at our performance of Anansi’s Appetite a few weeks ago. In these photos, you can see Turtle and Anansi from the story Anansi Goes Fishing as well as Anansi and Granny Annika from the story Anansi and the Dancing Granny.  Huge thanks to the Friends of the Library for inviting us to Family Fun Day!

Actually, it’s an old stage, built in 2011 for our first show The Malachite Palace. We were quite proud that we were able to build it out of recycled wood! However, the pieces were long and bulky and the side wings somewhat flimsy. So now we are rebuilding. And here it is! Doesn’t it look pretty?

Genna also found a bag that is intended for boat sails, but works just as well for all the wood and PVC pieces of this stage. Hooray for not having to make ten different trips carrying pieces into the theater for shows! Here she is modeling:

Here are some pictures of a new Anansi puppet I created for our performance at Chevy Chase Library tomorrow. He is for a new section of the show explaining how Anansi got his eight long, thin, legs. Because you know, once upon a time, all spiders had eight short, thick legs. But then Anansi got into a little trouble….you’ll have to come see the show to find out what happened to him!

Here is the skeleton of the puppet, made out of wood scraps and filled out a little more with styrofoam.

Outer layer is plastic gauze and now he has his eight legs…

I couldn’t take a final picture of him because Genna took him home to add feet onto the ends of the legs! I will have more pictures soon. Meanwhile, here are some shots of the materials we are using to make the animals for the rest of the show, and Genna working on a new Turtle puppet.

I forgot about this photo, which was taken when we were doing a photo shoot with our puppets back in July, until I came across it on my computer today. The studio we were borrowing for the shoot has a resident dog who wanders in and out around the cameras and lights, sniffing at everyone who is around. His name is Hoggle (as in the character from the film Labyrinth) and he was very taken with our puppets. Here he was inspecting one of the marionettes from The Malachite Palace. I wonder if he knows that his name comes from a puppet?

For those who can’t make it to Arlington to see our exhibit at the library, here are photos of each of our displays. Some of the puppets are from videos I performed in for the library, including Cuentos y Mas from 2008 and Book Bubble from 2012. Others are from our workshop show Flight to the Scraplands, as well as projects that Genna and I worked on individually, such as the community theater play Mulan and my French show Elle Lit. All photos are by Phil Cackley. Enjoy!

Here are our business cards for people to take, as well as a biography of the artists.

In the front, Settareh at the festival and in her old clothes; at the back the Pottery Seller and  servant. All are from The Persian Cinderella, performed on the television show Book Bubble, May 2012

More Persian Cinderella Puppets. In front is the prince and queen, in back the father and stepsisters. All these puppets were made from cardboard, fabric and wire.

Celia Cruz, the first foam puppet I created. I performed her on the show Cuentos y Mas in 2008. She is made from polyfoam and fabric.

Text Monster and an Oyster, from the workshop of Flight to the Scraplands, performed at the Black Cherry Theater puppet slam in March 2012. They are created from a dryer hose, foam core and recycled paper.

At the back is Cricket, which Genna made for a production of Mulan and at the front are Billy Bookworm (looking down) and Fish, made for Cuentos y Mas in 2008.

An Old Woman, a carved Czech style marionette, that I made in a workshop at the Artisphere in 2011. You can see her control on the left.

On the left, Book Monster, created for Flight to the Scraplands in March 2012. On the right, Kismet, who will star in our new show next April called The Amazing and Marvelous Cabinets of Kismet. 

Genna’s fairy, created from polyfoam and fabric. She was used in a 48 hour film festival production in 2012.

Three little girls from classic children’s literature: can you recognize them? From the left, they are Dorothy Gale, Alice of Wonderland fame and Pippi Longstocking. All are made from fabric and dowels and were created for my 2009 show Elle Lit (She Reads) which I performed at the Avignon Off Festival in France.

Two more characters from Elle Lit: On the left is Katie and on the right Sophie, the protagonist of the show.

Here you can see what those last few puppets look like in their tall case in front of the youth services desk. We are so grateful for this opportunity to show our work to the Arlington community! Huge thanks and appreciation to the library for making it possible!

I had to make one more fabric backdrop (for a different show this time) and I decided to take pictures as I went, so if anyone is interested, here is how I put together the picture. I have almost no formal training in either art or sewing, so it is a rather haphazard process. I make a rough sketch of what I want it to look like. I pull out TONS of remnants of fabric off my fabric shelf and start moving them around and putting them next to each other. I work on a layer at a time, sometimes starting at the bottom, then jumping to the top and trying to keep everything in some sort of perspective. In this set of photos, you can see how I add parts of the picture, sometimes change my mind and eventually, end up with a backdrop!