The beginning: New Projects, New Goals, and a Plan

For as long as I can remember puppetry has been apart of my life. Yet, over the last two or so years my life has been so hectic and busy that I have not had much opportunity to build or preform. This summer that changes! I finally have the time to build puppets again and I finally got my own sewing machine! So follow along on my journey to see what I build and preform!

The first puppet that I am building is one that I have wanted to rebuild for a little bit! It was actually the first puppet that made me feel proud of my work. This puppet is 'Snek'; a puppet I built and designed for a 30 second cross for my high school's production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. The original puppet, pictured to the left, was built with the fabric and materials I have around. Sadly, 'Snek' did not get their stage debut. That production was in 2020. The lockdown began right as we were to start tech week. 

Yet, 'Snek' has their flaws. With the fabric used being an off cut there are some messy bits that I tried to hide around the hinge. Wear and tear has begun to take the better of 'Snek'. The placement of the eye's make the character very ambiguous with some people reading the puppet as a plant (think of Little Shop of Horrors). I feel the tongue is a bit out of proportion and I do not like the depth of the teeth nor the lip transition between the two fabrics. Somehow this character has a special place in my heart. So I want to rebuild them to last longer. 

At the core, 'Snek' is a simple hand puppet. To get an idea of the shape of the puppet I sketched them and how their patterns could be created. I am excited to share the patterning process once I get there.​