I’ve been somewhat lazy this summer, and with September ten days away, work anxiety is setting in. But the anxiety is nice and focussing – I want to get work done. Lots of work done. I am excited about many of my upcoming projects. The two projects I’m turning my attention to this week (aside from two commissions that must get done) are an upcoming show at the Niagara Artists Centre (NAC) and a puppet show that I’m plotting with my frequent collaborator and good friend, Alexa Fraser.
In September, Puppet-a-Go-Go has a show in the Plate Glass Gallery of the NAC. The show is not a live puppet show, but rather a tableau. An audience of puppets watching a puppet show. All four Puppet-a-Go-Go members have to make a bunch of puppets for the audience and then we each (and this is the part that has me so excited) make a scene – a frozen moment – for the puppets to watch. The scene changes monthly, and my scene – my frozen moment in time – is first up. Seamore (or with those eyes, should it be Seemore?) the Squid, pictured above, is part of the puppet audience, and I’m going to make some other deep sea creatures to sit with him. Seamore is made from an old tablecloth and a too-small dress. I have a fairly intense squidphobia, but a friend of mine who is an excellent storyteller recently told me about an encounter he had with a squid, and the story was so vivid and funny that I felt compelled to stitch together Seamore.
My other current work obsession is the puppet show that Alexa and I are developing for the spring. It involves water, wetsuits, and will likely feature a different puppet cephalopod. More on it as it develops.