Odds and Ends

Children feeling Otter Pelt

Big Projects Brewing

I have been collecting used materials for a puppet trailer that I will be building with the expert help of inventor/ engineer Willis Bowman. So far I have lots of lumber pulled from piles at a soon-to-be riding stable for disabled riders, siding from an old granary from Moonstone Farm out in Montevideo, some corrugated steel, a ping pong table, a wooden ironing board from the alley, a curvaceous piano piece.  I have purchased a flatbed 5X9 trailer to use as my base.

I am working on developing a new show with Jack the Dog as my main character. He continues to be a great character to work for! I have been given the gift of a room to work in at Northeast United Methodist Church for a couple of months in exchange for doing “something puppety” for a Sunday service! That is a real boon, as my studio is too crowded to move in just now!

I have written an Arts Tour Grant to the Minnesota State Arts Board, which would help me take my trailer and my puppet show around to a variety of spots this coming summer! I am waiting to hear the outcome of that! Keep your fingers crossed!! I am working on the show that will travel in the trailer, and soon to hand off a script to Marya Hart, composer and lyricist extraordinaire, so that she can compose music and songs for my characters to sing!

Teaching Artist

Children feeling Otter Pelt
Children feeling the pelt of an otter down at Lagoon Park by the Chippewa River as part of the learning for “We Celebrate the River.”

My teaching life continues. I work monthly with the non-profit Breanna’s Gift.  I get to bring art experiences to children who are dealing with cancer. It is a great way to lighten their load for a time as they create puppets, shrinky dinks, marbled papers, needlework. I get to expand my artistic repertoire as I bring projects into the children and their siblings!

I also am teaching out in Montevideo, MN for another two weeks in a residency project called “We Celebrate the River,” supported by an Arts Learning Grant from the MSAB. I am working along side of poet Florence Dacey and poet / visual artist Marie Olafsdotter. I get to work with the third graders as we look into animal life in and alongside of the Chippewa River. What a rich topic for puppet characters and stories. Eagles, otters, snapping turtles to clams!

I will be out there for a celebration of our creative work at the Hollywood Theater on December 10th, and then teaching again in February.

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