My last week was when everyone was back in the studio after the holiday. Because Anton and Yoga and I had met that Saturday, I ended up getting quite a bit done over the weekend, so I was ready for feedback and next steps. The Saturday work session had been about the spine, ribcage and the hips, and I was ready to make the arms and the legs and get the knees and the elbows well jointed with a piece of narrow webbing. I made really good progress in the early part of the week:

I'm here in Jogja- Yogayakarta, Indonesia. I'm posting almost every day on Instagram, so you can see lots of photos about my travels there @costumedesignercm. For this post, I'm going to focus on my residency at PaperMoon, and building a puppet. I'm staying in their beautiful, very rustic, residency house, in a neighborhood that is just south of the center of Jogja. I managed to arrive during the biggest holiday of the year, but everybody's been awesome and welcoming, and the

The Casteliers Puppet Festival coincided with U-M’s spring break, so my family was able to join me for this next adventure! Montreal is a fantastic city, though the weather was all over the place- still quite cold some days, though we did see some sun. Also notable, the Byzantine parking system. We stayed in Outremont which reminded me a lot of the Williamsburg neighborhood in Brooklyn, NYC, and managed to not get a ticket nor towed! There is a large Hassidic community there,

After the brutal cold of Chicago, it was lovely to spend four warmer days in Atlanta. I stayed in mid-town and was within easy walking distance of many museums, while also having some time to think deeply about upcoming projects. It was such an important reminder to be a sponge and recharge by enveloping myself in other arts practices. I planned to spend time at the Center for Puppetry Arts and the High Museum, but I also discovered the Museum of Design and the Breman Museum.

Costumes from Sleeping Beauty At the end of January, I braved the ridiculously cold weather (it was just as frigid in A2) to go to Chicago. I arrived a couple of days early to connect with alums and friends, and to see the Paul Tazewell exhibit  at the Museum of Science & Industry. Highly recommend! I really appreciate the emphasis on process, and how Paul uplifts his family, drawing on his lived experiences as part of his process, as well as the expertise of all of the maker

A couple of new things to show and tell as we continue our Automata workshops. I finished a “deep space” themed wave machine. Having learned quite a bit about axle alignment from the first test, I started from scratch to create a three step machine- the motion was not fluid or continuous, but it gave the effect that I wanted of a rocky terrain. I am also feeling bolder about integrating materials I’m more comfortable with and for this project I used artists' papers & collage

Module 2-Jumping Mechanism Starting in September, I joined Puppets In Prague for their year-long workshops on creating automata- table top mechanical toys and figures, animated through the use of simple cranks, wheels and cams. Back in the summer of 2020, I was part of their first on-line marionette carving workshop and have stayed in touch, watching Mirek & Leah grow this amazing international community of artists and makers. I’m now 4 months into a 9 month long series of

For the last two weeks, I've participated in two workshops with the Chicago International Puppet Theatre Festival. The first workshop,...

Week two continued with more body carving, and then lectures & demonstrations about how Mirek created out kits and the various types of joints used based on puppet design and function. Then we learned about assembling and stringing our puppets to the control. Lastly, we met with the other group to show and tell our puppets. The upcoming August group of students joined us to see what is in store! After I finished carving the limbs, I focused on the body. For my ballerina desi

On my "bucket list" for years has been to participate in a marionette carving workshop at Puppets in Prague. I'm on their mailing list...

I just returned from the Chicago International Puppet Theatre Festival. I participated in Catapult 2, learning about scroll puppets and ...