Jack Fields Birthday

Posted on by Thor

This sketch was done at Jack Fields birthday party held at Dandelion Communitea Cafe (618 N Thornton Ave, Orlando, FL). Jack is an extremely talented puppeteer. Puppets he creates are sublime and surreal. He has branched off and begun creating his own puppet films, shooting them in his own makeshift home movie studio. When he and Hannah Miller team up, anything is possible. The art on the Dandelion walls always changes every month. On Jack’s birthday there were some fun and quirky painting of octopus characters on the walls.

I fist met Jack and Hannah when they worked at Pinocchios Marionette Theater in the Altimonte Mall. Sadly Pinocchio’s Marionette Theater closed permanently on July 31st of 2014. I had gone to Pinocchio’s on may occasions to sketch. There were puppet slams held there which showcased the best puppetry for local artists. I found sketching behind the scenes at Pinochio’s was always exciting. There is still an innocent thrill that children feel when they watch a show. They might shout out and intersect with the puppets in ways that never happen when passively watching some Computer generated puppet. I was watching a reviewer talking about the recent Muppet movie. They said that the one time that they were jolted out of the story was when Kermit was given a computer generated body. Suddenly the humanity or believability was lost.

The Nativity Rehearsal

Posted on by Thor

I went to the Henson’s Pineloch warehouse on December 12th to sketch a rehearsal of The Nativity. Rehearsals were held most weeknights for two weeks from about 7:30 to 10pm. All of those rehearsals were for two performances on December 22 at Pinocchio’s Marionette Theater in the Altimonte Mall. The oldest story in Christian history was made new in this retelling with live music, and the gorgeous puppets from IBEX Puppetry and the Jim Henson Company. This puppet production was spearheaded by Jane Henson, the wife of Jim Henson of Muppet’s fame.  Jane helped Jim in the early days of television production but then abandoned puppetry to raise her family. He youngest daughter, Heather Henson helped her bring this production to life.

The warehouse was cavernous, filled with boxes and bins full of foam, fabric and assorted puppet parts.  There were woodworking benches and large kites suspended from the ceiling. If you were to imagine Santa’s toy factory, this would fit the bill. I decided to sit behind the table where the performing puppets were stored. Gabriel with his gossamer wings dominated the table. A dark sinister and conniving Herod stood beside him, visible through his transparent wings. Mary, Joseph and the three kings also waited to begin their performances. A train rumbled by adding an industrial edge to this period piece.

From this angle, I could see the puppeteers who had to crouch down behind the stage setting to stay out of the future audience’s view. Sean Keohane, the director corralled the cast and explained how important the telling of the story would be. It was something parents could share with there children. Sarah Lockhard worked with the Virgin Mary rod puppet. Her face expressed every emotion as she moved the puppet. It was fascinating watching actors become lost in the subtle performers.  The word, marionette, 
means “tiny Mary” and  was derived from the puppets used in medieval mystery
and miracle plays.