Jack Fields Artist Talk

Jack Fields gave an artist talk at The Maitland Art Center, (231 W Packwood Ave, Maitland, FL 32751). I first sketched Jack when he was a puppeteer at a Pinocchio’s Marionette Theater up in the Altamonte mall. A grant from United Arts helped Jack produce a short puppetry film. Performance artist Brian Feldman made a short cameo appearance in that film.

One of Jack’s signature puppets is names Godrick. Godrick is a life sized puppet that jack slips inside. He is bulbous  with black drapery that hides any sign of feet. His large head head isn’t on the shoulders but instead juts out of the characters hips area. A hat sits where his head used to be. His articulated mouth is the one element that animates on the huge puppet. I have sketched Godrick in action at several festivals and the kids love him. There is something about his simple bell shapes form that must appeal top them.

On the table were several glittery heads from the film Happy Memories. I can’t say I understand what the film was about, but it was certainly visually stimulating. My happiest memory was seeing Brain Feldman get zapped by mystical light beams and become a cupcake headed guru.

Jack Fields Birthday

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.