Gek Tessaro II

Italian illustrator Gek Tessaro's creative expression is boundless as is visible in his live projected storytelling performances. By painting on the glass of an overhead projector with acrylic, watercolour, sand and ink and intercepting these scenes using simple puppets, Gek Tessaro is able to bring his imagination into the reality of everyone in his audience, like a magician or a conductor.

This master storyteller is able to transport you away into his own fantastic imaginings with. fluid improvisation and constant creation, creating giant illustrations in theaters, onto buildings and in the minds of those who are lucky enough to be his audience.

Robert Allsopp.

This is a shadow puppet video by Robert Allsopp for Kate Bush's 'Lake Tahoe' track from the album '50 words for snow'.
It perfectly illustrates why I love shadow puppets, they are so simple and yet there is a magic when you play with light, build flimsy shadows to weave into stories and dramas of fragile humanity.
Robert Allsopp initially studied theater design before apprenticing himself for three years to Martin Adams a jewelry prop maker, now Robert runs a diverse set/ costume and prop studio.
Thank you James Dorward.

Shadows and Shockheaded Peter

Inspired by Christian Boltanski yesterday we had a little bit of a paper challenge day which was great and there was a lot of laughter. I made a few examples in my lunch hour. Half way through the first one this 1917 illustration of Shockheaded Peter came to mind, and so that is what I ended up with.
Der Struwwelpeter 1845 is a German book by Heinrich Hoffmann, comprised of ten cautionary tales for children.

Christian Boltanski

Christian Boltanski is a French artist, photographer and sculptor who has worked in many media and styles.  

Made from the ephemeral  junk, clutter and scraps of life, here are some examples of his shadow installations. Shadow rooms, theatres of memories and fragile evidence of humanity.

What drives me as an artist is that I think everyone is unique, yet everyone disappears so quickly. I made a large work called The Reserve of Dead Swiss (1990) and all the people in photographs in the work are dead. We hate to see the dead, yet we love them, we appreciate them. Human. That’s all we can say. Everyone is unique and important. But I like something Napoleon said when he saw many of his dead soldiers on a battlefield: ‘Oh, no problem – one night of love in Paris and you can replace everybody.’I’m always a beginner, and the most important thing is always the next piece. We artists never know if we can do it again. You have done something – and most of the time I hate what I have done a few years ago – and you don’t know if you can do something now. The good artists are usually the very young or the very old. The ones who are very young are so stupid that they have no fear. And when they are very old they aren’t afraid any more. In the meantime, you are always, always, afraid. Christian Botanski 

Thank you.

Holiday and Shadows II

I do love making things when I am away. Freya and I have worked on a vast family of cats this last week, again the loosely attached limbs and tails move well and 'walk with you' easily.

Holiday, Shadows and Reflections

We have been away for two weeks now. Much of the first week we spent at a friends stunningly stylish house in Aubais. 
It is the first time I have been this far south in France and this time the light has really struck me. 
The shadows and also a little reflection can be miraculous. 
Before we moved to the second part of our holiday, I made some shadow puppets and a wall piece using cardboard packaging and taking advantage of the reflective metallic finish on some of the packaging. A little surprise and thank you to Deb's children who were so lovely as to let us use their rooms.

Holidays and shadows I

Some thoughts and images from France as my holiday comes to an end.
I love the shadows of butterflies as they flit past so fast and so I wanted butterflies that we could take with us on our walks. 
The shadows here are really strong with the strong sunlight and great to play with. I always forget that the shadows all have the same density no mater how thin or thick the paper is. This butterfly has articulated wings and  was spliced onto a thick grass stem, it is my favorite. 

Ballet Cats and Carrot Thieves

The photography is not the best, it is dark and I have been making these in the evenings when all other tasks are complete. I promised myself that I would play more and make more this year . . . so far so good.

Astrid Jaekel

Above; Hans In Luck, Below; Astrids studio at ECA

I stumbled across Astrid Jaekel's studio when I went off the beaten track at ECA degree show, temped by these large articulated puppets of an old lady and a cat. The puppets are part of a character study that Astrid has been developing based on; 'The old Boys' by William Trevor.
Astrid is working partially with silhouettes and shadows, but she is also a painter and printmaker. I would love to see her produce a shadow theatre production but that's my bias, I love shadow puppets. I am really interested in where Astrid's work goes in the next year and looking forward to her degree show next year.

Manolibera

Thank you Kath for showing me the fantastic 'Manolibera' an extremely clever Italian production of actors interacting with the performance dictated by drawing, that is projected onto the stage with an overhead projector. http://tinyurl.com/manolibera you can see it on youtube.

Fabrizio Montecchi Shadow Puppet Master

Over a year ago now, I was sent on a fantastic journey with shadows led by Fabrizio Montecchi, a five day course in the art of the shadow. I just wanted to share some images from this man and his theatre companies productions and tell you to look out for them.

http://www.teatrogiocovita.it

They are part of the Bank of Scotland's Imaginate Festival, in Scotland, May 25th - June 1st, so if you are able please go and enjoy. http://www.imaginate.org.uk

Sharmanka (Hurdy Gurdy) Eduard Bersudsky

Top: Forget Me Not Detail

Middle: Time of the Rats

Bottom: Noah's Ark

Sharmanka has touched my life on a number of occasions. A theatre of kinetic sculptures founded by Eduard Bersudsky in St Petersberg in 1989, it has now been based in Glasgow since 1996.

It captures me obviously with its kinetic and automata elements constructed from old sewing machines, wheel chairs ect, but it also has the fantastic added drama of the Shadow theatre. An inspiration on many levels.

Shadows

Shadow Puppet production of little Red Riding Hood by my students, every year I teach some students about Shadow puppets and challenge them to put on a performance, the results are wonderful.