Thursday, July 16, 2009

Thursday Workshops

Kevin shows cap
My first workshop today was attended because Paper-mache is currently my favorite puppet building method to employ and I enjoy very much seeing how other people do it. It was “Lightweight Marionette Bodies using Paper Mache” by Kevin Menegus. He starts in a similar fashion to the Thistle Theatre method which I learned originally from Brian Kooser—with a Styrofoam base. He also employs only 3 layers of thick brown paper. He uses Wheat paste as well. Here’s the differences…he does not use wood glue in the mix. He soaks the paper in water overnight. He sands all lumps away after the first layer. He adds all string supports and wires in between the second and third layers and he does not use any piece of paper with ink printed on it…doesn’t like his paste to turn strange colors. It is a consideration that I handle with gesso after the fact. It was all very interesting indeed, plus good to know that some of the methods I use are universal.

My second workshop was excellent in the fact that it took me out of my comfort zone and into a world that I know very little about: Electrical Design. It was “Do-It-Yourself 600 Watt Stage Dimmer” by Fred E. Putz. I actually learned to make a stage dimmer. And guess what? I took a series of pictures to show you how it’s done. See:
00 - What you need
Now I too can dim!

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