Strathcona Park is a lovely green space along Ottawa’s waterfront. It’s also where Odyssey Theatre’s fabulous masked shows are performed each summer, except this summer, thanks to COVID-19. The planned production of The School for Scandal has been postponed until 2021, and I’m looking forward to making the masks for it. This summer, Chelsea Fawcett has produced a great online video series about the park for Odyssey, Strathcona Park Diaries. In this episode, she chats with Odyssey’s designers, architect Barry Padolsky, set and costume designer Brian Smith, and me, the production’s mask designer.
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Arno and Maree Take Up Residency in Minotaur's Window
Making these octopus puppets and their art studio for the window of Minotaur Games and Gifts was some of the most fun I’ve had in ages. Living under the threat of a pandemic has made me feel like I’m moving in molasses, and for the longest time, I found it hard to find the motivation to do much of anything. Making this window display for Minotaur helped me move out of the mental thickness of covid life, and I once again feel energized and able to focus. My daughter was a huge help on this project, making it extra fun and rewarding. Arno-the-Octopus likes to work in a variety of mediums, so check the window throughout the summer to see what art making he gets up to.
Odyssey Workshops
Like so many artists, many of my summer plans shifted because of the pandemic, but I’m still thankfully able to teach live and online, via zoom. My first online workshop was a puppet making workshop for kids for Odyssey Theatre, which was great fun. Next week, it’s paper mask making with older kids. I love these paper mask workshops - they’re great for any age, and they give me the opportunity to talk about the principles of mask making and design. Also coming up, a mask workshop for Art Your Service (July 17) and a shadow puppetry and music workshop with Kornel Wolak for Canada Culture Days in September. More on those two workshops soon.
Not a Creature Was Stirring
It’s pretty fun to design and make window displays for Minotaur Games & Gifts. Here are some progress shots and the two finished windows for the 2019 holidays season.
Eating Animals in Catbird on the Yadkin Press
Two of The Enormous Elsewhere's puppets are included in Catbird (on the Yadkin) Press’s gorgeous book, Puppets One Ought to Know: An ABECEDARIUM. Alexa Fraser (the other half of the Enormous Elsewhere) and I are honoured to be included in such a beautiful book and with such good company.
Thanks, Canada Council for the Arts
A great big thanks to the Canada Council for the Arts. I recently got word that I was awarded a professional development grant to fund my time at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Puppetry Conference to study materials and movement with Alice Gottschalk. It was a great experience - days and nights working with fellow puppet people and learning from them and from Alice. I left with a bunch of new skills and my thoughts on the difference between animation and manipulation and the relationship of the puppeteer to the puppet. I am grateful for the support from the CC.
TVO Kids & Carnevale
A few months ago, I spent the afternoon making a worbla Carnevale mask with an awesome and creative kid named Gabriel for TVO Kids It’s My Party. At one point, I asked a crew member if I was loud enough (I’m soft spoken) and he said something along the lines of, “Remember you’re on a kids show.” I took that to mean I needed to uptalk, but not sure if that is what he meant or if I even managed it. It was a fun afternoon. My two-minutes of TVO fame is ten minutes in, but my favourite part of the episode is when the kids learn commedia (beautiful masks!).
Summer Workshops
I’m teaching a couple of workshops this summer.
First up is a mask-decorating workshop for the TD Niagara JazzFest. The JazzFest is hosting a super-cool Mardi Gras event on July 20th, featuring a parade, cajun cooking, and music by the Shuffle Demons, Heavyweights Brass Band, Turbo Street Funk, The Vaudevillians and others at the Henley Grandstand. You’ll need a mask. Come make fancy masks with me on June 13th so you can attended the event in Mardi Gras splendour. Details: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mask-making-workshop-tickets-63982088148/amp
On August 6, I’m delighted to be giving a mask-making demo at the Macpherson House at the Lennox & Addington Museum & Archives. Come on out to Napanee and decorate a mask. Details: https://lennox-addington.on.ca/museums-archives/mask-making-birds