I’m a creative, experienced, multi-purpose artist and art director
who can take projects start to finish in a variety of styles.

Good designs sell –
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Saturday, October 25, 2014

"Puppet"


I was a toy-deprived child.  I know this sounds unthinkable today, but my leisure items were limited to books, Monopoly, chess, checkers, blocks, and Legos.  There was a stupid plastic baby doll with plastic hair, but I hated that thing.  It didn't love me and real babies are messy, noisy and a thousand other irritations.  I learned that fast.

Bro says illo #1 isn't a puppet so I made
this ghost. He says this isn't a puppet either.


My oldest sister had a Barbie knock off and a Ken doll.  I snuck into her things on a regular basis to play with Ken.  I could care less about Tammy, but Ken was dreamy.  Messing with Sis' stuff was flirting with real pain when caught, so eventually Ken and I ended our relationship.  So sad.  I wonder if he ever thinks of me?

Okay, I had a well-loved
hand-me-down Teddy too.
Thus ended my early days of make believe and toys until I was a teenager and the Muppets were on tv.  I bought a Kermit. 
Aware that I never enjoyed the prerequisite amount of play, I took Kermit with me to see his movie.  I went with a friend who brought her own Kermit.  Our mutual friend thought we were hopelessly nuts which just made the whole thing funnier.  I took Kermit to a lot more activities and enjoyed that friend's look of exasperation.

I got Animal to keep Kermit company.  I loved Animal.  He was everything I could relate to, unlike Sis' Tammy.  I wonder if Ken would love my inner "Animal"?

My relationship with toys was therefore somewhat formed, and I was happy with my 2 pets.  I didn't talk to them or anything.  I mean, I knew they were stuffed, inanimate objects, but they made me smile.

Until... yes, another painful parting.

Bro says sock puppet counts :)
I was living in the bottom half of a house when I was in college, when Stacey knocked on my door saying that my upstairs neighbors told her I was looking for a roommate.  I said okay since Pat and Matt recommended her.  They afterwards said they only sent her downstairs to get rid of her.  Aaagh!!!  Lesson: check references.

She wasn't all bad, but I wanted to kill her when her lesbian relationship stood between me and the bathroom.  I had to go outside and around the house to go in the back door, which is annoying enough, but they also xxxxx... Okay, some things don't need to be recorded in blogland.  I'm sure there are some very fine lesbians out there, but Stacey wasn't a desirable roommate.

Our house was broken into and Stacey's cache of cash got stolen with a bunch of other things that the thief obviously knew she had.  My stuff was just tossed around, but intact... except for Animal.  They stole Animal!!!

I wish they'd stolen Stacey instead.  So much for my life with puppets.

TV doodles for art this week.  While scribbling I came up with an idea I'd like to pursue, but that's nowhere near to unveiling yet since it's still just an idea.  What I will share is that sometimes I just scribble and then see what zen pictures are hiding in the scribbles like taking a Rorschach test.  Sometimes the best ideas are waiting to be found that way.

...maybe some fall leaves too?





10 comments:

  1. Your posts always entertain Linda, what a colourful life you have lived and I agree Stacey should have gone over Animal....;0) Your photos are a very sublime ending to your puppet tales. Enjoy your Sunday x

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  2. Thanks Jane. I hope you had a good weekend too!

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  3. Those water picture draw forth a peaceful sigh.

    I love Animal--my favorite muppet. He makes me laugh, and as I think about it I realize (can this actually be true?) that I have a complicated, somewhat maternal response to him. Maybe I have an inner Animal too. Maybe all artists do.

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  4. Cute doodles. You came through with the puppet theme. Watch out ghosts. The gallows await. But then you're dead anyway!

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  5. Halloween is probably my favorite holiday. I hope everyone gets plenty of treats and no tricks this week! You may be right that all artists have an inner Animal? Life is better when we all let it out :) Thanks for the comments!

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  6. "I wish they'd stolen Stacey instead."
    I am laughing out loud here!!! Another great post I can totally relate to. I hated those hideous plastic baby dolls, too, and had that exact same Kermit! But I got mine in high school......you see, the boys decided I LOOKED like Kermit, with long, skinny, floppy arms & big bulgy eyes, so that is what they started calling me. Determined not to make them happy by getting angry about it, I just went with it, and eventually a friend shortened it to Mit......the rest, as they say, is history!!!

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  7. I love that Mit! Excellent how you turned the boys' nastiness into something good. You never know though... they might've been trying to flirt with you? I got my Kermit in high school too. That's why it was so funny for my friend and I to take our Kermits to the movie.

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  8. Hi Linda,

    I saw your drawing on Illustration Friday and it really caught my eye! Great drawings, and insightful accompanying writing. I'll look forward to reading your future posts! Emma

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  9. Actually....now that I think about it, I still have my Kermit! He's in my studio! :)

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  10. Thanks so much Emma, and thanks for the follow!! Mit, I'm so glad Kermit continues to inspire!

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