Becoming Geppetto...

This summer (2021), I found myself wanting to learn something brand new, a new skill! I'd been playing around with 3D illustration for a while now, but I had the appetite for something extra, something beyond working with paper crafts.

I saw an advertisement for an introduction to puppet mastery, arranged by Worlds of Puppets, and I thought to myself, 'yeah, you've piqued my interest, tell me more!' So I booked a free ticket to the online event, as you do, and awaited the session..

An extenstive introduction it was! Bernd Ogrodnik and his team adore what they do, and more importantly believe in the joy it brings; this was so evident during the introduction. It was fun, informative and entertaining, and I was glued for the entire session, which may I add, was by no means brief. The setting of Bernd's workshop was magical, the stuff Christmas is made of, just like I imagine Santa's workshop to be. Bernd himself, is so passionate, and so excited to share his knowledge with you, it's hard not to join in the exciting and be planning in your head what your own puppet is going to look like, even though you haven't even signed up yet!

Well I was sold, and I knew instantly that this was the new skill I had been waiting, this was now going to be my summer fun, and a personal investment in me. I signed up to the Foundation Puppet Mastery Course at the end of the introduction, for a relatively modest fee, and set my puppet mastery 'advent' calendar on my phone.

I'm not going to go into detail about the processes I learned, because that would be unfair to both Worlds of Puppets, and prospective students - I don't want to spoil the magic or the discovery. However, I will say that you get a fanastic amount of tutorial time, which you have access to throughout the course, and can watch as many times as you like. You also have access to a private Facebook group with all of the other students, where you can share your progress and ideas, swap information about sourcing your materials, and also ask for guidance and support. There is also a weekly Q&A with Bernd to answer any questions that you may have, and this session doesn't finish until ALL questions have been answered and so you never fear being missed out which is lovely.

The pace of the course was perfect for me, with two pre-recorded tutorials a week, each focusing on a specific aspect, such as selecting and preparing your wood, and looking after you tools - everything you needed to know was covered.

I had so much fun and felt equally as passionate during my time spent working on my buddy puppet. It was such an achievement - to carve an entire buddy puppet out of squared blocks of wood, not without its challenges might I add, but the satisfaction and the pride you feel at the end of it is so, so rewarding. I genuinely can not wait to create my second buddy puppet.

I desperately wanted to move on to the Academy, and develop my skills further over a much longer period of time. But sadly, due to other commitments (that I just can't ignore), I wasn't in a position to do it at this time. But I can gurantee you, when the time is right, I will be signing up with absolutely no hesitation. In the meantime.... I leave you with a link to my buddy puppet... Mr Bankskitty, the Graffeline Artist... enjoy :)