Monica Joy: Apprenctice of Puppetry and Connoisseur of Fine Outhouses

Huge puppet from our Friday performances. See video below.

At dinner tonight a friend asked, "Oh Monica, how was your two week puppetry excursion?" Well it's been weeks since I returned and I realized I haven't reflected or documented my experience yet. There is so much to think about that all I could say was that I developed a preference for a specific outhouse over the other options. Yes, it was a special composting toilet maintained by a company called Clivus. I was not the only one who favored this outhouse, it was a shared and celebrated commodity. Like a giddy school girls giggling about their boy crushes, my fellow apprentices and I would smile and giggle saying, "I just used the Clivus." Totally ridiculous, but I'll tell you my apprenticeship was full of appreciation for such commodities.

There's actually quite a bit I could share about the experience. I wrote in my journal everyday with descriptions of my day, stories of triumph, documentation of learning, and recounts of experiences that brought back nostalgic memories. 

So perhaps I should recap what I did. In short, I took two weeks vacation to apprentice at the Bread and Puppet Theater company in Glover, VT. I had some experience with the company ten years ago (see Accepted blog post), and was honored and excited to be an apprentice. In this blog post, I'm not interested in recapping all of Bread and Puppet's history or their significance in politics and puppetry. I really want to just share some videos, pics and highlights from my two weeks there.

The Location

Banners outside of B & P

B & P is located in rural Vermont on a farm owned by the Schumann's who founded the company. Decorated with amazing "cheap art" and prints from visiting guests and their onsite print shop, the farm houses a communal farmhouse where 70ish people (yes, there were a lot of people there) roam the kitchen daily and engage in their share of communal activities (gardening, harvesting, cooking, cleaning, making aioli, recycling, etc.). The apprentices and volunteers all lived in tents of course, and the staff and puppeteers lived in the house or in other nearby shelters (e.g. old B & P school buses). Also on the land were a few gardens and livestock for sustenance, the Paper Mache Cathedral & Dirt Floor Theater (where we rehearsed and performed our Fright night shows), a gift shop, museum, art space, storage space, costume room, print shop, outdoor fields for the Sunday afternoon circus and pageant, miscellaneous living and creating spaces, and outhouses, featuring the ever so amazing (school girl giggle), Clivus composting toilet. As mentioned, there are several old B & P school buses that decorated the land for storage, merchandising, or living spaces.

Outside the Puppet Museum & Gift Shop

 

Dirt Floor Theater and Paper Mache Cathedral

Banner on DF Theater/PM Cathedral

Cheap Art Bus

My Neighborhood, Las Palmas

The People

I met so many people from so many places (both states and countries), of all ages and backgrounds, and with just as much confusion as I had in the first 24 hours at  B & P. Thankfully I learned on my second day that in a nutshell, "there are really no rules at B & P but someone is always making a mistake." Given that, information, I could relax in the fact that I could just be present. I had to drop some of the inherent control that I have to need to know what is coming next so I could be prepared and have my mental stuff together. Most were artists, musicians and actors who illuminated the post-dinner coma with an eclectic jam session. Oh how I love fiddles and accordions and random brass instruments being played with such joy on the porch of an old farmhouse. The juxtaposition of this life versus my typical daily grind was memorizing and exhausting, but definitely amazingly beautiful on a hot summer night in the hills of Vermont. 

Circus Act at B&P...look at all the instruments!

The Puppets and Politics

I'd like to save the stories of what we worked on for another blog, and how different aspects influences my thinking. Instead, I'd like to just shared a few photos and a video of what I was working on. When I find my fellow apprentices with their library of documented performances, I'll share those parts. For now, here's the magnitude and aesthetic of what I was working with. Perhaps if will inspire you more to read about Bread and Puppet.  

Backstage at the Circus

Lion Costumes

So you can see how big some of these puppets are compared to me!

Some Interesting Thought and Highlights

• The Importance of Music: On Tuesday evenings, the community comes for shape note singing. I attended one week and while I couldn't follow along with reading music, let alone music that was coded with shapes and Fa, La, So, Me's, I was in awe of the beauty of singing old hymns and rounds. We even sang the "Rose Rose Rose Rose.. Will I ever see thee wed?" song that I so fondly recall learning from my mom and my Aunt Bobbie, Joanie, Susie, and perhaps Kathy and Mary were there? We sang that song in a round one night on the balcony of our shared condo in Maine. I was so swept away with that family memory resurfacing at B & P that I thought about how important it is that I keep music alive with my immediate and future families.
• Getting Higher: I did face a fear of mine. I walked on stilts. I will never forget Anli, the German woman who so forcefully strapped me into those stilts and relentlessly supported me in succeeding. I was thankful it was sunny and that I had sunglasses on to mask the tears and panic I had on my face the whole time. Heck, I even kept crying when I was walking independently on those stilts, after I had accomplished this fear. I really had thought about quitting before I even stood up for the first time, but I practiced what I have been working on for years. I thought, "Monica, what kind of 1st world problem is this? What kind of story are you going to make this? The story of you quitting and feeling bad about not following through when there is no reason not to, or will this be the story of you saying 'to heck with it' and just doing it and living to tell about it." I am happy with my choice. Due to rain, I didn't have time to get on stilts again but I'm thinking about seeking out an opportunity to continue with this training. Tip: The secret is to keep moving. Being paralyzed by fear is not helpful when stilt-walking or anything, so just march to the beat of your own drum and you'll figure it out.

That's all for now...more to come, including the new show I'm working on that is less than political and doesn't involve big puppets. 

Lastly, here's a short video clip of the big puppet during a technical rehearsal. 

I took a small detour torochester today to spend time with Jeff while he's up here for work. On my way up I  decided to delve into the array of emotions I am feeling about my upcoming apprenticeship. I have been going through levels of panic and nervousness regarding leaving my job for two weeks, being away from my cat and companion, wondering how this will throw off my marathon training, uncertainty about packing and most importantly...what the heck will the next few weeks bring? What will I learn, who will I meet, and will this experience radically change me? All coated with relentless fear and drama, these are the things I sorted through.

I know, I know, not everything in life can be planned. I admit it...I am a planner for the most part and giving up that level of control over my environment and schedule (not to mention the luxuries of Internet and phone I have become so attached to) is pretty scary. 

So I realized that I can stay centered by what I do best as a strategic planner and educator...I can write learning objectives for myself. Yeah!

Without writing the prescribed learning objective formula incorporating vocabulary from Bloom's Taxonomy and setting associated assessment measures, I will sum up my goals here:

As I stated in my first blog entry, I have done a really great job of being responsible. To some, my past choices and adventures seem exciting and risky. To me, they have been safe. I have done a good job being my quirky self, living comfortably and subversively teaching and/or inspiring others to perhaps think differently about things...the choice of happiness, the choice of forgiveness and acceptance, challenging self-limiting beliefs, using cloth napkins, voting with our dollars (when possible) at the supermarket and/or in our daily nourishment, etc. All those things are a work in progress for me as well, but I am happy that others have become aware of some of these important concepts as a result of my journey with them.

The next two weeks at Bread and Puppet, I want to participate and cross the boundaries of subversive teaching to being out loud with it. I am ready to learn, to re-ignite and participate in a different type of responsibility, civic responsibility . Naturally there is an art form I will be learning, but so much of this is how to challenge the everyday with the spectacular communication and community dialogue that puppetry invites. I will do my best to stay present and gentle with myself in the learning process, and hope that I can give this back to my community when I return.

I wrote most of this blog on my iPhone at Ming's on Monroe Ave. I was hungry, needed lunch and so missed their veggie udon noodle dish. When handed the bill with a fortune cookie, I was about halfway through writing this post. Best fortune and fortune cookie ever - "to love what you do and feel that it matters--how could anything be more fun!"

Peace out! I look forward to connecting and reflecting again on the other side of this residency. Until then, thank you all for your support and love in my life. Heart you, each and everyone of you!


Sent from my iPhone

Instant Gratification

Ask and you shall receive. Unbeknownst to me, my new friend, Jim Laux filmed it. Here's a link to the unedited version of How to Make Vegan Cupcakes. You may not be able to hear me speaking well, but once the lights go off and on and the music starts, the sound isn't bad. Due to angles and lighting, you won't be able to see any clear definition on some parts so use your imagination and enjoy! I'll be finding other footage soon and am hoping to do an edit job on that. 


Thanks, Jim!

Vegan Puppeteers Take Over Beulahland

Thank you, Noel Sylvester, for capturing this fun shot!

On Friday, July 13th, I performed my first puppet show since I started Data Geek to Puppeteer. My friends Amelia, Noel, and Jennifer graciously invited friends and artists out to their art farm (Beulahland) to create, engage, and celebrate all forms of creativity (and Jennifer's 61st birthday) to their seemingly annual mini festival. This year it was known as 61 Hours of Art, the second mini-festival that followed the ever so awesome 60 Hour of Art.

I worked for weeks to create and perform a very simple plot, that probably took way more than 61 hours. It was all worth it for the three (yes, that's 3) minutes of pure delight I experienced performing it. Here's an overview of the piece, How to Make Vegan Cupcakes.

Original Draft of Jennifer F.

• The Plot: Entranced by a vision of a yummy vegan cupcake, a young girl sets out on a pursuit to make vegan cupcakes for her friend's birthday. In this short, three minute vignette, the ingredients, utensils, and appliances illustrate a whimsical life of their own. At the end of the show, we wished, Jennifer Fais (and Jeff K) a happy birthday and gave her a papercutting portrait I created.
• Medium: Shadow Puppetry, with some fancy papercutting action.
• The Music: About a week before the show, The Winner Is by Danna/Devotchka from the Little Miss Sunshine soundtrack showed up on my Pandora station at work. Wow. I paid and downloaded the whole soundtrack that night. The music is not only beautiful, but timed out my show in a more eloquent way than I could have. I had struggled with the fact that I wanted the show to be silent or with minimal speaking parts. Problem solved.
• The Puppeteers: I was so thankful for the playful and creative friends I have, Bridget BVO and Jennifer B. who volunteered their time over two rehearsals to learn puppetry (and I think they fell in love with it too!). Given the name of the blog, I'll admit and say I'm the only vegan puppeteer but one of them is vegetarian and another is inspirationally stoked about vegetables and local farming. 
• The Inspiration: I came up with this idea driving back from Toronto after attending Fresh Ideas in Puppetry. I was inspired by some performances and presentations highlighting Shadow Puppetry. When I drove back I watched shadow figures walk through the screen of my mind and I knew I wanted to start out my puppetry endeavors with shadow puppets and papercutting. How to Make Vegan Cupcakes seemed like the simplest and most playful plot to start with.
• Why Vegan Cupcakes?: I had never really been a baker or very interested in desserts until I became vegan, and I became vegan as a personal health experiment that grew into a life habit I'm committed to.Then, in attempt to bring "vegan" food to parties that might open up people's perception of vegan food, I started making vegan cupcakes. Of course, I'm aware I took the path of least resistance, "vegan junk food." BUT, learning the art of vegan baking from my mentor's in their book, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World was definitely part of my return as an artist. I did even use the ingredients from their Basic Chocolate Cupcake Recipe. In fact, for 60 Hours of Art, I had created 60 Hours of Vegan Cupcakes in which I learned and made five different cupcake recipes from the book. So for 61 Hours, why not create a puppet show about making vegan cupcakes?
• Props (in the slang sense): With some research and scavenging, I figured out how to make a cheap stage. I'm giving out props to my friend John VO and partner Jeff K for their assistance and support constructing it with me. 
• The Response: From the feedback I received, it was the playful and enchanting (and maybe emotional) experience I intended the audience to engage in. I may have even made one shed a tear. If any has seen it, I welcome the constructive feedback.

Let's just say the whole process was delightful. I learned so much, experienced a minor case of nerves but that was totally trumped my determination to make the process a joyful learning experience. I thought I'd have more to say about the array of emotions about creating this, but really, I kept my focus and decided to not misuse my imagination and energy on worry. That's the soundest piece of advice I can give anyone who is "going for it."

Thank you Maxwell Harvey-Sampson for this photo.

 

p.s. For those wondering...yes, it was taped but I haven't seen it yet. I'll work on that. However, I have some wonderful photos (as shown) that some great and talented friends/photographers took that evening. 

p.s.s. Ironically I made the ever so yummy green tea cupcakes again for Jeff's birthday the day after the show. As I was taking the cupcakes out of the oven, The Winner Is song came on my Pandora station. Oh, how sweet life is!

The Green Tea Cupcakes I made the day after my show for Jeff's birthday.

I'm a Shadow Artist?

First Paper-Cutting Session: Semi-Self-Portrait

As I reflect on my experiences, thoughts, and the work I have been creating physically and in my mind, the term "Shadow Artist" seems to capture it all so well. Circa 1999 I set aside much of my energy as an artist, and reallocated (yes, I just used that beloved buzz word) my time and passion into arts administration. Maggie Hanley (formerly the Manager Director) hired me at 171 Cedar Arts Center, where, me, an unfocused, twenty-year old, college stop-out/dropout discovered the art of writing queries and had a rejuvenating feeling of purpose. I finally felt like I was contributing. I felt successful, and within a few short months of working there I knew I would continue my studies, not as an artist, but as an arts administrator. 

It's interesting that at 33, the year I celebrate overcoming the illness I call "Artist Suppression Syndrome," I recall a conversation with Maggie at 171 in the kitchen (the old one in the Bruce House for those familiar with it). Perhaps Maggie was examining her life at the time and healing from some "Artist Suppression Syndrome" too. Anyway, we started talking about the book, "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron, particularly the key concept of being a Shadow Artist explored in the book. It's been a while since I read that book but I found a quote referenced from the book that describes this meaning well. 

Too intimidated to become artists themselves, very often too low in self-worth to even recognize that they have an artistic dream, these people become shadow artists instead. Artists themselves but ignorant of their true identity, shadow artists are to be found shadowing declared artists… Shadow artists often choose shadow careers — those close to the desired art, even parallel to it, but not the art itself.

So there we were, two classic shadow artists working at an arts center. Now, more than 10 years later, I am confronting that self-worth, that artistic dream, and trying to figure out where to start with it all.

I've been wondering if I should actually change the name of my blog from "Data Geek to Puppeteer" to something more fitting like "From the Desk of an Artsy Data Geek." I'm starting to think that my drive to "Go For It" isn't so much about being a puppeteer but about being an artist in general. I have a lot of ideas and concepts I am entertaining in my work, some incorporate puppetry and some fit my desire to just learn as much as I can about everything (sewing, felting, sculpture, painting, paper-cutting, dance...etc, etc). It's a little unsettling how all over the place I am with it. However, my friend Bridget (oh my, how blessed I am to have her in my life) encouraged me to look at it differently. She said, "if you were in art school, you would be learning and exploring many different mediums. Think of this year and/or the next few years as your art school years." Oh, that helps to think of it that way, whether you are pursuing your dreams as an artist or anything.

So here's what I've been up to:

• Shadow Puppetry and Paper-cutting: A few weeks ago I went to Fresh Ideas in Puppetry, a "puppetry conference" in Toronto put on by Puppetmongers: Toronto School of Puppetry. I was inspired by all the work I saw. On my drive back I realized that I want to focus my experimentation with puppetry on Shadow Puppetry. I'm really fascinated by paper-cutting/scherenschnitte, and this compliments my artistic development with shadow puppetry. It's also "cheap" and I can do it in my apartment versus in my attic studio (which is too hot right now) at my parent's house. Did I mention that my only actual puppet performance outside of undergrad was a Shadow Puppet show I did while working at the Armenian Library and Museum in Watertown, MA? Hence, "Shadow Artist" has multiple meanings right now. If you have no idea what Shadow Puppetry is, I'll be sure to share some cool finds. One my my recent favorites is this Pilobolus Dance Theatre "Shadowland" clip. You'll get chills it's so wonderful.  

 

• Domestic DIY: I've moved across town, yes again, so I've been working on that. However, in the process of brilliant cohabitation it's been fun to work on cool projects like building a spice rack. We researched and been creating a great spice rack in our small kitchen. It was inspired by this one: http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2009/11/mount-a-magnetic-spice-rack-to-keep-your-spices-accessible/



Recycled Bottle Caps







• Recycled Runway: I took a detour on it all to work on this community project directed by Amelia Harnas. It was fun creating recycled fashions for The ARTS of the Southern Finger Lakes benefit. What can I say, I like beer and making these outfits was a lot of fun! See my bottle cap dress and vest here...as well as many amazing, amazing pieces.Thanks for being my model, Barb, and thank you, Amelia, for creating another fun and safe space for experimentation!
• More Cupcakes, Please: I've found the winning cupcake recipe in Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. They win on all levels so here's the recipe! They are a delightfully-delicious-post-sushi-dinner-dessert! Of course, mine aren't nearly as cute as the ones in the picture on PPK's website, but pink marzipan circle cut-outs are just as adorable and aesthetically pleasing. Don't get me wrong, all vegan cupcakes recipes from this book are great...but these take the "cupcake!"

Now that I'm settled, I'll probably be more likely to documenting my thoughts and practices. If you haven't yet, watch that Pilobolus video!

p.s. Thanks again to Maggie and Bridget and all who have inspired me more than you could possibly know!

A certain someone with rabbit ears.

My nephew...looks cross-eyed but it's an early attempt and I like the hair. I've learned it's really hard to create paper-cuttings of young people.

A Shout Out to My Mother

One of the important parts of my development as an artist/puppeteer/learner/whatever is to give credit to where credit is due. I intended about a week ago to honor my mother on the "contrived holiday" of mother's day. Those are my mother's words also, not mine (another reason that makes her so cool). While I didn't give her a gift or a card, and I was out of town spending time with another mother in my life, I still thought a lot about what I wanted to say in this blog post about and to my mother. I have distinct moments and memories that are instilled in who I am and how I do things, how I learn, how I celebrate, and how I respond to disappointment. So here are a few things I have been thinking about lately, but this is by no means everything:

• I have had the gift of seeing you as a grandmother to my nephew and niece since I moved back from Chicago three years ago. A seasoned early childhood educator, you know you are amazing with young children and providing structured yet creative experiences. You always had/have a stock of paints, brushes, markers, crayons, and whatever was needed. If there was no play dough, we made salt dough. Hours were spent in the kitchen over the years playing with materials, singing songs, and listening to you banter with silly yet strange (and sometimes scary) impersonations. You taught me that the product was not never nearly as important as the process, and I have kept this in my mind as I have been re-learning how to to paint, draw, sculpt and tinker this year. Hence, thank you mom for my ferocious sense of play, and thank you for always articulating why it is important to a child's development. Thank you for letting me spend hours and hours dancing and pretending while listening to Zoom, Annie, and Free to Be You and Me on the record player. Thank you for realizing that playing with dolls and Barbie was good for my emotional and social development.Thank you for putting up with me as an angsty child, teenager and adult (well, sometimes) and for giving me a creative outlet to explore and express this through.
• Even in the years of my life where I was sadly yet intentionally shutting out my creative self, I stayed connected through the craftiness of candle making. I remember the first candle you taught me to make with some gulf canning wax, string, crayons, and a milk carton. It's been 15 + years and making candles remains an annual tradition for me. It's segued into a drive to learn other DIY home stuff, and the playful attitude I learned gives me to the confidence to learn these things. Thank you for supporting me as a learner, particularly as I struggled with tying my shoes, reading, being myself, and dealing with rejection and failure. Learning to make a candle  taught me that I could learn most things if I just took the time to do it.
• As I create, create, create,  I am realizing how I really love shadow puppetry and paper cutouts. I have been thinking about projects I want to do and checked out books on paper crafts and silhouettes. As I started reading these books, I realized where my love of prints and paper craft came from. Remember when you taught me scherenschnitte? Wow! That was a long time ago. For those reading who don't know, take a look at this Ted talk video and you'll understand why I am in love with this art form. Mom, you'll love it too. http://www.ted.com/talks/beatrice_coron_stories_cut_from_paper.html

• Lastly, I love that when I posted about my impromptu trip to Toronto that you immediately volunteered to go with me. I consider my love of travel and excellent navigational skills with public transportation to be something I take pride in, and something that I DEFINITELY get from you. Thanks for the adventures in life!

One more time: Thank you for all of your support and the gifts you have given me. I am pleased that I am no longer taking them for granted and am using them everyday!

Mixed Emotions about Mixed-Media

I'll warn you...this is one of those blog posts that is really self-indulgent and used for my own need to document (as they all are). I won't be disappointed if you don't read it. As my friend Bob would say, "it's a brain dump."

I've been walking around with that twinge of guilt in the back of my head..."you really should be doing this, you should be doing that, you aren't doing enough, you are doing too much, you should be blogging about doing this, you should be blogging about not doing that, you should be blogging about your experience...end of story."

The reality is that I probably am...NO, I am doing the best I can. I shouldn't be so hard on myself. I feel pretty alone and isolated right now, but I know these thoughts and feelings are shared by so many about so many things. However, I feel like I have been doing a real dis-service to myself by not documenting what I've been up to, what I have been experiencing in this journey, both positive and negative. 

This isn't meant to be a downer of a post, it's meant to be the truth about the reality in my head. I know that the reality in one's head isn't often the same as reality, but it's something to be confronted and dealt with anyway. 

So I've struggled with making the time to document a lot of events and experiences in this journey. Tired of beating myself up, I've decide to make this time during my lunch break today. So what have I been up to?:

Melanie's show at CCC!

• Puppet Shadowing: Thank you to puppeteer and storyteller, Melanie Zimmer, for allowing me to assist and talk with you before and after your show at CCC's Cool Kids event in March. Shortly after I started my journey, I realized there would be a puppet show right in town and I promptly contacted her. I recognize I'm in this big information gathering stage and I need as much inspiration and connection to other puppeteers as possible right now. It was inspiring to meet with her and consider a lot of different aspects of performing including sets, lights, music, and using different ways to engage an audience of young children. I felt like I was back in my old job at the Aesthetic Education Institute again coordinating arts residencies and performances, and ooooh, how I miss that. Thank you, Melanie, and a shout out for Steve Appleton from Cool Kids who I reconnected with after 10 years. He's created a really amazing life, and creates so many fantastic experiences for learners of all ages in upstate NY. 
•  Whine and Critique: I am also thankful for my inspiring friends (namely Bridget Bossart Van Otterloo) who have supported and encouraged me in this journey. Last week she hosted a Whine and Critique inviting local artists into her home to share their work with each other. That was the first time I ever really presented my work/puppets to anyone in person and my personal response to it was unsettling. I am very comfortable presenting and teaching, but the force and power I have in my delivery this time felt different. I felt like I became shy (which is a relative term because it may not have been perceived that way). I noticed I didn't feel fully present and in this comfortable and powerful zone that I get into when teaching/presenting. I think the only word for it is "vulnerable" although that wasn't exactly what it felt like to me. I just didn't feel present in my power. While everyone was very receptive, I didn't really get any feedback and that was disappointing. However, I LOVED supporting and learning from others about their work. Everyone there was in the visual artist realm, mainly painting or photography. I felt very lonely after, realizing I really needed to be in a community of people doing more of what I'm doing who I can learn from and talk with about the interdisciplinary facets of puppetry. I don't really know where to find that unless I go somewhere else, and I don't feel ready to do that yet. 

Development of ACT ONE: Sasha and the Pearl. The parents are nearly finished and Sasha now has hair!

• Workshops and Opportunities: In response to the feelings I had from the Whine and Critique I really thought about what I needed to do. My upcoming trip to Bread and Puppet seems too far away, and I need support and inspiration soon. I thought about signing up for some workshops in Toronto but the thought of making that logistically happen right now stresses me out. Self-indulgent sigh!
• What I am loving right now: Glazing coffee cups and thinking of amazingly creative ideas! I had a bit of a meltdown yesterday (thanks Don, John, Bonnie, Dad, Erin, and Jeff) who let me be honest with my feelings yesterday. I hate those self-indulgent moments of crying and am loathing myself as I write this self-indulgent blog post. I've been stressing about all of the aforementioned. What some of it comes down to is that I've been conflicted about how all the time and money I have been spending in the 171 pottery studio lately and if I needed to give that up in order to invest my time/money puppetry. 

Pre-Fired Glazing on Mugs. 

Inspired by and created for Bridget!

Helped me come to my realization last night. This one is inspired by and for Bonnie.

The answer for now: I spent 2.5 hours glazing a cup at the 171 studio last night and I never felt so good doing it. That's where I want to spend my energy for the next few months. Perhaps I need to re-shift my perspective...is it about becoming a puppeteer or is my desire to be an artist/creative being the goal? I think we know the answer to that. And yes, puppetry is still in my plans...but it's only part of it.