officalheydenjh

[officalheydenjh]

WELSH VILLAGER PUPPET

09/05/2025

I added pupils to my puppet by taking a sticker, colouring it black with a sharpie and sticking it to the eye. This is a change I made from my previous puppet where I painted the pupils on - using a sticker made it possible to shuffle the position of the eyes around so it was less pressure to get the eyes right on the first go.

I then moved on to the hair. I did this using a spool of yarn bought from the materials shop at LCC. They only had one spool in this colour, so I tried as little of this I could. I created two loops from the yarn to create a fringe of hair visible on the forehead. After wrapping the head with a scarf and the hat, I was able to create the effect of a head of hair without using much of the yarn.

[officalheydenjh]

WELSH VILLAGER PUPPET

01/05/2025

As part of my realisation for this brief, I will create a puppet of a traditionally dressed Welsh villager. This design will be based on family photos of mine. These images were taken on St. David's Day, which is typically the only time you see this type of dress in the present day. This type of dress is now referred to as a "Welsh costume", even by a majority of Welsh people. This is disappointing to me as a lot of our cultural practices and traditions have been mocked by other countries, especially by the English, so the fact that people have become so comfortable to refer to welsh culture as simply "play" is, in my opinion, reflective of just how potent welsh erasure is.

Anywho, some noticeable components of Welsh dress:

The colour red represents the Welsh dragon or "Y Ddraig Goch"

A tall black hat, which is only found in Welsh traditional fashion. The origins of the hat are unclear, though

Checkered patterns

Shawls over the shoulders

Aprons

Daffodils, which are Welsh national flowers. Typically, daffodils will be worn by girls but the wearing of daffodils is specifically a St David's Day tradition

PUPPET MAKING

I started by using a template and some half inch foam. I cut out two pieces from the template and glued them together to create the structure of the puppet's head. This is the same process I used when creating the lake fairy puppet.

An issue I ran into when creating this puppet though was when I tried to use my sewing machine for the fabric covering, the measurements were all off which made it a very tight fit. I redid it but hand sewed the pieces together which fixed the issue.

EYES + NOSE

With my fairy puppet, I created the eyes with an air-dry clay, which made them very heavy for their size. This time around I used another air-dry clay but it has more of a foam consistency, this made the puppet less weighty - every bit of weight on a puppet counts as they need to be held up for long periods. The eyes being lighter also takes away the probability of them falling off.

I used the same method for the eyelids but with the eyelashes, instead of sticking them on top of the eyelids, I stuck them underneath to mimic the way eyelashes grow organically.

I didn't change much about the nose making, apart from using less felt so the only areas where there is felt are the areas that will be seen by an audience. Thre nose is made from foam and felt.

[officalheydenjh]

GRADUATE SHOW TUTORIAL WITH ANGELA

30/04/2025

I originally planned to include 5 puppets, two backgrounds and a script. This was the sketch I made to show what my idea was for the installation.

After discussing this with Angela, she explained to me that the installation may be too large for the space we have. This made sense and I already had a feeling I would need to condense my ideas.

This new plan will be much more achievable within the space provided. This new plan will also allow me to dedicate more time to a specific puppet. I have decided to show my lake fairy puppet next to my welsh villager lady as her design would exist separately from the story being told. The design is also synonymous with welsh culture in general so I feel that puppet would be the most reflective of my intention going into this project.

[officalheydenjh]

PUPPETS FOR FINAL OUTCOME

23/04/2025

Here are some designs I’ve created for my final outcome.

I will be putting together a script, puppets and some backgrounds to tell the story of the Gwragedd Annwn.

[officalheydenjh]

PEER FEEDBACK

16/04/2025

We were assigned to provide feedback to our peers, I brought in some of my puppets to show.

[officalheydenjh]

ST FAGANS - MUSUEM OF WELSH HISTORY

16/03/2025

Due to some unforeseen medical issues at the beginning of this month, I decided to go home and spend time with my parents to help with my stress. While visiting, I wanted to also take some time to think about my project in a productive and helpful way. With this in mind, we decided to visit St. Fagans in Cardiff!

This museum is dedicated to the preservation of Welsh culture and history. Each area of the museum features buildings locked in time that give visitors a glimpse into the past and into what the lives of those who inhabited the area.

Here are some images from our visit :)

This is the map of the museum !

Imaged above are genuine Welsh cottages dating back to the Tudor period.

This is a period accurate shop from the 1800s.

These are images from inside the castle :)

This was my first visit to St. Fagans in nearly 15 years and it brought back a lot of memories. I even bumped into a friend I hadn’t seen in years ! Overall this visit was very insightful and has helped me to deepen my understanding and appreciation for my heritage.

It has free entry so if you ever find yourself in Cardiff, go visit !

[officalheydenjh]

WORK IN PROGRESS SHOW - OPENING

27/02/2025

This was a very exciting opportunity :) I enjoyed being able to see what everyone else was creating and how everyone's projects had vastly differing processes and meanings. I feel, with more time, my puppet would've benefitted from having arms but other than that I was happy with what I showed.

[officalheydenjh]

WORK IN PROGRESS SHOW - SET UP

24/02/2025

To create a base for my puppet that could be packed up for travel, I added a hinge to the stick that my puppet would be hanging on.

I took my puppet and the base to the Copeland Gallery to set up for the exhibition :)

The pole did lean slightly which I could’ve corrected had I had more time. I do think this was a successful way to exhibit her though.

[officalheydenjh]

PUPPET

21/02/2025

I brought my puppet into uni to see if there were materials in our 3rd year room that could be helpful to her creation. I found some beads and braided them into her hair.

I then used some paper to test different eye shapes and placements to see what I liked.

I ended up creating two equal sizes eyes from clay as I needed them to be a very specific shape and didn't have time to create them by 3D printer.

I used some iridescent fabric to create a dress for my puppet. I layered it with green and blue tool fabric to create a lake/mossy appearance. I also bought some false eyelashes to help her eyes stand out a bit more.

[officalheydenjh]

WORK IN PROGRESS SHOW - THE WORK IN PROGRESS

21/02/2025

I decided to go for the second design as shown in my previous post. I took it into the 3D workshop and was able to get a slot in :)

We (Rosemary, a technician, and me) decided to put the design through 3 times to get the exact depth I wanted.

I then took the base through and stained it along with the plinth that will hold my puppet.

I tested a few stains on some scrap wood, I found light oak to be the best for the effect I wanted. The other stains I considered either came out way too dark or an unnatural colour.

[officalheydenjh]

WORK IN PROGRESS SHOW

19/02/2025

After taking my work in to Emily and Angela, we discussed what my plans/ideas were for how the puppet was going to be displayed. I already had an idea to display her on a rod as it’s cost effective and wouldn’t be too hard to set up. Emily advised me to go to the 3D workshop at LCC where I met with Ciaran. I discussed my project with Ciaran and explained I wouldn’t have much of a budget for the display which led him to show me some of the scrap pieces they had which I felt would work well. I mentioned to him that I may want to have a carving of some kind on the base of the stand. He suggested using a dremel and let me test it out. I didn’t like the dremel too much as the vibrations was immediately overwhelming. We then decided I should use laser cutting instead, I made two designs that I will consider to laser into the base.

[officalheydenjh]

GWRAGEDD ANNWN PUPPET: PT 1

I decided to create a puppet based on the myth of Gwragedd Annwn

These fairies are described as having an ethereal beauty which I carried throughout the creation of my puppet.

I also took inspiration from Brian Froud’s interpretation of the myth which is shown in the book he created in collaboration with Alan Lee, Fairies.

I kept my design quite simple as I didn’t want to overwhelm myself with tons of detail. I knew I wanted her to have braids of some variety and a flowy dress.

I first created her head from foam. I followed a pattern created by ThePuppetNerd.

I started with her hair first as I knew it would be the most time consuming aspect. I used a variety of different textured yarn which added a lot of layering and interest to the hair. I also created a braid which I strung small tear shaped gems into to create a water droplet effect. I also added moss to the top of her head as though it had settled there whilst she was coming out of the water.

I wanted to keep the colour palette quite limited so I stuck to cold colours such as white, blue and green. I feel this also helped with taking her a step away from, being human.

[officalheydenjh]

MARQUETTES AND MATERIALS

07/02/2025

I decided to take part in this workshop as I have been thinking about creating a set to accompany my puppets. I decided to use a Welsh coal mine as my reference because the forms are quite simple and could be easily recognisable even in their most basic forms.

I created a stage shaped structure from cardboard and then created the structures. I wanted to take the opportunity to test different making methods. So the tower I made using a folding technique to create a 3d shape and the small warehouse I created using a piece of cardboard with embellishments to create the ridged shape of the walls. I really liked how my Marquette turned out, I think the 3d tower was especially successful as I was able to create the structure with very little detail and it still came out looking industrial-esque.

I also took the chance to see the work from my peers, I photographed the ones that felt the most interesting to me in both design and concept.

[officalheydenjh]

WELSH DRAGON MUPPET: PART 1

To create this puppet, I followed a tutorial made by the wonderful Adam Kreutinger; https://youtu.be/FRp-ja0i0ww?si=NntIEiIwLLuMTKps

I started by creating a diagram of the Welsh Dragon and highlighting key characteristics that could be helpful for my puppet design.

I decided to sculpt the head from tin foil as it was the only material available to me at the time. Following the steps from Kreutinger’s guide, I created a net that I would use later on for my puppet’s head.

[officalheydenjh]

LOCATION VISIT

I visited the Viktor Wind Museum of Curiosities. I chose this location because I am interested in incorporating an eclectic and strange style into my project. A lot of the displays there were taxidermy and dioramas. There were many confusing and unsettling items on show such as jars containing vulvas that had been preserved, lots of human hair, an entire human skeleton and so on. I decided not to photograph these things for obvious reasons other than the fact they didn't really apply to my project. However, I did find items that I have photographed as inspiration, not so much in the way that I want to replicate them but they have the type of feeling/vibe I am trying to create.

I am particularly fond of this taxidermy otter, I think it is one of the best prepared specimens I have seen.

I found this location to be very interesting and it helped me to gather an idea of the eclectic vision I had for my project. There is a very specific delicacy put forward by these objects which is just fascinating to me.

[officalheydenjh]

RESEARCH OUTCOME

24/01/2025

We were asked to create a research outcome based on our initial ideas, influences and creations. I put together an A2 mood board featuring images I had taken during my visit to Swansea, Welsh art I found online, puppetry influences of mine and sentimental images.

I enjoyed this session as we were all able to take a look at each other’s work, which was really interesting !

[officalheydenjh]

HIRAETH P4

Waterfront Musuem

Here are some more images from my visit!