Spirits Dancing Portfolio » 2006

Reindeer

hil — Sun, 17 Dec 2006 05:16:53 +0000

This reindeer head was made for HighWire Events and Entertainment. It is made of light EVA foam sheeting and covered in fur fabric.

Flickr photo gallery of making

The Moth Tree

hil — Sat, 09 Dec 2006 07:35:58 +0000

Designer and maker for Canberra Youth Theatre’s end of 2006 production, The Moth Tree: An Awesome Adventure. The play was developed in a collaborative process involving the group of 8 to 12 year olds.

The moth tree itself was made with a process of wrapping one of the heritage trees at Gorman House in clear packing tape to make the tree.

The tree partly finished, and the dragon puppet in rehearsal:

At the end of the play the moth tree had to regenerate; it was lit from inside with christmas lights:

The tiny moth puppet had a 15 cm wingspan, and springloaded wings that flapped when the rod was motioned up and down.

The dragon’s head constructed out of sheet foam, and spray painted in a graffiti style:

The Oracles were large puppets, standing about 2 metres tall. They had cracked plaster faces:

The illustration for the poster for the play:

Flickr photo gallery
Blog posts: The Moth Tree opens tomorrow night; Happy New Year

Warehouse Circus: Carnivale Puppet Parade

hil — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 06:09:52 +0000

In late winter 2006 I lead workshops with a group of kids from the Warehouse Circus, collaboratively designing and helping them to make some big puppets for a carnivale puppet parade during Floriade. Robin Davidson was the artistic director, bringing together the eight characters the kids had proposed into a kazoo band. We used quite a broad range of building techniques and materials, many of which the kids hadn’t had experience with before. Six of the characters were on stilts, some on extension stilts.

The Evil Gardener and Mirrorman:

The Dude (based on the Warehouse Circus’ logo), followed by Mini Me and the Meat Pie:

Mini Me and one of the Tulips:

Video clip: Click picture below to see the Puppet Parade kazoo band in action:

Flickr photo gallery
Blog post: Warehouse Circus: Carnivale Puppet Parade at Floriade

Leafcutter ant

hil — Sun, 19 Mar 2006 02:21:39 +0000

Marquette for a large leafcutter ant sculpture (which never eventuated). It is 15cm long, made from wire, knead-it, and cardboard.

Blog post

Giant fruitbat

hil — Tue, 28 Feb 2006 02:29:04 +0000

A large Fruitbat character for roving entertainment, made for The Fool Factory. The Fool Factory designed and developed the articulated wing mech, skeleton and the head animatonics, which included eyes mechs from Studio Kite. I incorporated both into the overall making of the character. The wingspan is 6-7 metres, and he stands about 7 feet tall.

The head has a fibreglass shell protecting the animatronics and eye mechanisms, with a fur covering.

The Fool Factory’s pictures and quicktime.
Flickr photo gallery of the making process.
Blog posts: Fruit Batman, Plasticine model