Nice Carnival’s huge dragon puppet

Posted by hil

dragonnice

(photo:  rafael rybczynski)

My interest was piqued by photo #32 in the Big Picture’s post about Carnival. It’s an impressive dragon puppet float that took to the streets in the Nice Carnival recently. I don’t know who made it, but there are resonances with Royal de Luxe’s giant puppets, for instance the carving of the head, elements of the construction and operation and the way it breathes smoke.

There are some photos at Flickr. In particular, Sparrowlight has a cool sequence of photos of the dragon, including a couple of short videos, here and here ; there is a shot of the puppeteers;  and debs-eye caught the dragon at rest (click to see enlarged):

dragonnice2

Messy

Posted by hil

Studio

This is what my studio looks like at the moment. I’m making a large dead manta ray out of polystyrene. I wish it wasn’t so messy and that I didn’t have to wear a respirator all day, but it works nicely.

Red

Posted by hil

Unusual Australian flowers at the markets today. I imagine they were specially there for Valentine’s day, though it’s not a big deal here.

Musee de la Poupee

Posted by hil

I made the mistake of expecting the Musee de la Poupee to be puppets, not an auspicious start; but I also found it quite depressing, especially since I’m not really a doll person. By the end, though, with ghastly gems such as these, I figured it had not been such a waste of time.

Oops!:

Oops!

What a little toughy:

Little toughy

Woof! Woof!:

Woof

Half-dog, half-lion, family fun (I like this one):

Grrr

I also liked a few others, like this felted one:

Doll

There are a few more at Flickr.

Light-sabre dummies

Posted by hil

Light-sabre dummies in Galeries Lafayette

These were some other dummies in the swimming apparel department in Galeries Lafayette in Paris, a whole row of them, bearing light-sabres.

Light-sabre dummies in Galeries Lafayette

Plastic dummies in Galeries Lafayette

Posted by hil

Plastic dummies in Galeries Lafayette

Galeries Lafayette in Paris has more dummies than you can poke a stick at. I liked these ones, made out of something like polypropylene sheeting snapped together. Maybe you could make interesting puppets with this construction?

Plastic dummies in Galeries Lafayette

Cine-Theatre Girondin

Posted by hil

Cine-Theatre Girondin, Bordeaux

I snapped this beautifully decorated facade of Cine-Theatre Girondin from the tram in Bordeaux. You can see it in more detail if you click on the largest size at Flickr.