The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

workshops Adults Can Have Fun with Puppets Too h\ Marjonc Woods 1 can'crememberexactly when 1 lirsi started to see eyes and mouths on inanimate objects. Perhaps it was when my youngest son and I started to have conversations via the syrup dispenser and the butter dish, using their movable pans as mourns. From here on in, we made some exciting discoveries, rinding other "characters" around the house and working them into an amusing puppet play. While my son's interest waned as he grew up. mine did not. Over the past 20 years, I have transformed just about everything from leaves to teapots into working puppets. Of my "recycling" abilities, my husband has been known to comment that "it doesn't pay to stand still in this house." 1 have done many puppetry workshops for children and teachers, but. given my positive experience with my own kids, decided to develop workshops specifically for parents. 1 wanted to help them teach their children, and have fun at the same time. I find that puppetry is an ideal medium for this. The format of my "Puppetry and Storytelling Workshops for Parents & Teachers of Young Children" is as follows: · Introduction to a variety of puppets made from found objects, with a demonstration of how they can perform. · Introduction to various ways puppets can be used with stories; making a soft toy work as a puppet. · Hands-on puppet-making, storting with a faceless sock puppet (faceless because the actions and emotions are portrayed by body language). · A few minutes of discovering what the puppet can do leads to small group work, after brainstorming ideas for characters and locations and problem· After this, puppets are made from a variety of materials. At least 20 sample puppets arc on display. As I mentioned earlier, my interest in puppetry began when my children were young. Wc started with cardboard cutouts on sticks; later 1 experimented with papier mache and other materials. I became a member of the Vancouver Guild of Puppetry and attended workshops and shows which are part of the yearly Puppeteers of America Festivals, held mainly in the United States. their teens, when, with a couple of friend*, they decided to do puppet shows for birthday panics. This continued until they fell it was no longer "cool."' The Theatre was put on hold, only to be brought briefly to life again a few years ago with a production of The Frog Prince, a show owned by the Vancouver Guild of Puppetry. After a very successful run. wc all went our separate ways again. Now we arc back at it and hope that this time the North Shore Puppetry Theatre is here to stay. {Who's in Rabbit's House will be performed at the Vancouver Puppetry Extravaganza on May 22nd--see the Arts Calendar for details.) If anyone is interested in joining forces with us, it would be a good opportunity to get involved in puppetry. Wc ore looking for puppeteers (some theatre experience would help, but we will train), people who have other skills in sound, lighting, music, small stage sets and props, puppet-making, etc. If you'd like to find out more, phone me at 987-3725. The next Puppetry and Storytelling Workshop will be held on May 19th, from 7-10 pm. More are slated for the fall Call Marjorie for details. I have given classroom workshops for the Vancouver School Board and at a number of other locations, including U.B.C. One of my most exciting opportunities came when I was invited to perform with my wacky puppets at Expo '86.1 also worked as a puppeteer for 6 years with Kids on the Block, a program aimed at developing positive attitudes toward the mentally and physically challenged. This world-wide program, which originated in the U.S., travels to schools all over B .C. At present 1 am involved, with several other people, in a production of Who's in Rabbits House? With this venture, the North Shore Puppetry Theatre is poised to make a comeback. It was originally formed 15 years ago when my children were in terms Gouache Demystified by Pamela Scott "What is this 'gawosh?' " people ask me. They seem puzzled; even the name escapes them. Gouache is not by any means a new fad. It was documented as early as the 15th century, when one Italian painter, writing to another with the latest thrilling news about putting walnut oil with the pigment, urges the first to "come, let us leave the ·guazzo' to the Flemings, wc will paint With gouache, the pigment is thickened with the addition of syrup, gum, blanc fixe and ox-gall--all the same ingredients used in walercolour paints but in different proportions. Often white paint is also added. The suppon of a coloured paper or museum board mokes a pleasant underpainting. Because its excellent light-reflecting quality allows it to photograph well, gouache is frequently used by commercial artists. For die fine arts, the paints must be selected with care in order to ensure colour fastness and the longevity of the work. Obviously, some gouache paints are as stable as oil and acrylic paints, others just as fugitive, for they are made from similar pigments. In fact, painting in gouache is more like painting in oils-- with the addition of water--than it is like painting in watcrcolours. professional painting. Then, two decades later, watcrcolours became all the rage in the United States and elsewhere, and as time went on they became more and more common. I myself have lived with and loved gouache as my personal medium, finding its variations infinite. Now, in recent years, 1 have noticed that a few other painters are beginning to use this painting system. Pamela Scott is a North Vancouver artist and teacher who was one of the finalists at the recent Images & Objects XI exhibit with her painting, A Driftwood Garden. If you'd like to learn more about gouache, Pamela will be teaching a course on the subject at the West Vancouver Seniors Centre in the fall. Simply put. gouache is a water-based paint layer, a light-reflecting thickness of paint unlike traditional walercolour, which is a washing over of thin glazes of coloured pigment with some additions, suspended in water, and then used on white paper, with the paper itself providing passages of white. . M.y/Juac 1993