Newest puppet

Here's one of the latest puppets that I made today. Yes, he's still naked and his body is hollow (no foam shell added yet). I did him as a muppet style puppet, with the entrance from the bottom, and only half body (legless). He is one of several the I'm making in order to sell, but this one's made from felt material whereas the others are going to be full body and made from fleece. I had some extra time so I just decided to hand sew this one today instead of using the machine (sometimes that can be quite relaxing).

Anyway, I said that I would share the pics so here they are. Thanks for looking!

Eddie's hair update

Here are the updated pics of Eddie's new hair, which looks much better than the previous wig.

Say hello to Eddie

I finally finished with the last details and have Eddie painted and everything's working the way that it should be. I do plan on getting another wig for him, though, as this one just isn't cutting it, even though I have. The wig just wasn't shaped correctly for use the way that I want it to look, but it will have to do for now.

So thanks for looking, everyone, and thanks for asking to see the pics of his progress. If anyone wants him to appear for any party, be sure to drop me an email.

I make my own friends

So this is just an update, as requested by a couple of my friends, to show the progress of my latest "construction" project, in which I made a friend whose name is Eddie.

The base of the head is a urethane cast from a sculpture, and the pics are showing the almost finished product with some of the sculpting medium still a bit wet and unsanded before the final painting is done.
The piece of paper that is sticking out from under the chin is actually just to hold the jaw in place while the epoxy sets up inside, as I have not installed any of the spring mechanisms for the mechanics yet. And, if you haven't already guessed, this is the head for a ventriloquist figure.

Here is another view from the side with the trapdoor not yet installed in the back.


And now for some of the internal mechanics that I constructed in order to hold it all in place.



And finally, the realistic eyes (what usually creeps people out about ventriloquist figures) as well as a closer view of the mouth (which I have already painted).

More sad news

Literally, just a few short hours after my last post, I was told that my grandmother had passed away. She had been battling strokes and heart attacks for the past several years and her health had been steadily declining. She would have been 93 years old this May and I will miss her beyond what words can explain.

I fail to understand this strange concept that I have had with her death since I was a child. I never really knew how I would be able to face it once it actually happened, and well, here I am, and it has happened. She was indeed a second mother to me and even called me son.

I used to wake up as a child having had nightmares of her dying and would make my mom call her when we were living in California, just to make sure that she was okay. It always seemed to be a constant fear and preoccupation with me that I would lose her somehow, and I'm not really sure why I even felt that way because her and my mother were the two people that were always by my side no matter what happened in my life.

When my ex-wife Adrienne and I were still together, her grandmother in Texas died. I had just barely even known her, but I remember driving down the interstate and thinking about how she must feel, and how I would feel if that were my grandmother, and the sense of loss, and I started to cry at the mere thought of such a loss. Now it has finally happened, and the tears seem as though they will never stop, even after all of these years of "practice" for the time when the real thing would come.

Every time a patient that I would take care of in the nursing home would die, I would always think to myself how she was a grandmother to someone, or a mother, and how she should be treated as such, as someone's mother. Essentially that is what Buddhism teaches, to consider everyone and everything that lives as having once been your mother, and to treat them with that respect.

It was very difficult for me to not let this be an emotional upset tonight when I was at the center doing my ngondro practice, and after having discussed it with my mom earlier, I also honestly do not think that I can bear to attend her funeral. My grief is such that I think I would not be able to contain myself or to handle my emotions and would just be more of an upset to all those around me if I were to attend. I know that this would in no way be a disrespect to her, as she knew that I loved her like a second mother and will miss her all the rest of the days of my life.