Online Puppet Making Course

Through online books and videos learn how to sculpt a clay head, hands and feet 

and make a puppet body and cross from wood.

Course material includes basic and more advanced puppet making; 

paint instructions and clothing advise. ***

See my website for further details and to sign up.

€47.50 for access to full course, or buy one segment at the time (from €7.50).

In addition, online support can be purchased. 

 Sign up here 

'The Girls' by Corina Duyn
Waiting for their jackets to be made.

This is how I got to sharing my puppet making course with people all over the world. Join in?

Born in the Netherlands in the early 60’s, I made tiny dolls clothes on a hand-singer-sewing machine since I was about 7. I still have some of these clothes, and the fabric doll I made with my aunt when I was ten.

To make my first puppet at age 15, I followed the instructions in ‘Karakterpoppen’ (Character dolls) by Jeannette Hildersley, published in 1974. I was hooked. I borrowed several doll making books from the library, and purchased many others over the following decades. I followed a short course and private module with amazing Dutch Doll Artist Marlaine Verhelst in the ’90. Other than that all my work has been self-taught.

The work I create now is a compilation of all these experiences and explorations. Mixing and matching the techniques I learned, and adapted to my needs. Life’s circumstances have certainly played a roll too. I moved to Ireland in 1989. During the ‘90 I created ‘Fantasy Folk’ Artist Dolls, very much inpired by culture and nature of Ireland. As it was my living, some dolls/puppets were a design range, although still all original pieces.

I also did some teaching in my studio and in a group home for young people during 1997/8. There I realized the power of the arts, of creating dolls and puppets. I realized that ‘the clay would not lie’. That our emotions, thoughts, desires, fears, make their way from our brains, through our hands and into our work. This experience was a pivotal moment in my own creative development and subsequent work.

Illness changed my life

Becoming ill in 1998 changed the output, design and intensity of my work. (You can see some of the created art  and books on my website). During the early years of learning to live with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (M.E.), I was unable to sculpt as I had lost the ability to hold tools, or have the energy to hold my arms up. As I spend many years housebound - my world became small. However, this gave me the opportunity to closely observe the birds. Nature became my teacher and made its way into my creations.

Illness and resulting disability dictated the method by which I could sculpt again many years later. I adapted tools, and found new ways to work. Mostly twenty minutes at the time. But small segments of time still result in finished work. It just all takes a little longer…

Life Outside the Box

During 2015/6 I was well enough to teach again. I facilitated a puppet-making project with other people with disabilities. Over the period of about 8 months we created nine puppets stepping out of the Disability Box. We created a short film: ‘Life Outside the Box’. We all had support staff. Without this practical support I could not teach. 

This project let to invitations to give talks about Puppetry, Disability and Health in Ireland, UK, and via Skype in Brazil and Chile. Life altering experiences.

The year after facilitating ‘Life Outside the Box’, I started teaching in my studio which is in the lovey garden. The benefits were plenty: I could set up the workspace a day in advance, and three students could continue to work in my studio when I needed to go inside to rest. It was a good compromise. I could still teach, although with a much smaller group. I loved seeing the puppets evolve: each telling their own stories. 
Making puppets remains a wondrous journey of discovery.

Corina with student Lorraine Shanhan's puppet
Fagitti, trying out her hairstyle. 

Online teaching

During one of these courses I was communicating with Linda Crowhurst, a woman living with severe M.E. for 25 years. Her husband Greg is her fulltime carer. Both amazing advocates for our illness. During one communication, Linda expressed in passing that Greg would love to make a puppet. I wrote: “There is always a way”. This was the start of creating my distant learning puppet making course.

Some of the material you will explore was initially created for Greg, who made ‘Johnny Toes’. The course as you see it now, has been created in response to questions from my students as I went along. It explores basic sculpting, and more advanced techniques.

Stepping back, or reaching out

Last year my ability to teach even a small group in my studio became impossible. Over the course of a year, while teaching a few people via distant learning in Ireland, Scotland and India, I created more instruction films and documented all stages of puppet making through photos and written instructions.

But even these fully guided distant learning courses are now beyond my physical ability. Feeling a sadness to have all that work hidden on my computer, I decided to release them out of obscurity and share them with interested creatives. 

Book your course HERE 

It brings me joy to think that people all over the world can taste a little of the magic which is making puppets (or dolls). As much as I am happy to share my work, I hope that it is respected that these instructions are for those who paid for access. 

All funds raised through my course will pay for a Creative PA (Personal Assistance) to help me to still be able to create, although at yet again in a new way.

At present (autumn 2019) I continue to write a script and design props for a puppet film with the working title ‘Invisible Octopus’. More about this in a later blog. This was made possible through an Arts & Disability Ireland ‘Connect’ mentoring bursary with Dr. Emma Fisher. The bursary has also funded Creative PA support for the duration of the bursary. I would not be able to create any of my work without the help of able hands…

Please explore my website/blog and social media pages to read about my work, see imagery, watch puppet movies, learn about my illness and the associating challenges, explore my books, or read transcripts of my talks, or to see where the puppet movie script will bring me in time to come.

I hope to be able to welcome on board to explore the joys of puppet making for yourself.

Corina

Social media links:

Website 

Facebook art page 

Youtube videos (not tuition ones)

Instagram 

Twitter

Life Outside the Box 

*** This course material was created by Corina Duyn and draws on four decades of experience. It is for your personal use only. Please do not share this course content with people who have not paid for it. If you intent to follow this course in a group, please get in touch as I can offer discounted rates. Licenses are available for institutions, colleges, etc. Please note that having followed this course does not mean you can teach this course using my material. Please contact me if you have questions.*** 

Thank you for your understanding.

Letting go of the old - making room for the new

 I am tidying my studio.

'Crying Crow' - 'On the right path' - detail

Space clearing is of course not just for 'actually clearing space'.
It is about reconnecting with the 'old',
and preparing for what is to come.

Over the past few weeks I have made great progress. Ten minutes at the time. The last bits, the boxes a bit higher up will be done in the coming week, with the help of my summer-creative-support.

Space clearing also involved letting go of some of my sculptures and tapestries. Most are now being fostered by loving new minders. That is the evolution of creative work.

A lot of pieces just need to be in my space until I am ready to move on.
'Crying Crow' - 'On the right path' is one such piece.

'Crying Crow' - 'On the right path'
85-65 cm

It hangs in my studio, but I think it is time to let it go and make space for my new Butterfly Puppet. A collaborative project with Artist friend Spark Deeley . I created the head and body of the butterfly - Spark painted these incredibly beautiful silk wings.
The head is about 10 cm, so overall quite a big piece.
It can be held and moved by the stick on the back of the head. It is still a work in progress.

Butterfly puppet- still a work in progress.
Collaboration between Corina Duyn and Spark Deeley

Anyway, back to 'Crying Crow'  - ' On the right course'.

"Crying Crow was a painting I made in 2003. I was very ill, and found myself in a dark place. 

Birds were my inspiration to survive. I wanted to fly into the light again.

I literally crawled out of my bed to paint the dark background on this A2 sheet of wood.

Back to bed for a rest.

Hours later, or maybe the next day, I painted to colourful vortex. A few days later the crow.

I called it 'Crying Crow'.

Liam Murphy wrote in his review of Hatched, in the Munster Express (2006)  "... The paintings in this book are beautiful, like CRYING CROW as a dark bird soars hopefully into the glowing red vortex with the caption  Pain - ting."...

Exactly ten years later, this lonely crow became part of a larger flock again.

I started college  one night a week. A HUGE undertaking, but the Disability Studies course did change the direction of my creative work and my life. 

One of my fellow students brought a bag full of lichen covered twigs one day for my art.

As it turned out that these twigs came from ancient trees at the grounds of Monastery and great flock of crows gathered on these trees at night.

I was on the right course.

Now, I think it is time to move on again. To let it go. To make room for the next flight.

A new era of puppetry has commenced. New work has to be created. And new people to teach.

If you are interested to own 'Crying Crow' - 'On the right path',  please contact me.

This painting/3D work can not really be posted, so needs to be collected.

Any reasonable offer accepted.

Further reading/viewing

• My creative story and puppet making was featured on Irish National Television RTE Nationwide. Scroll to 16 minutes into the program.
• If you are interested in a Puppet Making Course, please contact me and I will forward course details. One course starting end of June, the next in August.
• Review mentioned above:

Two puppets, made by my students, portraying huge individuality.

Well, Louise and Pascale finished their puppets!

(Jackie, was unable to join us, so images of her puppet later).

Dedication!

The two puppet makers were in my studio for over 6 hours,

to work on the final stages of their puppets.

Adding hair, hat, paint, strings, and hang on crosses.

Both these puppets came together in the end through team effort.

Beautiful.

I was in the studio on and off, and felt like a proud "Granny"

to see both puppets being walked into my house.

Their first steps into our world.

The finished puppets by
Louise Clarke and Pascale De Coninck

Both will add more to their work.

Louise's tree-lady, will be accompanied by a tree, of which the branches will move the puppet. Hopefully another collaboration with artist Dominic Fee.

Pascale's Puppet will be holding - and using- a bow and arrow. The mechanism to make this work, will have to be figured out after the bow and arrow are made.

But for now, these puppets are sharing their beauty, their individuality with us all.

What an amazing journey it was!

Thank you Louise, Pascale and Jackie for allowing me to be your guide.

I will write another post when the puppets are fully finished, as well as updates on Jackie's and Greg's Puppets. 

The distant learning class is continuing, and alway open to new students. Contact me to hear more about this. And the next studio class is starting at the end of November. Fully booked, but if you are interested in a course during 2018. Please contact me.

So beautiful!

Proud Mammies

Final touches

Beauty does not come without pain...

This is how my studio looked when I left for a rest

My amazing students cleared up the studio
after finishing their class. What a lovely surprise.

Both proud mammies brought in their 'newborns'
(as Anne Palmer called them.
Anne made a Japanese Dancer in my studio)
to show me, while I rested on the couch.

On another exciting note:

• The Life Outside the Box puppet film will be screened at the Together! Festival of Disability Arts in London on the 9th December. Read about it HERE
• And I have been invited to give a talk, and be part of a panel about puppetry, disability and health, at the Nottingham Puppetry Festival, in March of next year. And at the Puppet Power festival in Calgary, Canada in June.  Who knows!

The IWA and the start of the Puppet Project

One of the puppets- created by Ann

I have been a member of the Wheelchair Association (IWA) for maybe fifteen years. During this time I have written for their Spokeout Magazine, been the lucky recipient of a writing and an art award, but it took me till 2012/13 to become an active member. 

It started with being invited to join the outreach program, which I wrote about here in their Spokeout magazine. Outreach gave me the opportunity to have a day out of my choice supported by IWA staff. One of the things I found challenging was that the wheelchair bus has HUGE lettering on it, proclaiming that whomever is on the bus has a disability. A little more discretion would be lovely... But I got used to it. You get used to anything.

In 2014 I was asked to come along on a holiday to Killarney. To be perfectly honest, it took a lot of persuasion to get me to agree. I did agree. Last minute. When somebody canceled. I found it a rather big step to go. I didn't know any of the members. Did my life really come to a point that I needed a supported holiday? After initial years of being mostly housebound, I had gained great independence over the years, but that had slipped away from me again.  After taking many deep breaths on the bus, I decided to take it all in my stride. And... I had a wonderful time! Met some great new people. We had a great laugh. New friendships were made. 

Aerial (detail) © Corina Duyn 2014

Summer 2014 I was asked (again) to join the resource centre once a week. I gave it a try. I actually looked forward to get to know my new friends a bit better. I had become more dependent on support to be able to leave the house, so a once a week trip out could be very good for me.

As there is staff to support us, I took clay with me to be able to make one of my sculptures. (I was having more difficulties with rolling clay, so having the support to do this was great.)

I made Aerial there. The sculpture developed into something different than I had set out. The people I met, the materials that were around all influenced the final outcome.

A very interesting experience.

As there was quite a bit of interest in my work, I was asked in early 2015 if I could ‘by any chance’ facilitate the creation of a series of puppets and a puppet show with the other members? 

Being awarded the Create - Artist in the Community Scheme, funded by the Arts Council of Ireland, in May of 2015 made this happen. 

Our group consists of about ten members between the ages of 27 to 73. We are living with limited/partial mobility, congenital physical
disabilities, chronic illness, or acquired brain injuries. Most of these conditions are impacting on our finer motor skills. So quite a challenge to sculpt detailed faces etc... But together we found ways around them.
I am immensely proud of what fellow members have achieved.

We met every Monday to work on the puppets. Starting with a stick and a strip of cotton, we made the bases for the heads. Over the following six months the puppets took on their ultimate personalities. We now have nine puppets, a large box, a big hand, a book about the project in the making, and a short film to be shot in a few weeks time. 

The fun we had doing this project, I will never forget. We laughed so hard. And the enthusiasm and hunger for exploring the next step of the process never ceased. 

I am deeply humbled by the experience. 

We all had IWA staff to support us in whatever way necessary, including myself. It would be too great a challenge for me to bring a project of this scale into the world on my own. The IWA setting has given me the courage to go back to teaching.

I will tell you more about the fun we had; share more images of the work we created;  tell you about the film, the book, the upcoming exhibition, but for now, here are a few snapshots from the past few months.

Start of the Puppet Project 

Start of the Puppet Project 

Start of the Puppet Project 

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