Clowns and Puppets - Are We This?

Bubblegum and aspirations

When I was a kid, I received an allowance - some few dollars a week for house chores, which began at the age of about 7, and I discovered I could get a good return on my money buying Bazooka bubblegum (oh those were the days).

We lived in England at the time when my favorite thing to do was to take my allowance to the little shop downtown where they would sell me 60 pieces of bubblegum for 60 cents/pence. I'd come home with a little crinkly brown paper bag chock a block full of bubblegum, not only for me to enjoy, but also to share with my friends at school. We enjoyed the comics (in those days each piece of bubblegum came with a miniature comic) almost as much as the gum itself. Blowing the biggest bubble was an ongoing competition between us. I did well, but suffered pink goo all over my cheeks and sometimes in my hair in the attempts. This little picture I did is an attempt to express the effort of just plain going for it - which has been one of the guiding features of my life. Take the risk, even though it may prove a bit sticky ; )

Just rockin'

During that time I was very close with my sister, and one of the games we played was the Rockin' Game. Each person would sit on the other person's feet and hold the other person's shoulders for balance. In this position you could rock back and forth like a personal teeter totter anytime, anywhere, which of course resulted in major giggles with some falling over and having to start again. We did this countless times while we were growing up.

The quick little drawing above, done years ago, depicts the connection and conviviality of child games. The figures are  depicted in the image of the heyoka, the American Indian teacher who brings lessons through laughter. I will probably eventually make a more professional painterly depiction of it, but the quick drawing will do for now. Did you ever do this as a kid? Or even as a grownup? If not, definitely try it, it's crazy silly fun and brings much laughter.

The optometrist

So while we're on the subject of humor, I'll include a little cartoon I created which conveys my take on the optometrist. Self explanatory. It just hits my funnybone.

And then there's this...ah sports....
.

OOF!

Yes, the hazards of tennis. We appreciate the helpfulness of our tennis partners more than we can say.

So I did go into a bit of a puppet clown phase, which is ongoing, especially after attending some Cirque shows, which are awesome. (If you've never attended one, I highly recommend it, they're totally awesome!)

The clowns I did years ago were full of puppet magic, in that we can manipulate a puppet...or we can be the puppet that is manipulated....it's up to us which way that goes.

My Puppet

Black and white rendition with symmetry -

Black and white puppets with some symmetry

Colored puppets and their magic carpet

The puppets depicted here are on their magic carpet ride, having loosed their strings, they're floating free.

Sharing a bit of humor, hope it brings you a chuckle or two : )

Namaste
Jen