The Papercut Puppets shop on Etsy has now closed. I’d always considered the shop a time-limited side hustle, more of an experiment to see if I could sell some of my art in an easily reproducible and cost effective manner. I never wanted it to pull me away from my main art practice, though I did enjoy the simple pleasure of crafting weird little dolls and puppets between my bigger animation projects. Now that my concussion has healed and I’m able to work on the computer for longer hours, my studio hours are fully consumed with animated filmmaking.
It was lovely selling my puppets in the arts & crafts markets and I met so many interesting and creative shop owners. That’s the part I’ll miss.
I had the great pleasure of contributing some animation and artwork for the All The Haunts Be Ours Vol. 2 box set from Severin Films. One of my contributions included an animated title sequence for a featurette on the fantasy-horror Czech film The Ninth Heart (original title Deváté srdce, 1979), directed by Juraj Herz. This film boasts an animated title sequence by stop-motion maestro Jan Švankmajer and his wife and frequent collaborator, artist Eva Švankmajerová. Their title sequence used a top-down, 2D stop-motion technique with articulated paper puppets. According to what I could find on the Internet (there’s very little written on this hidden gem), Eva painted all the backgrounds while Jan did the animation. In addition to a credit for “visual effects”, Jan Švankmajer is credited as the “artistic collaborator”, which suggests his involvement in the design of the marionette puppets seen throughout the film. The title sequence and the marionettes are very much in a naïve, folk art style that one would expect from an independent travelling puppeteer (one of the main characters).
My title sequence adopts this folk art style and references both the Švankmajer animated title sequence, the marionettes, and also some of the main characters in the film.
The image below is a screen grab from the Švankmajer title sequence.
Time lapse video demonstrating how to build the NINTH HEART paper puppet theatre that I created for the ALL THE HAUNTS BE OURS VOL. 2 limited edition deluxe box set. Available from Severin Films.
Last summer, I had the great pleasure of contributing some animation and artwork for the All The Haunts Be Ours Vol. 2 box set from Severin Films. My contributions include a paper puppet theatre, and an animated title sequence for a featurette on the beautifully restored dark fantasy film The Ninth Heart, directed by Juraj Herz. This Czech film boasts an animated sequence by stop-motion maestro Jan Švankmajer and his wife and frequent collaborator, artist Eva Švankmajerová. Their title sequence used a top-down, 2D stop-motion technique with articulated paper puppets, a technique to which my sequence pays humble homage.
This box set looks INCREDIBLE. Many thanks to Kier-La Janisse for enlisting me in this dream commission.
Papercut Puppets will be a vendor at the upcoming Bazaar of the Bizarre. There’s lots to enjoy at this market including performers, DJs and lots of unique, hand-crafted clothes, art and crafts.
As some of you may know, I started my Etsy shop in 2019 as a side project, in part inspired by the paper cutout animations I was creating at the time. I had been making articulated paper puppets for my various film projects and, when I would bring my puppets into the classroom to share with my animation students, they would delight in them as art objects onto themselves. It occurred to me that there was a small market for such things, and thus Papercut Puppets was born.
Jump ahead five years, one pandemic and one concussion later, and I’ve decided to wind things down with my shop. There’s a few reasons for this:
It was only ever conceived as a side hustle with no plans to make it my full-time occupation. I’m happy being an art instructor and animator, and those pursuits will likely remain to be my main focus.
Some of the materials used to make my puppet kits — mainly, the coloured 3mm mini-brad paper fasteners — have all but disappeared from the market. The manufacturers from whom I’ve bought these have stopped selling them, and I’ve not found a comparable replacement.
I’ve run out of the printed bag toppers, cardboard backing boards, and printed promotional cards and have decided not to reorder, since that would mean another 2-3 year commitment.
In short, if you’ve enjoyed my quirky creations over the years, now is the time to purchase before they cease to exist. One of my popular designs, the mermaid, has now sold out and been retired. I have very limited quantities of other designs (the bat and octopus have less than 3 each).
Admission to the Bazaar of the Bizarre is free. April 27th, open to the public from 11am-8pm. Located in Parkdale Hall, 1605 Queen Street West. My Etsy shop is: https://papercutpuppets.etsy.com
Test of the title card composited with the star field background.
Now that the holidays have arrived, I’ve time to play around in my studio. I’ve recently begun work on a new animation project entitled The Music of the Spheres. If this title sounds familiar, it’s because it’s a very old concept dating back to ancient Greece and the mathematician Pythagoras. Known also as musica universalis, it’s “a philosophical concept that regards proportions in the movements of celestial bodies – the Sun, Moon, and planets – as a form of music. The theory, originating in ancient Greece, […] was later developed by 16th-century astronomer Johannes Kepler.” (from Wikipedia). Kepler discovered that the planets were exhibiting all of the ratios found in music, including octaves. They were, by their movements, mathematically expressing both major and minor musical scales.
The soundtrack is a gorgeous piece of music created by contemporary British experimental composer Suzie Shrubb entitled a tintinnabulation of cosmic scintillation. This piece is, quite literally, the music of the spheres. Here’s an excerpt from Shrubb’s statement: “The pitches in this piece correspond to those produced by pulsars from the 47 tucanae globular cluster situated in the region of the tucana constellation, approximately 16,000 light years from earth.” Needless to say, I was thrilled when Shrubb was excited about my film proposal and agreed to license her music as it’s simply perfect.
My plan is to shoot paper-based images on my lightbox using Dragonframe (a frame capture software) in the (probably vain) attempt to animate using light. The short clip seen above is a proof-of-concept test with the soundtrack. The title card disc is black card cut using my Silhouette Cameo 4 paper cutting machine, and the areas of colour are pieces of coloured acetate. I had mentioned in the recent past that I planned to return to my “stained glass style” used in my earlier drawings on Mylar, and this title card is one example of this re-engagement with my older work.
The star field was also created with cut paper, shot on my light box. I tried an entirely digital version of the star field in After Effects (which took minutes, rather than hours, to create), but I simply didn’t like the result. If an asset is not a tangible object at some point in the creative process, I lose all interest in it. Not certain if it’s apparent at this scale, but the stars do pulse at a regular, 1 second interval. I also plan to create frame-by-frame animation which will be printed on vellum and shot on the light box.
Papercut Puppets will be a vendor at Ghostwoodmarket on Friday, June 16th at 5 – 11 p.m. Lots of off-beat and unusual arts & crafts, clothings, etc., plus live music! Located at Parkdale Hall, 1605 Queen Street West, Toronto.
Above is an image of a few of the paper puppets and dolls that will be on offer at Villianous Valentines this weekend at Eldritch Theatrein the Leslieville neighbourhood of Toronto. This arts & crafts show will run February 4-5 from 11 a.m.- 6 p.m. Papercut Puppets will have a puppet bundle available at a discounted price only at the show. Will also have a small number of my zoetropes for sale.
Firstly, I’d like to wish everyone a Happy & Healthy New Year!
I have a brand new paper puppet to share with you all:
This is Wilfred the Wizard, a magical marmalade cat. While other wizards may apply their art of alchemy towards transmuting base metals into gold, Wilfred prefers to focus his arcane knowledge towards conjuring catnip and other treats.
Final size of puppet once assembled: 9″ H x 6″ W
Available as a digital download, a DIY puppet kit, and as a pre-assembled puppet.
I’m delighted to announce that my short animated film Wunderkammer will screen at the one-night only Beautiful & Bizarre Taxidermy Showcase happening in Brooklyn on October 29th. I can’t think of a more perfect pairing. Here’s the little blurb the event organizers wrote about my film:
What’s in the box? Madelaine’s cabinet of curiosities contained a collection of wonders to both delight and horrify. One day, a mysterious item in her cabinet captures her attention. A darkly-tinged fantasy that explores the erotic-grotesque. Intrigued? Find out more when we show Jennifer Linton’s short film, aptly titled, “Wunderkammer”! An official selection honoured at dozens of films festivals internationally, we are thrilled this independent animation, with richly textured paper cutouts and startling stop-motion, will welcome guests to our showcase! Tickets at https://bit.ly/2MwXwdm
Lady Lazarus 