Puppetry is Living Artistry that Moves and Breathes Under the Master’s Touch

Long before Jim Henson came on the scene with his Muppets, I was putting on puppet shows for my parents. I used a box for a stage with fold down curtains so there was an “opening curtain” and the “closing finale.” A flashlight served as my stage light.

My colorful characters were drawn and colored on paper and then glued onto Popsicle sticks. I could remain hidden below the stage and pop-up my characters for their lines, which I spoke by distorting my voice when needed.

My indulgent parents listened to my made up stories and the retelling of fairy tales and applauded enthusiastically at the end. Years later, when my own daughter asked for a puppet theater, I was delighted. Ironically, today we’re both artists; she the graduate and me a self-taught tutored student learning by the seat of my pants.

Little did I know then that the things I did as a child foreshadowed my interest in the arts and my creative bent for writing script and creating character? Painting came later out of necessity and my abundant passion and imagination.

Today I am honoring the magnificent puppet master, the late Jim Henson, for the joy he brought to so many during his lifetime and his continued legacy. His career spanned several generations and his joy in creating unique and humorous characters made us all laugh.

JIM HENSON
 A Biography

Jim Henson— a television pioneer, an innovator in puppetry, technology and visual arts, and a performer—literally brought to life some of the most memorable characters ever—including the world’s most famous frog, Kermit. Henson’s impact on entertainment, education and culture continues to this day.

Born September 24, 1936 in Greenville, Mississippi, Henson spent his early years in Leland, Miss. Throughout his youth, Jim had an interest in art and, later, television. When he was in the fifth grade, the Henson family moved to Maryland. There he, often with his older brother Paul, experimented with a variety of artistic techniques—experiments which eventually led Henson to the very latest visual media, television.

In 1954, while still in high school, Henson began his television career performing puppets on a local Washington, DC Saturday morning program on WTOP-TV. The following year, as a freshman at the University of Maryland, he was given his own twice-daily, five-minute show, Sam and Friends, on the local NBC affiliate, WRC-TV. Henson along with his assistant, fellow University of Maryland student and future wife, Jane Nebel, introduced many Muppet mainstays—music, humor and innovative technical tricks (such as eliminating the puppet stage and using the television itself as the proscenium).

Perhaps most memorably, the show featured an early version of Kermit the Frog. The success of Sam and Friends led to guest appearances on such national network programs as The Steve Allen Show, The Jack Paar Show and The Today Show. Henson also began making hundreds of humorous commercials for sponsors throughout the country.

Having established a group of talented collaborators, he continued to pursue his career in puppetry and film making. Between 1964 and 1969, Jim produced several experimental films including the award-winning Time Piece, Youth ‘68, and The Cube. In 1969, Henson unveiled a family of characters to populate Sesame Street, the groundbreaking children’s show made for public television. These characters—Ernie and Bert, Oscar the Grouch, Grover, Cookie Monster and Big Bird among them—continue to entertain and educate today.

Sesame Street demonstrated the Muppets’ undeniable appeal to children, but Henson strongly believed these characters could entertain a much wider family audience. After years of trying to sell the idea for The Muppet Show in the U.S., Henson finally received backing from a London-based television producer, Lord Lew Grade. In 1975 production began, and in 1976 the world was introduced to a new family of unforgettable characters, such as Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, The Great Gonzo and Rizzo the Rat, among others.

Hosted by Kermit the Frog, and accompanied by the musical meanderings of Doctor Teeth and the Electric Mayhem Band, the Muppets were joined each week by an international pantheon of guest stars, from Gene Kelly and Rudolph Nureyev to Steve Martin and John Cleese. The success of The Muppet Show led to Hollywood, where the Muppets starred in six feature films: The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper, The Muppets Take Manhattan, The Muppet Christmas Carol, Muppet Treasure Island and Muppets From Space.

During the 1980s, in addition to making Muppet movies, Henson brought two remarkably original fantasy films to the big screen, The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth. These films challenged Henson to create new kinds of three-dimensional characters with advanced movement abilities. The multi-talented staff that helped create these two films formed the basis for what is now known as Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, and it continues to set industry standards in animatronics, performance and performance technology. His accomplishments don’t end there, but my words must.

On May 16, 1990, after a brief illness, Jim Henson died in New York City. With his keen ability for drawing together a strong team of performers, artists, and collaborators who shared his vision and creativity, Henson ensured that his work and unique creative vision would continue. Through The Jim Henson Company, his work continues to captivate and entertain a global audience.

My teenage sons idolized Emerson, Lake and Palmer’s version of “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Here is the Muppet’s version. Fantastic!

Make your Voice Heard -- Vote your Conscience!

"Looking Outward" 16x20 acrylic canvas; Old window frame, painting on glass = 3-D experience!

“It’s all about perception.”  This statement has become a political strategy. The meaning is clear: “It doesn’t matter who you are or what you stand for; what matters is what other people think you stand for and how you are perceived.”

In other words, if you can pull the wool over people’s eyes some of the time, you may just fool them into voting for you. After the election, all bets are off!

Unfortunately, this has become the norm in politics making our decisions at the polls more difficult than they have ever been before. Politicians say one thing and do another. There is inconsistency between their behavior and their words; but there’s one little secret they won’t tell you. If you examine their record, you can see exactly how they vote in Congress, what legislation they support and whom they side with. Those are the facts they can’t hide from.

Perception colors our choices and our responses to other people. The words people use to communicate are linked to past experiences. Two people may use the same word, but have an entirely different meaning attached to it. Relationships, environment, and family influence determine how we see the world and how we communicate with each other.

"Sea Swirls" acrylic drawing, work-in-progress (3rd in my Seaside Series)

The best way to illustrate the power of perception is taken from a familiar story by John Maxwell in  Developing the Leader Within You.

“After World War II, a general and his young lieutenant boarded a train in England. The only seats left were across from a beautiful young lady and her grandmother. The general and the lieutenant sat facing the women. As the train pulled out, it went through a long tunnel.

"For about ten seconds, there was total darkness. In the silence of the moment, those on the train heard two things — a kiss and a slap. Everyone on the train had his or her own perception of what happened.

“The young lady thought to herself, I’m flattered that the lieutenant kissed me, but I’m terribly embarrassed that Grandmother hit him!

“The Grandmother thought, I’m aggravated that the young man kissed my granddaughter, but I’m proud she had the courage to retaliate!

“The general sat there, thinking to himself, My lieutenant showed a lot of guts in kissing that girl, but why did she slap me by mistake?

“The lieutenant was the only one on the train who knew what really happened. In that brief moment of darkness, he had the opportunity to kiss a pretty girl and slap his general.”

"Sea Swirls" acrylic on canvas; 2nd work-in-progress (It's all about layering)

Another interesting story comes from http://Sulekha.com (Delhi)

“One day a man opened the garage door, which startled a large butterfly. It flew immediately to its perceived escape, the circle-topped window where it frantically tried to exit through the invisible wall of closed glass.

“The man raised the third-car garage door in hopes of aiding its escape. This caused the butterfly to fly higher and higher and become entangled in a spider web.

“Fearful that it would remain entangled in the web, the man selected a long-handled broom to assist him escaping the tangled threads.

 “At this, the butterfly returned to furiously pumping his wings and banging into the glass, which was, in his perspective, the pathway of escape, but remained his cage.

Success Principle

 “By simply turning his focus to one side, the butterfly would have easily exited his prison. Rather, due to his intent on one direction, he remained confined, captive.

“Every day in our lives we focus on one side of the problem, not looking at it from others points of view. If there is any one secret of success, it lies in the ability to get the other person's point of view and see things from that person's angle as well as from your own.”

This is true in life and in many other endeavors at work or at play. When we create we never know how our work is perceived? People view it from the vantage point of their own experience. What may seem beautiful or interesting to the artist may trigger something entirely different in someone else.

"Sea Breeze" acrylic on 30x24 canvas; First in my Seaside Series

This is why juried competition is often frustrating on many levels. The judges see the canvas from his or her past learning experiences and their personal expertise and vision. The artist creates from his own internal perceptions. Each has a different perspective on what they see. A determination is made, but it is more subjective than objective. 

The best an artist can do is to keep painting from his or her own passion and life experiences until others share the joy and excitement the artist felt at creation.