For those of you who were not able to attend the Vent Haven Ventriloquist ConVENTion, there was a round-table seminar by the new group that was founded in 2018. The group is called the “Soft Sculpture Puppet Makers Guild”.
Founding members in attendance were (in alphabetical order) Barry Gordemer (Handimonium puppets), Mary Ann and Melissa Tayler (MAT puppets), and JET (The Dummy Shoppe). [Not present this year but also a founding member is Landon Harvey (The Original Dummy Company)]
A little background of the group is as follows. Each of the founding members have known the others for several years. There was never a sense of competition between them, rather there has always been a sense of respectful friendship between each of the people.
Each have always had their own style as makers and there has never been one who was dominant over the others. As each member began talking to the others, it was noticed that each had different experiences from the others and each had knowledge that the others might not have had in different areas of the craft.
It was understood that if they all could begin conversing with each other that each of the individuals would become stronger and more knowledgeable in their own right. Techniques could be shared between each member and all could benefit from the shared information. This first Round-Table meeting went on for about 90 minutes and the primary points of discussion focused on the origin of and evolution of the craft of Soft Sculpture making.
Each of the members looks forward to the continued cooperation with all of the group members. Each will continue with their own style of making but the industry itself will be made stronger with people working together.
That is all for now. There will be more from time to time.
Steve and JET