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owlyshadowpuppets.etsy.com

owlyshadowpuppets.com

Andrea Everman is a Chicago artist who makes shadow puppets using her laser-cutter. She also teaches workshops on shadow puppetry.

The stories behind the designers are always what grabs me. Sure, I’m a visual person, so first I must like a designer’s work, but then I always ask for the story. This is where the fun begins with Owly Shadow Puppets.

Andrea worked at a model making shop in Chicago that had a laser-cutting machine. She was hired to make little trees and flowers and furniture, and she stuck around long enough to learn how to use the laser cutter. Boredom soon set in for Andrea, so she started to doodle to pass the time, soon her desk was filled with sketches. One evening she stayed late to see if she could make her own “drawing” in Autocad. She spent 2 hours trying to draw a Dinosaur on her computer. She cut it out and made the connection– “cool! I cut out my drawing!” and then “oh, wow, this is like a shadow puppet!” She showed them to her family and they helped her buy her own laser cutter.

Andrea likes to work with ink and brushes, because the black lines are so satisfying. She has a stack of big, cheap paper and she clears off her table and just draws. Sometimes none of her drawings are keepers, other times she makes something and loves it and tapes it to the wall.

“When I have an idea I pull out a card and draw it. The cards are all over my house–on my night table, my desk and in my shoulderbags. These little drawings help me filter out bad ideas, I guess, but they also are a form of therapy for me. Sometimes when I’m really overwhelmed I just stop what I’m doing and draw something to make myself happy, like a plan for the garden I hope to have someday. Theres no way I can have time for a garden right now, but when I draw it I can kind of posses it, and this soothes me.”

…I know where she is coming from with this, I too have little drawings and ideas everywhere. I think most creatives can relate.

“One of the most rewarding things about these puppets is hearing back from people who have bought them. Sometimes I hear from families that have put on their own shows– and its just lovely to think of them turning off the TV and spending time together like that, in the dark making shadows.”

When people ask Andrea what she does: “I always take a deep breath and start explaining. It usually starts with me saying: “I make shadow puppets–you know, shadow puppets?” And then, if they are really listening to me they usually say “huh?” and think I’m trying to be smart with them. But it’s the truth– I make and sell shadow puppets, and I’ve been doing it for about a year.”

I asked Andrea if the characters have a story…

“People always ask me about the puppet characters. They want to know what the story is behind them- like why is the yeti yelling? Does the tooth fairy have special powers, etc.? They do have stories to me, but I don’t have a show or anything that I perform with them. It’s more like I was sitting at my job drawing a tooth fairy on the sly, wondering what she would look like; and I drew her with molars on her skirt and a big beehive hairdo. That’s just the way she looks to me.”

see more of Andrea’s designs at owlyshadowpuppets.com