Ashley Cecil

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7″ x 9″ watercolor, $70 ($10 donated to the Squallis Puppeteers)

See all paintings available for sale.

I tend to gravitate towards organizations that focus on dense issues, often overlooking those with a lighter touch. Let me correct that by sharing with you my New Year’s Eve experience. I was a bit perplexed by the invitation for the Squallis Puppeteers‘ “Monstruppets” performance. I wasn’t sure if I would be attending a Halloween thriller or a New Year’s Eve bash. What I ended up going to was a hybrid of the two holiday celebrations.

The nonprofit, powered by volunteer puppet enthusiast, put on a side-splitting display of antics for a crowd spilling into the stairwell (I was lucky enough to find a mushroom stool to sit on, which was next to the church pew). The puppeteers, dressed like bandits in black, brought their colorful creations to life to comically scare their audience into 2007.

Events such as this are really fueled by a pure interest in having fun, not saving the world. Although, the Squallis Puppeteers are finding no lack of opportunities to integrate their creative hobby into a useful tool for theatre education and other community engagements. When they’re not entertaining themselves by crafting larger than life creatures with hot glue guns and building materials, they visit schools, churches, the local zoo, Bernheim Forest, and other local venues. Their ever-growing presence brings shock, awe, and smiles to every event they attend or host. It was a great way to spend my last night of 2006!

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