New Puppets!

Hello again folks!

So this past weekend i have the opportunity to see loads of great puppet characters which had been made by Phil from the Gluvets. You may have watched some of the videos of our meet-up which was a blast (as our American cousins would say).

I have not finished anything from the weekend yet - in fact i have just called the sewing machine repair man to get a quote for fixing my sewing machine. However as soon as that is fixed i will be posting pics of the new characters. One will be a wolf (that's an exclusive... you heard it here first) and the other i have only just started so even i don't know what it is yet!

Seeing loads of different characters opened up my mind's eye creatively and has really made me think about making characters i would have possibly not considered before. Hopefully you will see this reflected in the next few characters that i produce. As for now take a look at the many different characters that were on display this weekend. Some you will have seen before on my videos but many of them you will not.

All the best - Dave

Wonders in the workshop

This past weekend we have played host to our good friend Phil from the Gluvets. Phil is an expert puppeteer and puppet builder, and this was a wonderful oppurtunity to meet up and exchange ideas. Over the course of the weekend we worked on a brand new puppet project which you can see very soon. This puppet will be finished off shortly - as soon as the sewing machine recovers from its over active weekend!

One of my personal highlights of the weekend was getting to "meet" some of Phils great charaters. Here you can see me with a brilliant dragon puppet Phil made recently. I think you will agree that the character is very special!

I was also pleased to introduce Phil to Pierre and the crex81 crew. On the left you can see Phil meeting Moony for the first time. Phil and I made a couple of videos with Pierre and Lab Rat, but as i spent most of the time laughing it's hard to know how much of them will be useable. We did however get plenty of great photos which will doubtless find their way onto the Hellyer's myspace and The Gluvets' myspace.

Keep your eyes open over the next week or so as I try and get the best pics and videos online. Also there will be a brand new character getting a crex81 debut as soon as he is completed.

In the mean time check out this timelapse from the workshop. You can tell by the work - joke ratio that it was a productive, but very funny weekend!

All the best - Dave

it's picking up!

You know when you've been waiting for something for so long you're not sure what you're really waiting for? I'm reliably informed by tradition that "it is better to travel in anticipation than to arrive"... I'm not convinced!

Last week I had two really important meetings for the immediate future of HPW. Firstly after a meeting with One Way UK I am 99% certain that by the new year i will have my first puppet design in commercial reproduction. It's crazy, that's taken 2 years of hard work and its so close to becoming a reality i am getting nervous.

Also I met with Vivid Broadcast who host my official website. They're a great bunch of guys who really are switched on... they're going to re-launch the HPW website to improve the links between the main website and the various social network sites (as well as sites like this). If you look long and hard you may be able to spot me in some of the promo videos or pics on their site.

So two years after the initial concept by Christmas HPW will have puppets in production as well a professional website and lots of hope for the future.

On a personal note i went to London at the weekend to meet up with Phil Fletcher from the Gluvets. Phil is a great puppeteer and all round good bloke.
Thanks for your support

Dave