Twig gets her name on the theatre! (a very exciting thing indeed)
Ok, so this was quite a poignant moment for me and Twig. We've been at this for a number of years and I must say I got a bit emotional as I attached the 'TWIG THEATRE' sign/lettering to the theatre/cart...

The inspiration for the lettering/font started with an event I was invited to last weekend, a "wellness" open house....they wanted something fun! So, I offered to set up a little demo table to share my puppets and talk about the creation process of Twig Theatre. Me in my little corner of the room! It was a great experience!
Getting ready for the event I painted the little sign you see with the white lettering .......

I looove this lettering. I found it on a deck of Tarot cards. I really like the white lettering with all the darkness of the theatre (dark wood , dark lanterns, leather etc)......it adds a snowy, lightness to it. It just goes together. So, it appears, Twig is ready for her lettering!

drew the letters out the right size...on wood of course. (scrap cherry wood John had available in the shop) Each letter will be cut out

This one will all be one piece....

cut out on the bandsaw

big TWIG letters sanded on an old school "bandsander"

Tricky here ....using a drill press to bore out all the wood in between the letters. Of course, originally I wanted to chisel everything out...I imagined it looking like an old handmade wood sign but alas I was told that would take a very long time(as I would soon see!). so, I took all the amazing shortsteps I had available and still was able to eventually achieve the old look I wanted.


moving down to a smaller bit to get in between spaces


ok, starting to do some chiseling. I like the circus feel of this picture with the red and yellow and the little circles at the top of the wood

then I got smart as I saw just how long that was taking- I got out the router and routed around each letter....yay!

A dremel with a nice round bit created a nice chiseled relief look....you can see on the left side of the sign . that was amazing....the transformation was a lot of fun. THis was day 3 I think. Hilarious, originally I thought it would only take me a coupla days to draw it all out and chisel it all away! Chiseling would have taken me weeks!



Here they are....a preliminary look on the theatre....a very exciting moment.

I put them close together to see how they are looking but imagine them farther apart like the last photo.

Then I went to work carving all the little 'dots' to go under the appropriate letters. I love it!
next step is to paint the letters white.....ok, I felt a little hesitant to paint the wood but did remind myself I could take it off if I didn't like it. I like the white so that it pops out amidst all the dark of the cart... want folks to be able to see it right away.

Here are the letters in white...I will probably do a wash over the letters so they are not SOO white. they will look a bit like old bone...with some dark in the cracks.

I also have to do the dots for the big TWIG letters- I AM having the sense that I like the wood lettering naked better....but am trusting that when it wll comes together the white will really work.
I will include some better photos next update....seeing the letting on the cart now inspires me to work on the border framing the letters....yes it will be a wood border....again, something Art Nouveau...a bit more curving and undulating than the brown paper you see here. Maybe I will chisel it.....:)
thanks for tuning in guys! Oh yeah found this coolio item at the local antique store....something from the 70's...looked to me like an old school clamshell light that you would see on an old theatre stage ....the audience sees the shell side and a light emanates from behind/under it- illuminating the stage! It was $3!!
must m...a..k..e m...o..r..e





















































































