The first project I would like to pursue is a set of stuffed animals, like a cast of characters. I am drawing inspiration from the stuffed animals that inspired Winnie the Pooh (and now live in the New York Public Library!). I am very interested in designing for children, and I would like to eventually make a children’s book or tv series.

The second project is an extension of the first. I would like to use my stuffed figures and create a short stop motion with them. For this, I will be creating environments for them to interact with. I am taking inspiration from programs like Sesame Street, Bear in the Big Blue House, and Yo Gabba Gabba in that I want the environment to enrich the character and the purpose. I would like to create the characters before the environment because I think homes are a direct reflection/portrait of ourselves. I can’t make a room for a character without understanding the character.

In my short film, I would like to explore representing queerness in children’s media. I recently came out as a lesbian and it has made me reflect on the lack of representation. It will also be in a way a love letter to this newly nourished part of myself.

The mediums I would like to explore for these projects are fabrics and embroidery, as well as clay and cardboard in the environments. The majority of my characters will be around 8-10 inches, I may play with creating some larger or smaller to have size variation. The environments would then be about 26 inches by 30 inches. I am aiming to dedicate 10 hours per week to my project. I’d like to spend the first three weeks on the characters, two weeks on the environment, and the remaining two weeks on producing the stop motion. I am hoping to keep within a budget of $50. I am planning on utilizing found objects/materials.

Above are my original sketches for character ideas. Below are more recent sketches for two protagonists. I also starting to create the puppets from fabric.