Cordell

I received a letter from one of my customers and thought I would share it.

Hello Steve,
How are you? Thanks very much for the great vent figure! He has become quite the character. He is liked by young and old but to some, a little scary. Once they get to know him, they seem to be more comfortable around him. Cordell got a chance to sing "Oh Canada" over the internet to a family in Japan by webcam.
Cordell and I are getting better by the day. My son Christian will sometimes talk to Cordell about things he will not tell me for fear of getting in trouble. When Cordell tells Christian what he is doing is bad, Christian listens and usually no more problems.This little trick his Mom and I find helpful in taching Christian right from wrong when he won't listen to us.Hope your wife is feeling better. She is in our prayers. Talk to you later,
Corey
Thanks for the letter Corey, as well as the prayers. Darlene is doing much better thanks to everyones prayers.
Ventriloquism has always been a great tool for teaching right from wrong. It is great for any kind of teaching from English to History. Try it the next time your child has trouble with a certain subject. You'll find they are alot more receptive with a "Smart Dummy!"

It's been a long summer

I haven't had much time to add to my blog this month. My wife was in the hospital. She had a schematic attack, better known as a minor stroke. It has been a really hard year for her physically.
Although she is feeling better, she still has some residual effects left. I humbly ask for your prayers for her to regain her strength.
I have finished up all the look alike's I had on back order. One was for a puppet on utube. His name was Adan and he is in a Spanish clip. He is singing about "mansanas", or in english, apples. I did my best on the three of them and have posted pictures of the latest ones. If there is anyone who would like a "mini-me" now is the time before it starts getting busy. I want to thank everyone who reads this blog and remember, I am always available to help you in any way with figure repairs to any advice you might need. As I have said, if I don't have the answer, I will get it for you. You can email me at gepettosworkshop@yahoo.com Have a great week!

"Louie"

I promised Delores I would do this post for her. This is the making of "Look-a-like Louie"
I received the pictures from Delores and went to work sculpting out Louies face
After sanding his features smooth, I put four coats of fleshtone acrylic paint before blending in his highlights. After sealing the paint with flat acrylic sealer, I added the mechanics in his head. I attached his head to a post and sealedthem together so there would be no seam. Then I made his body from 1/2 inch pine board and connected the upper and lower torso with dowels and 1 inch grade 2 furring strips. I padded the body and connected his arms and legs and dressed him up in this smart suit. Here is a picture of the subject and a finished picture of "Louie"

Finishing up a "ham"

Well I finally finished this guy. I can almost hear the delivery of the first joke. Vent: I've got a fresh ham here"
Ham: (Whistles) Hey sweetie want a kiss?!! Hey Mr, you left your hair at home. Hey grandma is your hair sad? It looks a little blue today!!!

Anyway, here he is, It took awhile to figure out his design and the layout but He's ready to go to Mexico. I've been giving him spanish lessons. I hope he's better than I am. If he doesn't speak up quick, he might become dinner!

Fresh Ham!

I've been working on this project for Duque Delbot in Mexico. He wanted a leg of pork that could talk. It took me awhile to figure how i was going to do this one. I remember reading Clinton's blog an seeing the bats that he turned into ventriloquist figures. If I cut the top half of the bat off, split it down the side, then put one half on each side of the bottom part of the bat connecting the top at the edge of the bat and the bottom snug against the handle, I would get the shape I was looking for. I then covered it with a thin layer of magic-sculpt and then cut out a mouth and eyes. I formed the bottom jaw with the epoxy and belt sanded the sides to fit. then I attached the eyes inside the frame and built his face around them. I formed a pigs foot at the bottom of the bat and started putting in the mechanics. Here is the unpainted result. He should be finished by the end of this weekend. When he is, I will post more pictures. Have a great day!

Look alikes

I received a mad rush of orders for look alikes last month. I am finally finished so if you are looking for one, now is the time before it gets busy!
I finished one for Bob Albano, the creator and administrator of a pictorial history of ventriloquism. His website is www.costerjoe.com His site is chock full of interesting facts and pictures as well as enteretaining clips to view for all you ventriloquist enthusiasts!
Bob asked me to make a look alike of his son, a gift for his wife. Here he is.
I was asked recently, How do you become a professional ventriloquist?
There are three important elements The first is Desire. You must really want this. the second is Dedication. You must practice constantly.There are many courses out there. All of them are good. Some are costly, some are inexpensive. The best, in my opinion, is Maher Studios Millenium addition. It was created by Clinton Detweiler and can be purchased by contacting him through his blogspot www.newsyvents.blogspot.com It is not cheap, but it is complete, thorough and you are graded by the master himself as you take the exams that are included with this course.You receive a certificate of completion at the end of the course suitable for framing. I purchased one recently and as soon as I have some time, in between my ten jobs (exagerating, only four) I plan to become a Maher student. Something I wanted to do 35 years ago and never had the chance. Who says you can't teach an old dog now tricks! The last and most important is your delivery and act. Without that, you will be no where. If you have a great act, and good delivery you will be asked how to book you for a party or show in most cases immediately after your first act, be it a freebee at a school or a relatives birthday. How do you know you have a good act and delivery? You will know from the laughs and applause and the self confidence that comes with it.
I am working on a project for a ventriloquist in Mexico. It is a first for me. It is a talking "jamon serano" or smoked ham. It is built to resemble a leg of pork on one side, The other side has moving eyes,raising eyebrows and moving mouth. I will take you on a picture journey next week of how he was built. Hasve a great week and happy venting!

Long time between blogs

I have been busy relocating out to the back yard. During this time I have encountered many difficult hurdles which have taken time away from what I love to do most which is of course figure making and entertaining. I am hooking a direct line to my shop to the breaker box in my house. I thought I could get away with running a jump line from the house but the breaker kicked off on the hottest day of the year and i lost some projects and product because of it.
I have also become a grandfather for the fifth time. His name is Mathew and he was a preemie weighing in at 5 lbs. His mother ( my daughter in law) had him cesearian. My prayers ask that he and his Mom grow stronger each day. It was a difficult birth there have been complications as well. Here is a picture of Sean, Maureen and baby Mathew

Dan's mini-me arrives

Steve,

Thought I'd let you know I made a safe trip to Canada. My new home is great and the people love me. They think I'm real good looking. Take a look at one of my friends in the photo I attached. Thanks for all the time you spent with me! Take care.

Dan's mini-me

Well Dan's mini-me,

I'm glad you like your new home. From talking to your friend, I know that you will be well taken care of. He seems like a real nice guy!

Steve

Look alikes

I have been doing several look alikes these past weeks. One is a caricature of Rev. Thomas Bayes, a minister responsible for forming Bayes Theorum which was published post humously. (there is only one picture of him so they don't know if it's really him) The other is for a Dan in Canada. I still need to add his hair.Here are their finished pictures.

These are my favorite sculptings my to do. It gives someone their own mini-me or a likeness of someone else that is unique to them. I charge 299 for these figures. You can't find that low a price anywhere. additional animations are extra. They all come with moving eyebrows. If your interested, you can email me at gepettosworkshop@yahoo.com. I hope you all have a great weekend. I am on vacation from the newspaper and plan on getting my workshop in order!

Relocating my shop

I have been using our recreation room for almost ten years now as my shop. I turned the bar into a workbench and the televsion room into a staging area. Darlene has finally had it. She put her foot down when the dummies started making their way into the front of the house.

In her own words: " which dummy is going to stay up front with me and which one is going to the back?" Well, that wasn't hard to figure out, she was talking about me, right?

Needless to say, it was time to get a new shop. I had been outside fore 10 years prior to moving in. I like working in air conditioning and heat so I moved inside. My old shop is too small (or I've gotten too wide) So last week, I had a new one delivered to me and over the next few weeks, will be relocating back outside. ( I feel like a dog who pooped on the carpet and has been banned to the backyard!) I am, however, making it more comfortable this time. I am insulating it, adding a heater and an air conditioner and vacuum unit so I don't have to stand out in the heat to do woodwork and sanding. I will keep you up to date on how it goes. This little guy was finished up this weekend and is now waiting to take up his position as wise cracker to whoever wins him on ebay. As always, any questions, anything I can help you with concerning figure making or ventriloquism, feel free to email me at gepettosworkshop@yahoo.com