Gadsden says: DON'T TREAD ON ME

For the past few weeks I've been busy cooking up a new puppet creation. After receiving a suggestion from a friend of mine and reading about Bread and Puppet theater and the political messages of their puppets, I was inspired to create a puppet that would mix it up in the political arena. The message was simple: DON'T TREAD ON ME. So what better to convey this message than the rattlesnake from the Gadsden flag?

I did a few sketches based on the flag and then began on the armature.

Here's the head, a foam sculpture made with high density foam and contact cement.And here's the body. There is a tube of insulation foam connecting the many pieces of the body. I found that studying the actual anatomy of a snake went a long way in developing my foam armature.

And here is Gadsden! Unfortunately I was so busy I forgot to take more pictures of the process. I used taxidermy snake eyes for the eyes, antipill fleece for the skin, a plastic placemat for the tongue and model magic for the teeth.

And special thanks goes out to my darling little Objectivist Karly. She made the word banner on Gadsden.
Gadsden in action. The tail was made out of gatorade bottles filled with popcorn kernels. They produced a pretty good rattling sound. The crowd really loved the rattle. I believe I heard quite a few "Shake it baby"s as we walked by. This may have made Karly feel a bit uncomfortable since she controlled the tail.
And after a day of striking cuddly fear into the hearts of young children and small dogs, Gadsden and I settle down near the pool for a break. Check out the shirt on the guy behind me. It gives 3 wolf moon a run for its money.