Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2009 10:10:53 -0500
To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
Subject: [Puptcrit] Tasha Tudor


This last year marked the passing of Tasha Tudor who as well as an
illustrator and later day Martha Stewart was a doll and marionette
maker.  Tasha had yearly performances in her barn in VT.  Neighbors
and friends would gather for these quaint shows and sit on hay bales
to watch the performances.  In her early years she toured her shows
around new England including The Natural History Musuem in NYC.
Though we weren't close, she was my mother's half sister and we had a
year long coorespondance around 15 years ago when I did interviews
with her for an article in the Puppetry Journal.  Childhood visits to
her farm were like a step into 19th century New England.  She and my
cousins dressed in 19th century garb.  Her farm and children were the
models for her artwork.  Her marionettes were very simple and while
the shows weren't rivetting puppet theater the whole experience was
magical.  She was an astute business woman and had her own empire
based on her books and artwork and later in life she became the model
along with grandchildren and neighbors for photogragher Richard Brown
who did a series of books on her world.   She was most famous for her
illustrated childrens book and her illustrations of classics like
"Wind in the Willows" and "The Secret Garden".  She was 92 years old.
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