Hi I'm Mikey Artelle, welcome to my Art and Puppetry Blog!
Contact: mikey@pythorcomics.ca
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mike.artelle.1
Located in: Ottawa, ON Canada
A recent group photo of the gang and I from July 2024.
An assortment of my superheroes and puppet characters!
Moosey and I in Aug 2024
My first book "Canadian Crusader: Heroes Past and Present", published in 2019 by Pythor Comics!
Here I am in 2008 walking with Gordon the Sea Monster in the Puppets Up Parade!
Some of my hand puppets created between 2000 and 2006. This is a new style of table-top glove puppetry that I created. You won't find this particular style of puppet in any puppetry books! It a combination of marionette-like figures with glove puppetry.
This is an example of a construction paper craft puppet that I designed
for one of my many puppet workshops!
A brief overview of my creative work:
Hello, I'm Mikey Artelle, an artist and puppeteer who lives in Ottawa, Ontario Canada. Since 1987 I've created my own puppet characters and performed them in 15 original puppet shows throughout the Ottawa area and at various puppetry festivals. My puppets and performances have also occasionally appeared in television, film, and musical theatre. I've also presented numerous puppetry workshops for kids and adults.
In 2003 I wrote, directed and produced the documentary John Conway and Uncle Chichimus which premiered at The Puppeteers of America Festival in 2004. Since it's inaugural year in 2005 I've been involved with the Puppets Up Festival in Almonte, ON in one form or another including as a featured performer, street entertainer, volunteer, window painter, and as a vendor in their artisan market where I sold a wide variety of my hand-made toy puppets. The festival was held annually from 2005 to 2016, and was relaunched in 2022 as a bi-annual festival.
In 2008 I received a "Commendation for Design in Puppetry Theatre" from the Arlyn Award Society for the production of Heroes Past and Present which features my unique superhero puppets. From 2007 to 2009 I was involved as Assistant Researcher and Puppetry Consultant during the creation of the online exhibit Art of Puppetry at the Canadian Museum of History. In 2010 I created the "mounted moose head" puppet for Sock N Buskin Theatre's production of Evil Dead the Musical. Previously I had worked with Sock N Buskin in 1999 creating the puppets for their production of Little Shop of Horrors. I also provided the manipulation and lip syncing of the puppets to a live actor's voice for both of these shows. In 2000 and 2009 I made puppets for two of Ottawa filmmaker Lee Demarbre's film's, including a puppet of God who appears as a bowl of cherries jubilee ice cream, and the other was an evil clown doll.
In 2014 I began Pythor Comics to self-publish my own comic books. The first full colour book is titled Canadian Crusader: Heroes Past and Present and is based on the Heroes past and Present puppet show. From May 2018 to March 2020 I inaugurated and facilitated a monthly art workshop program for MAX Ottawa as a gay men's mental health initiative. In addition I created three giant parade puppets for MAX Ottawa, with assistance from their amazing volunteers. The puppets were used in the Pride Parade in 2018 and 2019 as well as for special exhibits to promote the organization.
In 2024 I returned to the Puppets Up Festival as a street entertainer. Currently I am mounting an all new touring puppet show that will feature Gordon the Sea Monster and Mr. Fishy in a new adventure involving a variety of mythological creatures!
A funny photo from the summer of 2019!
A little bit about myself:
First of all, I'm very proud to be openly gay. I didn't come completely out until 2016 when I was 42, so it took me a long time to get here but better late than never! I also proudly enjoy naturism which I find is quite misunderstood in our society, so I've discussed it in more detail here.
In regards to some of my hobbies, I've been a life-long collector of vintage toys and I maintain several blogs about my collections including Mikey's Dolls, Mikey's Action Figures, and Mikey's Muppet Memorabilia Museum. I'm a total geek for anything to do with Jim Henson and the Muppets!!! Additionally, I'm very much into superheroes and comics, and I also love the 1981 Clash of the Titans movie with Ray Harryhausen's creatures.
Some of my Kermit the Frog collection!
As for music, my favourite band is Guns N' Roses and I love classic and hard rock music, but I also love KC and the Sunshine Band too! To relax I enjoy going cycling to the beach as often as I can during the summer. I've also taken some classes to learn boxing for cardio as well as how to play tennis which I enjoy as often as possible!
As for this blog, I'm always adding new things and updating it constantly with new artwork or puppet pictures, so I hope you enjoy browsing through it. Thank you kindly for visiting my blog!
-Mikey :)
Hornz the Cow in Toronto
Bumbler the Pterodactyl
The Gingerbread Man and the Fox!
This photo was used to promote my Jack and the Beanstalk show in the early 1990's.
I'm around 19 or 20 in this picture.
This is the marionette version of Vul-Gar the Ogre that I made in the late 1990's.
Pythor the Barbarian is a unique table-top glove puppet that I designed and created in 2000.
Here I am in Jan 2005 with a puppet that I made at Noreen Young's puppet workshop.
The photo was taken by my friend, puppeteer Graham Soul.
Some of my original hand made toy puppets which I sold as an artisan at the Puppets Up Festivals as well as various arts and craft shows.
Here I am with Tyler the Bear and Gordon the Sea Monster on a Westboro Parade float in the early 1990's during my late teens.
A scene from my show Perseus and the Gorgon Medusa, photo taken in 2008.
Greek Mythology: Baerius the Guard, Perseus, Hermes, and Medusa!
All original toy superhero hand puppets created around 2014.
This photo from 1997 shows the cast from The Sea Monster and the King.
I'm about 23 or 24 in this photo.
A sketch of Griffon Shadow from 2013 that was used for the cover of the mini comic book.
The covers of the six mini comics that I published online in 2014 and 2015.
All of them are available to read online for free!
The Canuck Crusaders: Moose Man, Canadian Crusader, Blue Jay Boy and Goose Gal!
I made these toy superhero hand puppets around 2014 in my early 40's.
The very first group photo with my puppets from 1987 when I was 14.
Thank you for visiting my blog!
Text and photos copyright Mikey Artelle, 1987, 2024.
