Puppet Building Office Hours with Tiina Suhonen, June 7, 2026

Live via Zoom

Puppet Building Office Hours is a monthly, community-centered space designed to support the builders and makers in our field—whether you’re just starting out, experimenting with new materials, or refining a long-standing practice.

Each session features a guest host who is a well-established, versatile puppet builder working in the industry today. These artists frequently join us directly from their home or professional studio spaces, offering a rare behind-the-scenes look at real-world puppet-building practices.

This is not a lecture or a polished demo—it’s an open, conversational office hour where you can:

• Ask questions about materials, tools, and techniques
• Get feedback on works-in-progress
• Learn how professional builders problem-solve in their own studios
• Connect with other puppet makers in a supportive environment
  

Our goal is to create access—to knowledge, to artists, and to the kind of practical insight that often only comes from years of hands-on experience.

Accessibility & Pricing

We believe this resource should be accessible to as many makers as possible.

• Sessions begin at $15
  Participants are invited to pay what they can beyond that amount if they’re able

Your contribution helps us continue to fairly compensate guest artists and sustain this offering for the community.

Who it’s for 

Puppet builders, makers, designers, and artists at all levels

Come as you are. Bring your questions, your curiosity, and your in-progress ideas. Puppet Building Office Hours is about learning together—and keeping the craft moving forward.

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR 

I believe my puppetry life started with snow sculptures and cartoons as an effort to entertain myself in the remote village where I grew up in Finland. Later, I did 13 years of classical art education in Finland and Norway and a lot of practice in different fields of art ranging from portraiting, graphics, photography, drawing and sculpture - learning stone masonry, bronze casting, wood carving, paper making, welding etc. The combination of sculpting and the variety of all possible "alternative" materials combined with character design made me float into the puppet design and constructing, which I have now done for almost 20 years. In Norway I have created -often in cooperation with others- several TV- and film puppets as well as puppets for theatres. The most exiting part for me is the development of a new puppet, and learning and inventing on every single project.

Follow Tiina:

Instagram: @pisto.no, webpage: www.pisto.no