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Description
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

~Robert Frost

Robert Frost-Inspired Project Statement

The most memorable imagery I was left with after reading Frost's poem “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening” was that of the horse, questioningly jingling his sleigh bells as the pair are paused at the edge of the woods.
The movements of the horse could best be conveyed in that of a marionette puppet, comprised of jingle bells, so that when the puppet moves, the bells ring as they would with the movement of a real horse. The rest of the puppet's body will appear to be made of leather straps, brass rivets, and other materials found in actual harness tack, embodying the spirit of the horse's job.
The movement of the horse's head is purely controlled by the motion of the marionette when in use, not the puppeteer. The underside of the open-neck construction ends in a magnet, with the same polar side being in the cup of the chin, so that as the puppet is manipulated, the magnets repel and wobble the whole head, giving the horse a life of it's own. The control stick is kept simple this way, with only two main points of control; one being the rotating wheel which is used to manipulate the hindquarters, and the other being the beam which controls the front legs. This beam is removable from the whole wand, allowing greater range of action than just a fixed crossbar.
The face of the horse is kept relatively simple too, omitting eyes and just relying on blinders to convey his unsure expression. Similar to the abdomen of the body, the cranial portion of the horse's head is a jingle bell, with a muzzle sculpted to extend from it.

(project for my Functional Art class...we had to design a functional piece of art, inspired by the Robert Frost poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening". I, obviously, chose to design a horse marionette. No, we don't have to construct it. No, that doesn't mean I wont ever attempt to build Gustav )

Description
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

~Robert Frost

Robert Frost-Inspired Project Statement

The most memorable imagery I was left with after reading Frost's poem “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening” was that of the horse, questioningly jingling his sleigh bells as the pair are paused at the edge of the woods.
The movements of the horse could best be conveyed in that of a marionette puppet, comprised of jingle bells, so that when the puppet moves, the bells ring as they would with the movement of a real horse. The rest of the puppet's body will appear to be made of leather straps, brass rivets, and other materials found in actual harness tack, embodying the spirit of the horse's job.
The movement of the horse's head is purely controlled by the motion of the marionette when in use, not the puppeteer. The underside of the open-neck construction ends in a magnet, with the same polar side being in the cup of the chin, so that as the puppet is manipulated, the magnets repel and wobble the whole head, giving the horse a life of it's own. The control stick is kept simple this way, with only two main points of control; one being the rotating wheel which is used to manipulate the hindquarters, and the other being the beam which controls the front legs. This beam is removable from the whole wand, allowing greater range of action than just a fixed crossbar.
The face of the horse is kept relatively simple too, omitting eyes and just relying on blinders to convey his unsure expression. Similar to the abdomen of the body, the cranial portion of the horse's head is a jingle bell, with a muzzle sculpted to extend from it.

(project for my Functional Art class...we had to design a functional piece of art, inspired by the Robert Frost poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening". I, obviously, chose to design a horse marionette. No, we don't have to construct it. No, that doesn't mean I wont ever attempt to build Gustav )