Artist Lakin Fain: Puppet Love

Artist Lakin Fain grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, and now lives in Denver, Colorado. She has been painting her whole life. In recent months, her love of bluegrass and her talent in art have come together in a unique way that she didn’t see coming.

Lakin went to college to study environmental design. “It’s a broad degree that explores production design, fabrication, and even 3D modeling in the woodshop,” she explained. It was during those classes that Lakin first started making puppets. 

But her passion for art was more traditional. “I love oil painting.” 

She currently works as a lighting designer in an architectural firm. “It is related to art,” she says. “My job deals with form, light, and color.” 

On the side, Lakin does commissions. “I paint people’s pets, children, houses – that kind of thing.” But a serendipitous event last year led to what may be a most creative, and possibly lucrative, side gig. “ I have a friend whose boyfriend plays the drums,” said Laking. “She commissioned me to create an art piece of him. I began to think of ways to elevate the art – perhaps by making something two-dimensional.”

Lakin decided to make a puppet out of cardboard. “I added a pull string so that the puppet’s arms would move up and down to simulate him playing the drums.” It really worked, and that delighted both Lakin and her friend. 

Where Music and Art Intersect

An amateur banjo player, Lakin says she took up the instrument about a year ago. “I wanted to connect with my family’s Appalachian roots. We hail from Williamsburg, in Eastern Kentucky. I grew up fascinated with my grandmother’s house, which is full of historical artifacts collected from area coal miners.” 

Lakin wrote her senior thesis in college on Reinforcing Appalachia. ”It was a collage that utilized old and current photos depicting the past and present, and paintings I did on how I envisioned the future.” It was during that time that Lakin began listening to bluegrass music seriously and soon took up the banjo.

After the success of her drum-playing puppet, Lakin made a frog playing the banjo and took it with her to a bluegrass festival. “I also took my banjo so I could jam. While I played, a friend picked up the frog puppet, and it was a hit. People loved how the frog played the banjo with the other musicians, and they began to inquire about how they could get a puppet.”

Now Lakin makes her puppets out of wood. She began making puppets that looked like her favorite musicians, including Billy Strings and members of his band, including Strings’ banjo player, Billy Failing. 

Lakin and several friends attended the Billy Strings show on Halloween. “I made five puppets and gave them to five friends,” she said. People at the show wanted to buy all of them. I realized then that I may be on to something.”

She made more puppets to take to the Billy Strings show in Asheville in February. 

Not long ago, Lakin says she ran into Billy Failing in the airport, and she happened to have the puppet she made of his likeness with her. “I gave it to him, and he was shocked that someone had a puppet with his image on it. It was really an amazing experience.”

It has become apparent to Lakin that she has a new business in the making. “I enjoy the hands-on authenticity of working with wood and making something by hand,” she says. At the time of this interview, she was working on a website. It’s entirely possible that it may be up and running by the time you are reading this article. You can also contact her to make commissions. 

pickinpuppets.com