Meet the Team

Amber Smith

Amber is a graduate of Anthroposophy with an emphasis on Waldorf education. She enjoys serving her time as a creative director and fiber artist with a special interest in puppets, characters, and themes related to her Scandinavian heritage. She directs a wide range of productions at Forest Folk School Friends utilizing puppets made by real folks who specialize in various forms of handcrafted. Amber can be found sharing her classical folk tales within her local community, setting the stage both outdoors and indoors in Duvall Washington.

MS AMBER'S SPECIAL TALENTS:

• Writing Pedagogical Puppet Productions: She writes folk tales and fairy tales—with a good understanding of which is which. Each tale is crafted carefully to include heartfelt verses and intuitive pentatonic tunes that speak to the whole being.
• Voice Presentation: In performances, she uses a slow, spacious way of speaking—pausing, listening, and attuning to the other puppeteers or musicians, so that the whole body of work flows naturally.
• Felting or Sewing Puppets: She understands the simplicity of crafting the pedagogical puppet and the importance of allowing the child's imagination to complete the picture. She sees handwork and fibers arts as an integral to the presentation of puppetry—in fact, it is just as important as the puppet show itself. Additionally, to honor the sense of community, she often incorporate other peoples creations into her puppet productions

• Developmental Awareness of the Human Being: She understands how to shape the character of pedagogical puppets, guided by Steiner's insight. She shapes her stories and performances so that they reach the inner life of the audience, focusing on creating experiences that touch the invisible within.

Tony Burton

Tony is a multifaceted craftsman and military veteran, with decades of experiences in mentoring, classroom instruction, and lecturing. He has brought these skills together to support the development of a series of publications meant for families and the earth. As a postgrad engineer Tony has brought his technical expertise to a wide range of projects, including carpentry, metal fabrication, and mechanical design, where he constructs functional designs scaling from whole buildings to small detailed, intricate works of art. And occasionally during the holiday season you may catch a glimpse of his alter ego at his local community Yuletide Light Walk.

TONY'S SPEICAL TALENTS:

• Guiding Through Process: He natures patience, confidence, and resilience by encouraging learners to engage fully in the steps of creating, constructing, and learning as much from their journey as they might learn from the finished project.
• Balancing Technical and Artistic Expression: He helps learners to connect precision and craftsmanship with imagination and beauty—fostering both practical skills and creative insight.
• Fluency with Materials: Drawing on his life long experience in carpentry, metalwork, and design, he introduces students to wood and tools in ways that are safe, meaningful and developmentally appropriate.
• Attune to Seasonal Rhythm: He weaves narrative and the cycle of the year into the handcraft. This gives the learner a sense of connection, purpose, and reverence to their work.