Ricardo Insua Cao
Ricardo was trained when a teenager as a miniature portrait painter by the then Vice President of the Royal Society of Miniature Painters, and then went on to study a degree in Illustration at Central St Martin’s and Falmouth College of Arts.
Story telling has always been a big concept for Ricardo in his paintings, be they two metre abstracts or graphic design for musicians, while puppets have always been dancing somewhere in the background. It was whilst working with young adults with learning disabilities, and noticing the therapeutic nature of puppets, that Ricardo brought puppets more to the forefront.
In 2019 Ricardo began a collaboration with BabyGigs, a Midland based concert series for babies, young children and their families.
www.babygigs.co.uk &
With Artistic Director Eleanor Hodgkinson, he co-wrote a musical puppet show, 'The Submerged Keyboard' which premiered at the Leicester Comedy Festival. Plans to tour were put on hold by COVID-19 but creative plans remained alive. The summer saw a video series 'The March of the Penguins' - puppet adventures set to music - being released on social media.
In the autumn BabyGigs, with Ricardo on Puppets, OHP, and all things art, Eleanor on piano, Nick Stringfellow on Cello and Simon Chalk on Violin were commissioned to deliver music and art as part of a Leicestershire Community Curators project for vulnerable families.
Puppets and theatre-making were very much part of the experience with some amazing parent production lines!
A further series has now been commissioned by Leicester County Council for Summer 2021:
Ricardo’s pet project “Mouse”, which crops up in drawings, paintings, small stories, has now also come alive as a miniature puppet.
Ricardo - rdo.org.uk Instagram
Eleanor Hodgkinson - eleanorhodgkinson.co.uk
Nick Stringfellow- nickstringfellow.com/
Simon Chalk - simonchalk.co.uk/