My name is Dietlind Wagner and – you certainly guessed it – I am originally not from around here. Though I lived here most of my adult life and I am still in awe of my new homeland. I love New Zealand for its openness and the acceptance of diverse cultures and ideas, and of course for the beautiful landscape. Professionally I have been a graphic designer and teacher and did my art on the side.

A few years back, out of the blue, I started making puppets. The Dede puppets. They were conceived as nobodies, heads only, but very quickly developed a life of their own. I share their stories on instagram @dedepuppets and the blog dedepuppets.com. I also facilitate puppet making workshops from recycled and surplus materials and stop motion animation workshops. For more info message me using the "contact this maker" button. I love the puppets to bits, but I am so much more than just the dedepuppets, hence my shop at felt.co.nz

In this shop I will sell the little cousins of the Dedepuppets, the lil'Dedes and other handmade art items. I like to repurpose materials. My most favorite symbol is the saltire (x). I love it for it's ambiguity and you will find this a lot in my art.