11/05/2021
In Memoriam, Kamela Portuges
Kamela Portuges-Robbins (1963-2021) was a Renaissance woman; a talented puppeteer, gifted artist, and passionate teacher.
Kamela Portuges-Robbins passed away suddenly and unexpectedly in Eureka on October 21, 2021, of natural causes. Words cannot express our sadness at the loss. We will miss her enthusiasm for puppetry and the arts, her “can do” attitude” and her willingness to mentor and share with others.
Always an overachiever, at 20, Kamela had earned a Master’s degree in Theater, and a second degree in Marketing. Before turning 30, Kamela received 3 regional Emmys for her work, as a designer, writer, and puppeteer.
For over 34 years, she was the director, puppeteer, and production designer at Images in Motion, where she wrote scripts, created puppets, performed and edited. She was fearless in acquiring skills as varied as welding and fabrication, building radio control mechanisms, computer modeling, and 3D printer repair.
Kamela was a Past President of SFBAPG and taught workshops on puppet construction and performance at local, regional, and national festivals. In recent years, she taught both puppetry and scriptwriting to large lecture courses of 300 students at UC Santa Cruz.
Her film credits include The Fly 2, James and the Giant Peach, Being John Malkovich, Monkeybone, BiCentennial Man, Life Aquatic, Pushing Dead, and The Sky Is Everywhere, plus PBS, TV shows, client videos and numerous commercials.
She will be deeply missed by her husband, Kieron Robbins, her sister Shelly Rustand, Shelly’s husband Odd, their daughter Aubrey, her mother-in-law Sarah Robbins, sister-in-law Kemplen Robbins and her business partner, Lee Armstrong, and the many friends and co-workers that knew her. There will be a celebration of life in the future, but no date has been set yet.
Kamela considered being able to do what she loved her greatest accomplishment. She would be disappointed to leave us so soon. She had so much she still wanted to do!
Donations can be made in her memory through SFBAPG, to further the studies of Guild puppeteers. https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=6MBSK7QLK24K4
