It's the brain child of Maitland's king of puppets, Frank Oakes. The puppets are part of his exhibition called The Myth of the Angry Wizards of Maitland. There are four wizards and an apprentice.

It is some of his finest work and it will be on display at Maitland Regional Art Gallery until November 17.

A collection of poems, which were written before the puppets were created, provide a lot more detail about the characters. The poems reveal insights into Cleverbloke the Wizard, the Wizard of St Mary's, Crumpleface the Enchanter and Walter Wastewizard.

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Cleverbloke lived at the bottom of the river and he was never known to sleep. He could be nice but his mood could change very quickly.

Trevor, on the other hand, was a frightening and odd wizard who lived in the depths of the crypt of St Mary's.

Crumpleface is a man who was 'much noted for his lack of charm and grace'. He lived behind the mists of winter and in summer he was rarely seen in this area.

Walter Wastewizzard lived in the dark back streets of Maitland and had a strong desire to keep the city clean.

The string puppets were handmade and brought to life with exquisite detail that showcased their personalities.

Mr Oakes used recycled materials to make them and said the exhibition had an environmental message.

"I wrote a couple of poems, which are in a little pamphlet near them, and they were about the Angry Wizards of Maitland who got angry about people mucking up the environment," he said.

"One wizard got really upset if you made a mess of his river, another one got upset if you chopped down all the trees ... There were four wizards. There was also an apprentice which I made when I was a child. The others I made over the past few months.

"I hope it would raise the consciousness about things that are happening around Maitland - whether it is chopping down trees or leaving things in a mess, or ignoring the river - or whatever. If it raises the consciousness level of a few people maybe it has succeeded.

"The fun was in making the puppets because I could let me imagination run wild, I mean, what's the definition of a wizard? There isn't one."

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