Most puppeteers do.
They don't have to, but puppet performers can further express themselves by the design and creation of their own puppets. Usually, a good puppet will reflect its maker's personality. Papier mache and plastic wood seem to have been the choice materials of the past - and of course there is the venerable art of wood carving. But today there are many other durable and versatile materials with which to work. Ours are sculpted in modelling clay, cast from plaster molds in a mixture of latex and clay and painted in acrylics.