Maker Edcamp, Washington, DC, April 27, 2019

Last fall I accompanied my friend Phil Shapiro to my first-ever Edcamp that was held at Loyola College’s Columbia campus. It was an interesting experience, as you can see from the photos I shot that day. Phil urged me to go to another Edcamp that was being held closer to home. This one has more of a maker focus and it was called Maker Edcamp. It was held at Capital City Public Charter School in Washington, DC.

So I went there. Compared to the earlier Edcamp, this one drew fewer participants. A high point of that event was getting the chance to see this makerspace that was set up in the school. The makerspace is in a relatively small room that’s located on the upper level of the school library. I managed to take this panoramic shot of the entire area.

The room may have been small but it was packed full of all kinds of tools and supplies.

This 3D printer model was interesting because I learned that some of the parts were actually printed on a different 3D printer. Yep, it’s a 3D printer that was partially printed on a 3D printer.

There were also a few projects on display that were made by the students.

There were also some inspirational sayings that were posted throughout the makerspace and the school library itself.

The Space

For the past several years there have been a Maker culture that has spread all over the world and it has resulted in the opening of makerspaces. Some makerspaces are for-profit in that they charge a monthly fee, such as the now-defunct TechShop, while others are non-profit in that they get funding from a variety of sources so they can offer programs for either free or very low cost. The city of Greenbelt, Maryland has one such non-profit, known as the Greenbelt Makerspace, that has been in operation for five years.

Now a second makerspace has been opened in Greenbelt. It’s called The Space and it’s currently operating in an empty storefront at Beltway Plaza Mall that’s located across from the AMC Theatres. Like the Greenbelt Makerspace, The Space (which is an acronym that stands for Sharing Positive Artistic & Creative Energies) is also operating as a non-profit and it is trying to have supplies available for free. I’ve been shooting photos and videos periodically over the past few months but I’m only finally getting around to posting them online.

Here’s the first photo I’ve ever shot of the place on September 11, 2018. In this photo, Space founder Shaymar Higgs (right) speaks with a visitor about the facility.

Here Shaymar Higgs (left) with Phil Shapiro that I shot on October 27, 2018.

The next couple of photos show some of the tools and equipment that’s available for anyone to use.

There are a variety of creations that are on display at The Space, including customized urban designer vinyl toys, one-of-a-kind art dolls, and embroidered pictures.

There are also computers available to use. All of them are donated and nearly all of them have some type of Linux installed on them.

There’s also an area where people can play video games. There’s one TV that’s hooked up to the older console systems, such as the Nintendo 64.

Over time The Space has added new stuff to its decor, such as these legs that seem to be emerging from the wall.

The Space also has live events. On September 15, 2018 there was a dancing event where the kids were showing the moves they have learned from playing Fortnite, which is currently the hottest video game on the planet right now. Here’s a short video I shot of some of the dancing.

On September 23, 2018 there was a paint-off between two artists as they simultaneously completed their latest masterpieces.

There was a pumpkin carve-off that took place on October 28, 2018, the Sunday before Halloween.

That carve-off resulted in two jack o’lanterns—one featured a scene from the Disney movie The Princess and the Frog and the other featured Pikachu from Pokémon.

After that pumpkin carve-off ended there was a workshop on how to tye-dye a t-shirt.

I shot another short video that day that includes footage of kids playing a video game, the pumpkin carve-off, and highlights of the tye-dye t-shirt workshop.

My most recent visit to The Space was last Saturday. It was a very cold and rainy day so it was a perfect place to be. I read this book by Austin Kleon called Steal Like an Artist that was among the books available to read at The Space. I found it very inspirational and it’s the kind of book that could be read over and over again.

It was basically a laid-back day. There were a few people who decided to do some painting.

So if you’re in the Baltimore-Washington, DC area who wants to check out The Space, it’s located in Beltway Plaza Mall in Greenbelt, Maryland across from AMC Theatres. For more information, click here.

Riverdale Park Festival of Lights and Holiday Market, December 16, 2017

The day after I observed yet another birthday I decided to check out the Riverdale Park Festival of Lights and Holiday Market. I ran into a few friends of mine and just basically hung out. Here are my photos from that event.

Near the Christmas tree stand was this toy train layout, which had a toy train that was going around and around.

The two young boys in the next photo were constantly following the toy train. As it rode around and around in a circle, the boys walked around and around in a circle as well.

The bulk of the event was held inside of a building. There were all kinds of arts and crafts available for sale ranging from paintings to freshly baked cupcakes to dolls to handmade soap to fused glass jewelry. There was live entertainment as well.

A Free Tutorial on How to Make a Green Man Art Doll

I recently did another video tutorial that’s now up on YouTube. It’s about how one can make a Green Man art doll and it’s a follow-up to my previous art doll tutorial. (If you’re unfamiliar with the Green Man, this Wikipedia entry is a good place to start.) This one is intended for beginners and you don’t even have to had watched the last video in order to view this one. I was inspired to do this one after attending last month’s Greenbelt Green Man Festival. Here is the Green Man art doll I created while I was shooting this video.

Here’s the video where you can make your own Green Man art doll.

A Free Tutorial on How to Create an Art Doll the Easy Way for Beginners

I recently created this video tutorial that was originally intended as an audition for a potential job as an art teacher for senior citizens. I decided to upload this on YouTube because, hey, why not? It’s a free tutorial on how to create an art doll that’s especially made with beginners in mind. You don’t have to worry about not being able to sculpt anything because no sculpting is required. Here is the art doll I was working on while I shot this video.

It’s the first time I’ve ever done an arts and crafts tutorial and it was a challenge working on my latest art doll while trying to make sure that my video camera (a.k.a. my Droid smartphone) was able to get a shot of my hands at work. I even did a brief stop-motion animation of my new art doll sashaying along the beach towards the end of the video. (The background was a photo I took in North Beach, Maryland a couple of years ago.) It was essentially a one-person operation since I can’t afford to hire anyone to help me.

My tutorial is based on what I learned in a series of art doll workshops that I took at Makerspace 125. I figured that Memorial Day weekend would be the perfect time for anyone to take a stab at making one of these art dolls.

So, without further ado, here is my tutorial video. Enjoy!

Visiting Areas 4 and 5 on the Third Floor at Artomatic, November 6, 2015 (Some Photos NSFW)

Entering this year’s Artomatic is slightly different than previous ones. At past Artomatics the procedure was that you could walk directly inside the building but if you wanted to order alcohol from any of the bars scattered on various floors, you had to get in a special line where you would be carded then given a special bracelet indicating that you are old enough to legally drink.

This Artomatic is different. You have to show your ID before entering the building regardless of whether you plan on drinking alcohol or not. You were then given a white bracelet letting the bar know that you can legally drink. I was told by a volunteer that this change in protocol is due to a local ordinance requiring this since the bars on different floors all serve alcohol. Here’s a shot showing what this bracelet looks like.

So, in short, if you are planning on visiting Artomatic, don’t leave home without your photo ID.

This trip was my second time at Artomatic but my first time where I could just go as a visitor without serving any volunteer duties. Since I visited the art on the top fourth floor the last time, I decided to focus on the art on the third floor.

I just want to take this time to mention that some of the photos posted in this entry contain nudity so they are definitely NSFW.

I decided to start with Area 5. I was there the last time but that was when I was on volunteer duty and I had to wipe down the chairs on that floor using dampened paper towels that I got from the women’s restroom. While I saw some of the art, I was too focused on finding chairs to wipe to notice much else. This time I was able to look at the art without any kind of major distractions. The following photos are just a small sampling of the various types of art in various media that I found in Area 5.

After spending some time in Area 5, I decided to go on to Area 4, which is notable for having the Artomatic Swag Store, where you can purchase all kinds of Artomatic souvenirs with the proceeds going towards helping Artomatic defray the costs associated with putting on a show like this with free admission for the general public.

There’s more to Area 4 than just the Swag store. Everywhere you go there is art displayed, as these photos show.

The one thing about the fall and the end of Daylight Savings Time is that everything gets dark after 5 p.m. these days. The last photo shows the Artomatic building after dark, where you can see the art through the brightly lit windows.

Three Festivals in One Day, September 19, 2015

One Saturday I decided to check out three different festivals that were all being held within a five mile radius on the same day. The weather was very pleasant. (It was sunny in the low 70’s with low humidity.) The first festival I decided to check out for the first time is the annual Port Towns Festival that’s held in the Bladensburg Waterfront Park in Bladensburg, Maryland. I thought that it would be a relatively small festival only to be pleasantly surprised when I found that it was larger than I anticipated. There were rides and all kinds of vendors that were located right along the banks of the Anacostia River.

Next I drove over to nearby Hyattsville, which was the site of the annual Hyattsville Arts Festival. That festival seems to get bigger each year with more and more people attending. I ended up parking at the parking lot next to Franklin’s Restaurant a block away. A portion of the Anacostia Trail runs right next to the parking lot, which had a sign pointing the way to the festival.

Walking along the trail led directly to the area where the festival took place.

There were many vendors selling all kinds of handcrafted goods as well as different music acts.

There was even a place where people were invited to draw icons.The idea was to draw something then hand it in along with your name and e-mail address. Then the organizers of this activity would e-mail an icon based on your own drawing.

I decided to take a stab at this activity, which resulted in this drawing. I drew a hedgehog and it’s based on similar drawings I’ve done in the past (back when I still lived with my late pet hedgehog, Spike).

The organizers of that activity really praised my simple drawing and were talking about how much they loved it. As of this writing I have yet to receive my icon based on that drawing. If and when these people get around to e-mailing my icon, I’ll post it in this blog for you to see.

After a while I decided to drive over to the third and last festival of the day. The Greenbelt Blues Festival was in full swing and, as you can guess from the name, it was devoted to a variety of musical acts performing various blues songs. This year’s festival was devoted to B.B. King, who passed away a few months ago, so I heard plenty of covers like “The Thrill is Gone.” The last few photos show just one of the many musical acts who performed that day.

Doll and Teddy Bear Show, Glenn Dale, Maryland, August 8, 2015

On August 7 and 8 I had two straight days of pure <squee!>. August 7 was BronyCon and some general walking in Baltimore, which I have already written about. The following day I went to another cute event that was located closer to my home. There was a Doll and Teddy Bear Show that was held at the historic Marietta House Museum in Glenn Dale, Maryland.

I have lived in the area for many years and I have driven past the signs pointing the way to the Marietta House Museum numerous times and I have never visited the place until recently. The Marietta House Museum is the former residence of U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Gabriel Duvall that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. When I first arrived, I felt like I had stepped back in time.

Seeing the grounds reminded me of my recent visit to Sotterley Plantation in Southern Maryland. The grounds of the Marietta House are smaller in acreage than Sotterley but the entire area still looked very impressive.

Gabriel Duvall not only lived there with his family but he also maintained his law practice in one of the smaller buildings on the property.

The grounds themselves are full of wooded areas, nice landscaping, and smaller buildings that were probably used for things like storage.

There is a family burial plot right on the property located in the backyard.

The main house itself is quite grand.

A glimpse of the window from outside only provides a subtle hint of what was going on indoors.

Inside the house it looks like there is an upper level and a basement. However, for the Doll and Teddy Bear Show, only the ground floor was opened to the public. In fact, these three dolls seemed to greet visitors while blocking all access to the upstairs level.

Admission was free and some of the items were available for sale. However, there were also other items on display that weren’t for sale. There was a mix of older dolls with modern dolls. I saw plenty of Barbies. I saw a few American Girl dolls (with handmade clothes for 18-inch dolls on sale). I saw plenty of porcelain dolls. I saw art dolls, ethnic dolls, small dolls, and large dolls. I also saw plenty of teddy bears as well. Some of the bears were vintage (such as Teddy Ruxpin) while others were perennial favorites (like Winnie the Pooh). All in all there were lots of things to see in such a lovely historical setting.

The boy doll in the next photo reminded me of a childhood photo of my father-in-law that I used to see displayed in the condo that he shared with his second wife. (I last visited that place in 2011 just six months before my husband left me for another woman. I haven’t been back since.) I found the resemblance to my own memories of that photograph to be quite eery.

There was a nice display of art dolls that were made by a group of tweens (between the ages of 9-11) who were taking a summer workshop in doll making. The woman who runs that workshop was selling some of those dolls for prices ranging from $130-150. I was talking for a bit with that woman and I mentioned that the nearby Makerspace 125 was running a series of monthly workshops in making art dolls and, so far, two of them were held—one in May and one in June. When I started to explain how we were making our dolls (as taught in the workshop), the woman immediately said “That’s crafting. What I’m selling is fine art dolls.” I felt put off because that woman had made a snap judgement. In addition, I had left the two art dolls I created in those workshops at home so I didn’t have anything to show. Plus she raised that whole ugly “Art vs. Craft” controversy that frequently permeates both the art world and craft world and I felt it was uncalled for.

All I know is that the next time I see the woman who runs the art doll workshops at Makerspace 125, I’ll tell her what happened at that show. It’ll be interesting to get her reaction to the judgement that her art dolls are really just “crafts.”

My encounter with that woman was the only sour part of the whole show. I quickly walked away from her after she made that comment. I have to admit that the art dolls that her tween students made in her workshop are quite nice looking.

I viewed the rest of the show without incident. I just enjoyed all of the eye candy.

All in all I had a pretty good day viewing all kinds of cute dolls and teddy bears in such a lovely historic setting like the Marietta House Museum.

Art Doll Workshop at Makerspace 125, Greenbelt, Maryland, June 28, 2015

The Art Doll workshop met for the second month late last month and I attended it once again. While my previous art doll reflected my melancholy sadness over what has happened to me over the last few years (two hip surgeries, the collapse of my marriage, fewer people buying my handcrafted items due to the worsening economy, and my ongoing personal financial issues) this latest one reflected something more positive. The Friday before the workshop there was the historic Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage in all 50 states of the United States of America. It seemed like rainbows sprouted everywhere both online (I have never seen so many rainbow avatars and icons on the various social media sites in my life) and in real life (as I saw people wear rainbow t-shirts and rainbow clothing).

So I entered Makerspace 125 in a positive frame of mind that day. I saw something pretty unique. Someone had brought in his/her own computer from home to show off this one feature that most computers don’t have. I’ve heard of computers having two operating systems (usually either Mac/Windows or Windows/Linux combinations). But this next photo shows the first computer I’ve ever seen that had three operating systems—Mac, Windows, and Linux. It’s nice to have a lot of choice as to what operating system to use, even though having all three on one computer would take a huge amount of both memory and hard disk space.

     

The next few photos show art dolls that the workshop instructor had previously worked on and brought with  her from her home.

     

The rest of the photos show the art doll I made during that workshop. Like I wrote a few paragraphs ago, I was in a positive mood stemming from the U.S. Supreme Court’s legalization of same-sex marriage. Ironically the Greenbelt Theatre was having a weekend long LGBTQ film festival (which had been scheduled at least a month in advance before the Supreme Court came down with its decision that coincided with the first night of the festival). In fact, I had to leave the workshop a half an hour early because I was supposed to help with ushering for the next showing of the film Cloudburst in exchange for being able to see the movie for free. (The movie was excellent, by the way.) So I worked faster on finishing the doll so I could leave the workshop early. Actually I did pretty well despite the time pressure. (The fact that she was a very tiny doll definitely helped.) I decided to do a rainbow-themed doll but I wasn’t able to find any fabrics or ribbons that even resembled a rainbow. So, as an alternative, I decided to just do a multicolored doll instead. I found this multicolored fabric that did the trick.      

I wasn’t sure what to do for her hair or which color her hair should be. But then I came up with the idea of using strands of different colored ribbons for her hair in order to keep up with the multicolor/rainbow theme I had envisioned for this doll.

        Okay, so I got carried away by using some zebra-striped ribbon for one of the hair strands. (LOL!)      

While the ribbon hair looked great cascading down, it all tended to bunch up at the top. I decided to take a fake flower and glue it on her head upside down in order to create a floral hat.

Anyway, I had fun creating that art doll and I was satisfied with the result.

Two Workshops at Makerspace 125, May 31, 2015

On the last day of May I decided to attend two back-to-back workshops that were held at Makerspace 125 in Greenbelt, Maryland. The first workshop was on creating your own art dolls. I haven’t created an art doll since Cinnamon Fire back in 2010 and I was winging it when I created her. (I originally did it for a contest that was sponsored by Art Doll Quarterly magazine but my entry didn’t get anywhere with the judges.)

This workshop was taught by a person who has been creating art dolls for a while. The next photo shows some of the art dolls she has created.

And here is my new art doll that I created in that workshop.

I intentionally created a melancholy doll because I went through a bit of a bad patch lately stemming in large part from the fact that this workshop took place shortly before what would’ve been my wedding anniversary had my husband not abruptly left me for a woman whom I once thought was my friend (but I now know differently) and my constant fretting over financial problems.

She measures about four inches tall. She has a clothespin body, a small wood base, pipe cleaner arms, and a face that the instructor had made from clay using a mold. (The faces were plain and we had to do face ups using watercolor pencils.)

I made her long hair from yarn that I glued on to her head. Her dress was made from a scrap of black fabric. I used a piece of fancy ribbon to create a headdress that suggests a veil. I glued tiny floral accents to each wrist.

I used red fabric scraps to cut out a broken heart that I glued to her chest. As I was cutting the tiny heart into two pieces, I found that I had frayed the material a little bit. I still used it because the frayed heart only further drove home the sadness and grief I’ve felt nonstop since the abrupt separation and divorce. I only wished that there had been a sad face available because I would’ve used it. I ended up using the face that came closest to being the slightly less than happy.

Pictures of my art doll, along with ones of other art dolls done by other people, are now on display at the Makerspace 125 website.

That workshop was immediately followed by another workshop on watercolors. While I’ve done watercolors mixed with other media (usually either ink or acrylic paint), I haven’t done an art piece using only watercolor since the time I did a series of apple watercolors for a Commercial Illustration class at a local community college where I had to deal with this teacher who had this unnatural obsession with me and my work that creeped me out so much that I ended up quitting taking art classes at that school.

Fortunately the teacher for this watercolor class was a very nice woman who’s pretty sane and normal (compared to that Commercial Illustration teacher) and I enjoyed this workshop as much as the previous art dolls workshop. Here is my watercolor.

It all started when the teacher instructed us to wet the paper first then put down a layer of whatever color we choose and I happened to choose blue. As I put down that layer, I began to think about the water and I thought it would be a perfect aquatic theme. I used my smartphone to do a Google search on a few images of fish swimming in the ocean before I remembered that it’s now crab season in Maryland so I did a blue crab. (I opted to do the blue crab as a living creature before it would be thrown in a pot of boiling water where it would turn red.) I used a couple of blue crab photos that I found through Google as my reference guide when working on the crab. My teacher and classmates liked it, which was cool. You can now view my blue crab along with other watercolors done by my classmates on Makerspace 125’s site.

Here’s a last photo of the two items I made in two back-to-back workshops at Makerspace 125.

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