Print making with artist Cathy Savage!

Man, my artisan field trip class passed by in a flash... all six weeks of it. This was my third time leading this class... it's been pretty much a dream come true because I enjoy nothing more than getting to scope out inner sanctums where real artists do their thing (which is why I love E.A.S.T. so much). Just one more thing to love about Austin... how many amazing artists were willing to open their doors to a bunch of wily kids and let us lay our hands on all their special things. These photos are from a visit with Cathy Savage and Carolyn Kimball at Women Printmakers of Austin. They did gelatin printmaking with us... it was really fun and amazing, and such fine and detailed prints were achieved. Would be easy to do at home, too, here's a little more info about how to do it.

Tinkering class grande finale... homemade carnival!

6 weeks of work culminated yesterday in one scrappy little handmade fall festival. A high striker, fishing pond, roller coaster, food stand, and ball toss... and oh yes, human hamster wheel races.

Pretty darn fun. We enjoyed it.

The beginnings of a roller coaster...

... in tinkering class today. It was pretty cool. More to be done, but still cool. It's amazing... when Gever Tulley came to Austin, in one of his talks he said that tinkering with kids almost always, in his experience, follows the model of the hero's journey, which is a basic pattern that almost any blockbuster (or otherwise) Hollywood movie (or otherwise) follows.... the hero/ine is introduced, things are going well until SOMETHING GOES TERRIBLY WRONG and he/she spends the rest of the film/novel/comic book/magazine article overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles until there is a FINAL AMAZING TRIUMPH at the end (think Star Wars). I am so glad that he mentioned this because it really gives me the wherewithal to just keep on truckin' through the sticky part in the middle, that always seems to happen when we're trying to tinker with kids. If I didn't have this now deeply embedded into my consciousness I might give up a lot more readily but as it stands luckily I have managed (so far) to roll with the punches and have found(at least a few times) the sweet sweet tinkering triumph that lies on the other side. Every single time we've had a tinkering class or camp our first day usually goes well, then we (or I, at least) go completely deep into the weeds for a few sessions and it just feels like nothing is ever going to come together and that it's all a total DISASTER.... and then, VOILA, it really DOES come together, and we (I mean I ) weep salty tears of relief and joy. And makes me feel like it all might be worth doing, after all.

It takes faith, this tinkering thing, it surely does! And a big ol' failure-postive attitude, too...

Marble-track building on a rainy Saturday...

...is quite a glorious way to spend a rainy Saturday. Inspired by the brilliant folks over at Filth Wizardry.

Frankentoys

I had the good fortune to go to the insanely fabulous event, Art Outside, and bring my Frankentoys project. What a thrill to be in the middle of it all, making art and having fun with kids, my favorite thing of all!

Puffy Paint

I can't believe I've never tried this project before. It was so easy and fun that I ended up doing it three times this week... first with my own kids, then as a project at my son's school, and then with our music class. I have a little bit of PTSD after working with lots and lots of squirrelly little 4 and 5 year olds. In particular my own kids, who tend to just dump out all the paint, smear it all over their bodies, and then run away screaming. They can engage with art projects sometimes, but it's a delicate trick... figuring out what will draw them in. This project was perfect because the bottles are just so irresistible to squeeze that no one could deny their hypnotic powers. And the finished products all ended up looking really cool... not that that is necessarily necessary.... I especially liked how it looked on the black background.

Puffy Paint

1 c. salt

1 c. flour

1 c. water

a healthy squirt of food coloring or tempera paint.

Put in squeeze bottles for Puffy Paint Paradise.

Tinkering for grown-ups

I was invited to do this team-building activity for a group from Whole Foods this week.This was so much fun... We made drawbots and desktop succulent gardens out of sardine cans (my kids have been insane for sardines lately... seriously they're almost on par with candy to use as a lure to get them to do my bidding). I really think the tinkering is a great way to break adults out of their shells. My heart was SO greatly warmed seeing these sweet folks get so excited... laughing, shrieking, problem-solving... it was totally adorable.

I have been doing a lot of work on Austin Tinkering School lately... just trying to get it all ship-shape so that it can hopefully be a real actual livelihood that can perchance support my whole family in the manner to which they've become accustomed. My husband recently quit his job to work with me full time on ATS(Unbelievable! Amazing! Terrifying! Exciting! Wild and wonderful! ) so this is not very hypothetical and these musings are quite pertinent to our life. Matt quit his job mid-summer and did all the tinkering camps with me, which was perfectly amazing, and that's the kind of completely exciting and satisfying and hands-on work that we love. Since then there's actually been about a 6 week period with hardly any classes (they all start next week) and we've just been thinking website, registration forms, 'pay now' buttons (ooh! fancy!), tax ID numbers, all this stuff I could never get to on my own and is simply amazing to be getting to now, with Matt's help. However I have found myself to be getting bogged down, and I've been thinking that I needed to refresh and revive myself and remind myself of what I am after here, like WHY does Austin Tinkering School need to come to life. Yes, it's a money-making venture, and that's important, but I don't think that should really be the taproot of the whole thing. If money is simply all I need it would surely be faster and easier to just get a job at Starbucks. Anyway, this is all a very garbledy and roundabout way of saying that I think the purpose of it all is just to bring that excitement of creation and making to people's lives. I can't say we always achieve it but there were lots of great moments during the camps this summer where kids were just completely lit up from within. And to see these adults completely giddy... that makes me feel like we are providing a valuable service. Now to see if we can keep sending out sparks while keeping our family out of the poorhouse... I do believe we can... think good thoughts for us all!