Imagine escorting your mini-self down the hall with a massive grin pressed across your face!  You have just created a replica of yourself, at half scale, complete with a clay head, jointed body, hand-sewn clothes, and designer shoes! The playmate moves with marionette strings and invented joints that connect and […]

A Fantastical Animal Study! A Materials Science Study of Paper! We read “The Familiars,” a wonderfully fanciful tale of animals that possess great talents and live to serve their human “loyals.”  We were fascinated with the range of special traits these critters employed to meet the challenges they faced on […]

From literature to fantastical papier mache creatures, from factual reports to African-inspired paintings… broken geometric borders, white outlined organic animal shapes, environmental background, filled space, textured with patterned treatment of some shapes, all on a black background, completed with a statement about each familiar animal and its creator tucked into […]

Our first outing with buckets in tow! The tub totes (re-purposed from former lives as five gallon paint buckets) were loaded with pencils, erasers, water bottles, paper, and clipboards. We donned the hand-crocheted hats made especially for each one of us (by Grandma Charlie). Coats on… and out the door […]

The sock critters took on an amazing life! More were being made each day. Studio time was often used now to stitch up an arm, stuff a tummy, or add an eye! After the first animals were made, even adults got in on the excitement and began to make their […]

Fathers’ Day gifts made the perfect opportunity to create sculptures with metal, leaving a special place in which to post a child-penned analogy of appreciation as part of the overall design.

The bridges of Portland are strong visual designs and statements of human intent. Bridges take us places… as they have with our learning. Structures and forces became engineering, beauty and functionality became design. Words poured from aesthetics, geometry, physical and material sciences, and our first-hand experiences. Enjoy the album photos […]

When we finish tempera painting, we make painted papers, and lots of them! We don’t like to waste anything! After all, we may be able to re-purpose materials and give them an opportunity for a new life! Add that to pop-up technology that intrigues us when we look at some […]