Servo motor mosh

I attached a doll head that I sculpted (with flameworked

glass eyes) to a servo motor. This will be part of a larger

diorama of dancing automatons that I'm working on.

This clip is very brief because I recorded it on a computer

in the lab. This computer is so stuffed that it doesn't have

the processing power to record something longer than

about 7 seconds.

Still recovering

Tragically, the parking lot looks like Wolf Myrow threw up. Figuratively speaking, it's still ill.

The tenants of the first floor are continuing to clean out, even though nearly a month has passed since the flooding happened. Power still hasn't been restored to some buildings in the complex.

Businesses have had to throw away millions of dollars worth of merchandise that was covered in chemical sludge- sewage- riverwater.

Moira and Gareth

Today Moira and Gareth had an intimate marriage ceremony at city hall!

It was beautiful and joyous. A lot of people showed up, considering the short notice. There was even rice (which I wanted to throw in the elevator, but I waited until we were outside.)

Congratulations!

Sewing with LEDs

LED stands for "light- emitting diode". I recently made some copper jump rings and soldered them to surface- mount LEDs to produce lights that can be sewn onto textiles, using conductive thread. I was inspired by Leah Buechley's article in the first issue of Craftzine.

I removed some insulation from a copper wire and coiled the metal into a spiral around the shaft of a tiny screwdriver.

I careully snipped through the wires of the coil to create individual jump rings.

I flattened the copper rings with pliers and soldered them to the sides of the LEDs.

More soon!

Servo

Last week I stuffed this bare bones Arduino board and programmed it to oscillate. I plan to use it to make a puppet dance (or mosh.)

Laptop case

I made a case for a little netbook from a thick, old winter kimono that I got in Japan.

Teaching in June

I'll be teaching this class at AS220's Fab Lab in Providence on Sunday, June 13th and Sunday, June 20th from 1-6 P.M. It's not yet in the class schedule online but it will be soon!

Lasercutting Textiles

Learn how to lasercut textiles! This machine enables entirely new possibilities from easily cutting pattern pieces (within 1' x 2' dimensions) to creating new textures, functional decorations, dimensional objects, and even etching images or text onto fabric! We can work with both synthetic and natural fibers (both plant fibers and animal fibers.) Some materials will be provided, and you can bring in your own fabrics. This class will also include sewing tutorials for lasercut textile applications. Different techniques will be demonstrated and experimenting will be encouraged!

Alixa and Naima

You should know about this powerhouse duo of inspiring and amazing brilliance.

Naima and Alixa perform as Climbing PoeTree.

Providence has been lucky to have them for three days, and I've been enjoying their company for sure!

Small piles of color

Gil surprised me by showing up in Rhode Island, a few minutes after convincing me that he was asleep in New York. I love surprises.

Above is a picture that Gil took today of the new "pothole" on the side of the building-- more damage from the flood. I am in the picture for scale.

While displaced I spent a lot of time in the lab, lasercutting fabrics.

This is what my studio desk looks like right now. I'm working on more form and material studies for a few projects: I just found out that I'll be having a solo show at the Houston Center for Contemporary Crafts (next January through March) and I'm working on a new puppet show that I'll perform in Providence on April 28th at Mars Gas with Los Caballos de Dusseldorf (they're actually from Barcelona) as well as a puppet show by Moira Brady!

A dress

As I was getting over illness while still displaced, I spent a lot of time in the lab. One night I made a dress, including the pattern!

I had this koi print fabric for a while, but I was waiting for a project that could really showcase the scale of the pattern. I began with an existing dress that fit me well, and I made a paper pattern by tracing the panels of the constructed dress onto paper. I cut out those paper pieces and pinned them to the fabric, taking into consideration the fabric's grain and print when deciding the orientation of pinned pieces.

Two important steps in sewing with woven fabrics: clip the seams about a quarter of an inch where they curve, and iron the seams open to see the true shape of the garment.

My maternal grandmother was a professional seamstress, and she taught me how to sew when i was five years old! Thanks, Lola!

Aftermath

The power was finally restored and we've been allowed back in the building!

The waterfall usually looks like the picture above. Notice how low the river is.

I took the photo above on April 31st after the water had gone down a lot. The day before the water covered the land on both sides of the river.

The river should not cover the electrical transformers.

Flooding in the basement. The two images above came from the Atlantic Mills facebook page.

A fleamarket will happen in the parking lot tomorrow with the few vendors who didn't lose everything. Here a family tries to clean and salvage some of their inventory.

It's a good thing I'm accustomed to being away for days at a time. I'm lucky that the Artist- in- Residence room at AS220 is currently vacant, so I can stay there for the few more days before I (supposedly) get to return to my building.

Not yet

Almost all of the large industrial buildings in my neighborhood housed jewelry companies within the past few decades. Many basements stil contain large vats of chemicals for plating and polishing metals. Cyanide was definitely a popular one. The neighborhood air now wafts caustic.

According to FEMA laws, if floodwaters contact any part of a building's electrical system those components must be replaced because chemicals in the water could cause an electrical fire.

Because the river flowed high into the entire basement all of the conduit, outlets, breaker boxes, transformers, et cetera need to be replaced.

We're still not allowed back in our studio. This is being typed from outside of the RISD Library as this building has been evacuated for a fire alarm and there are now four trucks outside. It's impressive how quickly all responders arrived, and hopefully this is just a false alarm. I love that I can borrow a laptop from the RISD Library.

Still out

I'm not back yet, but at least now I look more like a Thundercat.

Flooded out

We're still not allowed to return to our building, but at least I felt well enough to go into the lab today!

Who knew these definitions? flooded out

Evacuated!

I had gone to New York to spend holidays with my family. I got pretty sick and had a lot of trouble breathing (I have very sensitive asthma.) Through all the rain, my building in Rhode Island flooded and was evacuated. I'm feeling better now, but we still haven't been allowed back in yet.