In this episode I have a year-end catch up chat with my friend Trevor Higgins, know as @dustysqueak on Instagram. We chat about belt buckles furniture, sewing, leather and 3D printing. Along the way we imagine building an envelope stuffing machine. I am sure with all those skills we could figure it out. Don't miss the bit about a 7-1/2 foot tall Start Wars robot (android? can you call them robots if they are from Star Wars?)
Remember kids, Music is Math!
My guest is Dean from @dean_makes on Instagram. We chat about his history in making, including working in a secondary school wood shop, working is music stores and learning the skills of a guitar tech, to guitar building and digital fabrication. Of course, along the way we discuss Dean's discovery of the maker community.
We also learn that it might just be the year for Andy Pugh to get a pen plotter.
Check out Dean on Instagram and https://www.youtube.com/@DeanMakeshttps://www.youtube.com/@DeanMakes.
Mark and Nick are back, and we chat about getting back to business after a break due to the natural cycles of life. Hear us chat about why YouTube sucks, marketing, telling your story, how to identify and manage distractions, and ADHD.
We actually did some recommendations, I recommended the Woodworkers Book Club and The Shaker Legacy by Christian Becksvoort.
Mark recommends the Op Podcast, hear stories from professional camera operators.
Nick Recommends the ADHD Chatter Podcast. Find out 13 Ways to Trigger ADHD Rage.
My guest is Kelli Anderson, the artist, designer, and tinkerer behind interactive books like This Book is a Camera. Kelli's latest book, Alphabet in Motion, is a pop-up book that explores the history of how letterforms got their shapes. We chat about how she discovered the craft of paper engineering, problem-solving the design problems of a pop-up book, teaching, and as usual, the art of paying attention.
Check out Alphabet in Motion and Kelli's Instagram.
This week I talk to artist, educator, and learning designer Jack Thomas about seeing patterns, making art, and the scientific side of art and printmaking, and doing and getting lost in the process. Along the way we end up talking about Paul from the Woodworking is Bullshit podcast and his approach to creating and collaborating. We also chat about her book Artist Therapy: 26 Secrets to Studio Success.
Find out more about her work on Instagram and jackthomas.art.
This week I talked to Jamie Seel of Seel Made about her creative journey from learning fashion design to creating her unique line of leather handbags. We chat about her experience teaching and demonstrating at the Catskill Mountain Maker Camp and her mobile pop-up store .
Check out Seel Made on Instagram and seelmade.com
My guest this week is Kathy Ceceri, a maker, writer, and educator who focuses on history, science, technology, and art. We talked about her latest book published by Make:Community Paper Inventions Second Edition, along with her path to STEAM education through home schooling and curiosity. We discuss the current state of Maker Faires and the value of connecting with your local creative community.
Check out Kathy's work on her web site kathyceceri.com
Kathy was proud to share her kid's work as well.
Jax Ceceri's Drywall Eating Simulator on Steam from Peripheral Playbox
Anthony Ceceri's hand-drawn animated short film Stairwell
After work travel and technical difficulties, here's a great conversation with Tom Breslin from The Phoenix Woodshop! We talk about his start making signs in the garage with just a 1965 Craftsman router, to his rediscovery of sign making with a CNC Router. Along the way we discuss the value of learning and sharing in the making community. Tom highlights the creative community with his new podcast Create and Connect.
Check out Tom on Instagram and the Create and Connect Podcast.
Photo by Mark Adams Pictures
If you've been around the online maker community, you may have run into Paul Meyette, one of the best supporters of the community around. I was lucky to meet Paul at northeast maker events several years ago and he's definitely supported my work as well. We chatted about how he got started making things, discovering the online maker community, and building your own little community, finding folks to support. Paul created the Northeast Makers Facebook and Instagram accounts to highlight the wide range of creative people he encountered along the way.
Briony Morrow-Cribbs currently lives & works in the hills of rural Vermont as a printmaker, illustrator, graphic designer and maker of little things. We discussed her creative family, and work, specifically copper plate etching. This includes nature-inspired prints, book covers and illustrations.
Rasmus Loen is a blacksmith, as described on the podcast he co-hosts, from Norway! We talk about learning and teaching blacksmithing, Zelda, and of course the making and selling of forged objects. You won't be surpised to hear we mention community a bit in there somewhere.
Check out Rasmus as one-third of the Setting Up Shoppe podcast with Dan and Heidi.
This week I talked to Liz from Blitz City DIY. She makes a lot of music and electronics related projects. We discuss how she went from a music major to experimenting with Arduino to creating DIY YouTube videos and guides for Adafruit. We discover why patterned plywood might be related to quilting and a bit about modular synths.
Check out Liz on Instagram, Youtube and the Adafruit web site.
Gary Oshust went from a career in IT to taking a sculpture class and beyond. We talk about his interest in minature art, as well as his time managing a maker space, interest in aviation and keeping the "A" in STEAM.
Check out Gary on Instagram.
Photo credit to Mark Adams.
Michele Banks makes biology and science inspired art exploring the patterns we find in nature from viruses and bacteria to animal and plant cells and even neuroscience. We talked about how you don't need to be a kid who was good at drawing to become a working artist, inspiration from science communication, and her email newsletter about the work and philosophy of making art a career.
Mark Adams and Nick Toga are back and we discuss upcoming events, catch up on recent events, and widely range across maker topics. Highlights include Making it 500, AWFS Fair in Vegas, Texas Woodworking Festival, the Fitchburg Forge-in and of course, Catskill Mountain Maker Camp! Along the way we discuss monetizing knowledge, creative community, and buying stuff from makers.
A plethora of mentions:
A solo episode, Fitchburg Forge-in announcement. a preview of just some of the awesome stuff to see at the Catskill Mountain Maker Camp, and my take on the "What is Social Media?" question posed by the Woodworking is Bullshit podcast!
Shane Bowman is my guest this week. We chat about discovering printing and graphic design, and accidentally finding a career in industrial design make point-of-purchase product displays. He wanted to make a case for a favorite pen and to his surprise that started his love of leather craft. Next he saw some custom leather hardware, and found a way to make his own, and to provide that for the wider maker community.
Follow Shane on Instagram
Chelsea Witt has recently been appointed the Executive Director of The Chairmaker's Toolbox whose mission is "Increasing access and equity in the field of chairmaking. Founded by & for under-represented woodworkers & chair nerds". We chat about Chelsea's journey from and interest in art, and taking pre-med classes on way to becoming a surgeon, to the pivot to woodworking, and in building the woodworking community through education.
Kellan Moss from @dirtmossart shares how she discovered the field of medical and scientific illustration and the interesting places it has taken her, including a geology research ship. From geological cores we move on to why making art is good for you, and the value of bad art.
Learn more about Kellan's work on Instagram
Steve from @haybudden is here and we cover how he got the amazing username "Haybudden" and how he discovered his love of blacksmithing and making things with metal. We chat a bunch about how the New England Blacksmiths fit into the maker community and also a bit about how great Pat Quinn and the Center for Metals are. Don't miss Field of Tools August 8-10 at the Blackthorne Resort.
Follow Steve on Instagram.
Check out the New England Blacksmiths
Learn something at the Center for Metal Arts
Photo by Mark Adams Pictures