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Someone asked me how the movement of the Ningyo-Joruri puppet head that I made during Nori Sawa’s masterclass a few years ago worked , so I’ve drawn a diagram on my iPad to illustrate the mechanism. It makes more sense if you look at in context with my photoset from the class, and perhaps with the original blog post.
I made this giant garden fork prop for The Fool Factory recently. There are some making photos in my portfolio at Flickr. Before I handed it over we had fun posing with it like the farmer couple in Grant Wood’s American Gothic painting and various other silly things. It definitely invites comic scenarios.
I’ve been making yoghurt for a couple of months now, and I’m still blown away by how easy and good it is! I got my recipe from searching Down to Earth.
Here’s what I do:
I’ve taken to making this while I am preparing dinner, then it sits by the fire overnight, and is ready in the morning. But I’ve also had success with putting the pot in an esky with some containers of boiling water. And yes, once you make one batch you can use it to make the next.
How to makedo – extended from MAKEDO on Vimeo.
I’d love to have a play with these cool Makedo reusable connectors!
This suggestion of a seagull skeleton is a prop for a new play I’m working on, but I rather like it as an object for itself. It’s given me some ideas for making some stranger ones when I get some time later.
By coincidence, today I happened across Chris Jordan’s photographic collection Midway: Message form the Gyre, a photographic documentation how albatross chicks on Midway Atoll ban in the middle of the Pacific Ocean often die because they end up being fed heaps of plastic junk. It’s shocking – only look if you are feeling strong.
Not finished yet.
On FriendFeed today Amy today pointed to a British House of Commons debate about trying to save traditional crafts. I rather fear it is a lost cause. The upsurge in crafting and making in the last few years driven by the web is great in many respects, but I suspect probably can do little to help the traditional crafting skills of the sort referred to in the debate, as economies of scale are lined up against them.
But the article did remind me of some lovely images of traditional craftsmen by printmaker Stanley Anderson. Here are three:
Coppicing:
Chairmaking:
Basket weaving:
These are from Country Bazaar, a 1970′s book about country crafts. (I’m not sure about copyright here – please let me know if it is an issue). You can find a few more if you google, for instance The Violin Maker, but wouldn’t it be cool if it were possible to see the whole series?
