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For the last couple weeks at Make Studio, artists have been working on PowerPoint presentations to get ready for (Power)Pointy: An Evening of Artful Powerpoint Presentations on Friday, April 7^th from 6:30-8:30pm at Make Studio’s Showroom Gallery as part of Hampden’s First Fridays.

Dasha discusses hers here!

“I mostly made PowerPoints for school before. They were more informational. This new one is more fun. While in school, I worked on ones by myself and in groups. I have enjoyed making PowerPoints with animations before. I haven’t made a PowerPoint since I’ve been out of school. School was sort of my inspiration for this PowerPoint. I reflected on four significant parts of my school years. I had a pretty sweet four years in high school. Middle school was pretty great too. My hair changed a lot during those days.”

“I am working on this new PowerPoint in a new way. I drew images for pictures on the slides. I feel I have more control in creating the image by drawing it. I’ve been having lots of fun working with the animation tools, sounds, and clip art! My favorite part so far has been adding pictures.

 “I know a big part of the PowerPoint is presenting it. I wrote out what I want to say, but I think I will just wing it. I know the stories I am going to tell. I may practice…but I probably don’t need to.

 “Making this PowerPoint made me think about how I used to play the trombone. I think I want to play the trombone again! I am excited about the PowerPoint event!”

Come see Dasha’s final product, as well as several of our artists’, at this Friday’s event!

I wanted to share something that’s been on my mind for quite a while.

When I was in my twenties I saw a lot of people in their thirties dissing people my age, telling them ‘you’ll grow out of it, too, and be in khakis and business suits and never want to wear black again, you Goth’ and they called me horrible names.  But, I didn’t let that stop me.  I decided to be more and more Goth and experiment with more styles.  I went through a lot of crazy styles.  That’s what you do.  I even tried Dark Dicora and Dark Fairy Kay and Creepy Cute.  I loved experimenting with different types of makeup looks and outfits, jumping around and pretending I was a magical girl, an eternal one that lasts forever. But nothing lasts forever.

But, who you ARE does last forever! I mean you may not be able to dress like you did five years ago or three years ago, but you’re still YOU!  And now that I’m about to turn thirty, the big Three Oh, I was a little scared that my Goth style would be destroyed by wrinkles and eye shape change and whatever.  But that hasn’t changed me at all.  I am only about to be thirty.  That’s not that too bad.  It gets worse when you get past thirties, then things start to really break down.  Yes, I am older, but I’m not ancient!  I still have friends who like me for who I am.  And some wise person said to me, there are people out there who act like they’re teenagers and then there are people out there who act like they’re sixty!  But, you know,  I am not going be that cranky old spinster.  Rather than being that cranky old spinster I’ve decided to be like the wise old witch like you see in those movies-  the old wise woman who has all the at home remedies who says: ‘this is what you need, try this, don’t try stuff that has chemicals in it. It’ll ruin your body.’

I’ve also decided to be a little guide to the younger cosplayers because, like it or not, I am still an anime fan.  Maybe Lolita is no longer for me but there are plenty of other outfits I can wear.  I’ve also decided to hang out at Club 1111 once in awhile.  It’s an amazing club and it was fun and, get this, Nerds, they even had “Underworld” on one of the big screens!  How did they know I love vampires! Being a Goth does not mean being young and beautiful and Gothy- it’s deep inside you.  And that will never change. Be who you are no matter what your age- stay true to you!

As this past year was drawing to a close, artist Tyrone wanted to share his reflections on his 2016 and New Year’s resolutions including from his fellow artists (following a tradition started in the studio last year).

Tyrone felt that 2016 started off strongly when he made a multimedia Inspector Gadget shadowbox-style piece for Make Studio’s 6th anniversary show. He carefully incorporated drawn and painted characters and 3-D woodcut gears.

Following David Bowie’s death, Tyrone began work on multiple tributes. He researched Bowie’s life and varied fashion styles, bringing books and magazines into the studio to share and playing Bowie music videos for others.

Wanting to share his love of this celebrity with others, he completed two tributes focused on his style evolution, one was an ode to Black Star, and another combined Bowie and Lady Gaga. Pieces were shown at Artscape, The Charmery, Bazaart, and Make Studio’s Holiday Thing. 

Later, in honor of other celebrities’ passings, Tyrone created a tribute to Prince for Make Studio’s Lantern Parade float, is currently working on a larger Prince tribute, and completed tributes for Christina Grimmie and Phife Dawg.

Tyrone felt that 2016 was a big year for him; he turned 31 and “learned how to handle things responsibly as an adult”, reflecting a lot on the idea of perfection as he advances his art to a new level. As he heads into 2017, Tyrone resolves to keep a positive view of the world as “there may be hard times ahead” and cares about “doing what is right for yourself” and still remaining open to people. At Make Studio, Tyrone has a lot of ideas for projects he wants to work on like a Die Hard poster and a VR Troopers piece.

Several other Make Studio artists wished to share their New Year’s resolutions, too:

 Jules: I’d like to read more.

Caroline: Not have anymore bad behavior.

Gary: I don’t want to change, but maybe I’ll read more.

Dasha: Drink less soda.

Aimee: Be more artsy.

And lastly from Tyrone: Godspeed, Starman and goodbye 2016!

(Please consider helping Make Studio to keep our community growing in 2017; find out more and how to help here.)

by John Gingrich

As I write this, my four month internship at Make Studio is drawing to a close. Simply put, my time here felt like a blessing. Being a senior painting major at MICA and a professional muralist on the side (represented by the images, below), these past few months have been very busy. Coming to Make Studio every Tuesday and Thursday, I was always welcomed with smiles and interesting conversations. I was honored to witness new works manifest by the program artists there every week.

I began to appreciate my time at Make Studio more and more as the semester progressed. The relaxed atmosphere that the artists and staff maintain became a refuge from the hustle and bustle of my school schedule. I got to spend lots of time working on interesting projects, like fabricating a large illuminated float for Patterson Park’s annual lantern parade. Some days were more laid-back, allowing a little time to spend journaling in my sketchbook.

The thing I would look forward to most everyday when biking to the studio was catching up with each artist, talking about his or her work. The friendly and artistic connections I have made with the artists at Make Studio are what I will continue to value most as I think about my time spent here.

Make Studio’s artists, the staff, and I are excited about a cool project we are contemplating for spring 2017 – a mural collaboration. I am honored for the opportunity to apply my painting experience in this way. Make Studio’s artists will be involved in every step of the creation of this piece, from the conception through the execution. I will simply act as a facilitator and technical advisor.

The pictures throughout this blog post are from a mural I painted with artists at Fili E Colori, an Art And Therapy Center in Florence, Italy this past spring. All the subject matter painted is derived from the Italian artists own original, beautiful artwork. Each character represents one of the artists at their center. With our collaboration, we are hoping to similarly create an inclusive piece of art that is representative of all the diversity and liveliness within the walls of Make Studio.

Thank you to all the wonderful people I have met and spent time with during this short period!

For more murals, visit johngingrich.net

by Alex Albert, Make Studio Artist & Pizza Chef

Hi I’m Alex.

I wanted to tell you all about pizza.

You have to roll the dough.

You have to spread the sauce on the dough.

You have to put the shredded cheese on the sauce.

You have to put the pepperoni on top of the shredded cheese.

You have to put the pizza in the oven.

You have to set the timer.

You have to wait until the pizza’s been cooked then you can eat it.

You can make a pizza as a painting!

I can make a pizza as a painting too!

How do I make a pizza as a painting?

First I need a board.

Then I need paint.

Then I need paintbrushes.

I need red paint brown paint orange paint white paint and yellow paint.

The crust is brown.

The sauce is red.

The pepperoni is red.

The cheese is white orange and yellow.

That’s how I painted the pizza.

Now that the picture is done I can sign my name on it.

The pizza looks great.

If the pizza was real it would taste delicious!

by Yam Chew Oh, intern

When I walked into Make Studio on my first day as an intern, studio members had curious looks on their faces. They later told me that they were wondering who I was and what I was doing there.

Well, at 43-years-old and having worked as a public relations professional for the past 18 years, I probably looked every bit like an unlikely intern.

My name is Yam Chew Oh (“Yam Chew” is my first name, and I have the easiest last name on earth, “Oh”), and I am originally from Singapore. I moved to Baltimore from London, UK in August 2015 to fulfill my lifelong dream of pursuing the arts. In May 2016, I graduated from the Post-Baccalaureate in Fine Art program at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA).

A self-taught artist, I started out as figurative painter. My art has evolved a lot since my time at MICA, and I currently make abstract paintings and drawings in acrylic, charcoal and graphite. I am also an avid photographer. You can see more of my art at www.yamchew.com.

I pursued interning at Make Studio a few years after I came across a similar organisation on the U.S. West Coast – I continue to be moved and inspired by the great work that both do with their artists.

I hope to draw on my corporate, life and art experience to support Make Studio and its artists.  I also want to learn from this amazing organisation – one day, I want to set up something similar in Singapore.

I’m Julian “Jules” Hinmon.  I am an artist.  I take great pride in my favorite art pieces, especially Chris and Hummerback.  Cartoons are an awesome art form.  Chris and Hummerback is my magnum opus.  It’s a series I created about an anti-social, African American 8-year-old kid named Black Chris, and his stuffed weasel, brought to life by a Pixie called the Green Pixie, who works for a place called the Imagination Bureau.  The Pixie rewards Chris for his active Imagination by bringing It to life, starting with his stuffed weasel, Hummerback Weasel.  Together, Chris and Hummerback hang out together and go on crazy adventures, while Chris also focuses on his social life.  Here is a guide to the characters. 

• Misty Dawn: Chris’s childhood friend who enjoys wearing overalls, getting good grades, and bragging about her achievements.  She is arrogant and rude, but has a good heart and means well.  She loves most cartoons, especially the movie Freeze-ed.
• Ruby Ann Sapphire: Misty Dawn’s naïve, but smart and kind, best friend.  Misty bosses Ruby Ann constantly, but Ruby Ann remains her loyal friend and looks up to her constantly.  She loves to wear dresses and skirts.  Ruby Ann is autistic.
•  Elmo Montuard: An achieving, self-entitled, loud mouth, sensitive, and popular boy.  Elmo can’t stand Misty and her judgmental ways.  He is the president of the debate club, has won numerous awards, and is an open homosexual.  He hates animated films, especially Freeze-ed.
•  Charles “Mucus” Earnstein: An angry, dimwitted, opinionated boy, who is good friends with Elmo, and shares his hatred of Freeze-ed.
•  Blaine Goldtop: A snooty, annoying, ruthless, rich jerk, Chris’s worst enemy, and the defacto antagonist of the series.  He loves to wave money in poor people’s faces.  Nobody likes him, nor would pretend to like him even if they were paid to do so.
•  Jill Fines: A bully that does not pick fights, except with Blaine, whom she hates.  She is prone to getting her feelings hurt and really just desires to have a friend.  She admires and respects Misty Dawn.
•  Erika Dawn: Misty Dawn’s tomboy-ish, brave, bossy, manipulative, hard-working, argumentative 7-year-old younger sister, who is obsessed with having her way, sports, magazines, and muscles.
•  Sabrina Dawn: Misty Dawn’s shy, naïve, humble, kind and caring, 11-year-old sister who loves magazines and doing both her own work and other people’s work.  She can be easy to take advantage of, however.  She is very popular among males.

 The Allegory:

Chris and Hummerback is an allegory about being torn between childhood and adulthood.  Being 8, you would be told you are too old to be riding 25 cent airplanes, wearing diapers, and sucking pacifiers, but you are also too young to drive and see R-rated films.  The cartoon tackles this line between childhood and adulthood.

It is also an allegory about the difference between reality and fiction.  It takes its events and drama seriously, but also breaks the fourth wall and is full of surreal elements, like dragons, talking toys, and superheroes.

Stay tuned!