My farewell blog post

by Nadine Handschuh

I’ve spent a wonderful and inspiring 15 weeks in Baltimore, “the greatest City in America”.*

Make Studio gave me the great opportunity to be the first over-the-pond-intern from Europe. I’m so thankful and it has been a life-changing experience. But unfortunately, it’s time to say good-bye and I’m writing this farewell blog post to share my thoughts and short anecdotes with you!

To spell it all out…

M	M for Music Every Tuesday and Thursday, Jerry turned on the radio, switched to the classical music channel and we enjoyed the program. Music and Art is a perfect combination in my opinion and sometimes, they played a piece of a famous Austrian fellow, Mozart! 🙂
A	A for Arts Drawing and painting is a great way to express emotions. Some of us are not able to talk about their thoughts, feelings and wishes. Art helps us finding a voice. That’s why Make Studio has been inspiring me every single day.
K	K for Keswick Road and Kitchen I fell in love with the Hampden neighborhood and the Schwing building is beautiful. And having lunch, talking about saved faves and comic characters has always been entertaining. I always enjoyed our lunch break conversations.
E	E for Empowerment The Make Studio is a perfect example how empowerment, inclusion and supporting talents can encourage artists to improve their drawing and painting skills. It’s been an honor to be a part of this process.
S	S for “Snowmaggedon” 2016 “Jonas” was the first (and hopefully last :P) Blizzard of my life. After 20 to 30 inches of snow and unplowed streets, it was the perfect time for Netflix and binge-watching!
T	T for Time “Take your time” “Don’t rush” I love the relaxed and at the same time constructive atmosphere at the Make Studio and the process is as important as the finished piece. And I found a very helpful Date to Date Calculator which says that I’ve spent 110 days, 9.504.000 million seconds, 158.000 minutes, 15 weeks and five days and 30.14% of a common year (365 days) in the USA. Okay, maybe a little bit too accurate 😉
U	U for the USA My time in the States has changed my life! I got the chance to get to know a new culture and great artists and personalities.
D	D for Distance The distance between “Charm City” Baltimore, Maryland and my hometown Linz, Upper Austria is approximately 4,310 miles or 6,937 km. I’v never been so far and long away from my home country and it’s been the biggest adventure of my life.
I	I for International The Studio is close to the John Hopkins University Campus, so I’ve met a lot of people from different countries during waiting for the free bus. And thanks Circulator, you saved me a lot of money! 🙂
O	O for Over-the-pond When my professor first mentioned that I could do my internship in Baltimore, I was so excited! I think every student should work or study abroad to broaden his or her horizon.

Thank you so much to the artists at Make Studio and for everything you’ve done for me the last four months! You welcomed me with open arms and I’ll never forget that.

I’ll miss you and wish you the best for your future.

Nadine

*Note from Make Studio staff: Nadine bravely traversed Baltimore mostly by bike and bus, so spent a lot of time with our signature benches!

**Also, we can’t let her leave us without sharing a few pics from her last day with us. We’re going to miss her so much, and know she has a bright future in social work (or whatever career she chooses) ahead of her!

 

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2015 was truly a phenomenal year for Make Studio! Between moving, settling in and customizing the Schwing space, and events almost every month, happenings for artists and staff felt nonstop.

(If you haven’t had a chance to see it, this summary highlights what we were up to events-wise: 2015 In Review)

With further plans for our building and upcoming events filling us with excited anticipation for next year, we took some time out to collect our studio community’s New Year’s resolutions.

Read on to find out what artists and staff want to do and make happen in 2016*…

Do more artwork. – Louis, artist

Get organized! – Meg, intern

Get an American accent. – Nadine, EU intern

To resume yoga after many years’ hiatus. – Cathy, staff

I’d like to meet a guy who is rich. And my second thing, I want to see my picture framed on the wall. – Caroline, artist

I want to save as much money as I can. – Gary, artist

Take a vacation in the mountains. – Erin, staff

I want to have a part-time job. – Zach, artist

To have an art show outside of Baltimore. – Bart, staff

Make time to oil paint. – Emily, intern

To help everybody. – Woody, artist

To read more books and be more informed. To keep learning. – Carolyn, staff

To draw and write more often to develop my style. – Isaac, artist

To lose weight. – Garrett, artist

1. Make a snowman; 2. Visit people; 3. Go sledding; 4. Shovel the snow; 5. Play games; 6. Go places; 7. Watch TV; 8. Take turns; 9. Listen to people; 10. Eat something healthy. – Alex, artist

Make more space for myself and others. To try to master Zen Buddhist cooking. – Jill, staff

To keep my grounds maintenance job forever. – Tony, artist

Art is my goal. – Jeanne, artist

Make more sense. – Stefan (communications-minded) staff

Sweet plenty of coloring books
nice to me. I am good every
year.
I have been good seasons
Entire year
I am good to say I love you.
A new coloring books into
the new studio.
You are very sweet to
me. – Margie, (resident poet) artist

From all of us at Make Studio, Happy New Year!

We’d love to hear your resolutions and feedback… drop us a line at:  info@make-studio.org

*Unfortunately, pre-holiday plans and illnesses kept some folks out of the studio recently, preventing us from getting everybody’s resolutions.

by Jerry “Partyman” Williams

Last Sunday I dressed as my Cosplay Ringmaster Eric Michael Gillett from the Ringling Bros. 125th Anniversary Edition. The people loved my Cosplay outfit and took pictures of me with their cellphones, their cameras and tablets.

I saw a lot of famous people from TV news of WJZ 13 News, WBFF Fox 45 News, our Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis and The Baltimore Orioles Mascott and Nick Mosby the one will run as Mayor of Baltimore, MD.

I also saw Cosplayers of Star Wars and Ghostbusters. It was quite smoothly. And there was the King of Rock’n’Roll himself, Elvis Presley Cosplay. He had the same moves and sing style moves just like the real Elvis himself.

They had all kinds of floats, big balloons and a marching band playing. All of the marching bands did a great job. Plus three horseback riders ride a horse for the parade. It’s reminded me since I was in 1997 St. Elizabeth School days.

The last one is the Christmas holly jolly himself and the loved most: Santa Claus.

And if have time the next year in 2016, my make-studio will have an own float. I will wear a different Cosplay outfit Johnathan Lee Iverson the Ringmaster from Ringling Bros. “LEGENDS”

Last Friday I’ve been at the make-studio Pop-Up Event and I was dressed as a Cosplay Ringmaster.

 

 

It was my first time at the Pop-Up Event this year 2015 and I had fun. I’ll be at the next Popup-Event tomorrow and I’ll be dressed as a second Ringmaster Cosplay. I’m looking forward to go to the make-studio Pop-Up Event tomorrow!

Hopefully see you tomorrow, and as my friend Johnathan Lee Iverson the Ringmaster (The one I met him in 2000) says, “May All your days Be Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Days!” , and I say “We Wish you Love, Peace & Circus Rocks!!!”

by Dontavius Woody

(Make Studio artist Woody looks back at his busy October, in which he and his work were featured in a series of events, made possible by Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts’ Free Fall Baltimore.)

It was a pleasure.  I had an art show in the gallery at the beginning of the month.  I used the iPad to type and share this statement with guests:

To all of you my name is Woody. I am a art student of Ms. Yvonne and I am an artist with Make Studio. Welcome to Make Studio thanks for coming. I like all this art I made here and the pieces I made with Yvonne. I feel inspired by people watching. I like to draw, paint, and think about people. In the studio I like making sure people get their phone calls and hear the doorbell. Being with people makes me feel wanted. I want people to know that they are notalone and are wanted. Somebody is always looking out for them. Being wanted means you feel like always like someone might feel good because someone always looking out for them. My art lets people know I see them and I know them.

My mother came to the show and she said she loved it and it was nice. 

It was also fun having guests there- new people to meet.  They liked all of my pictures.  My friends and co-workers at Make Studio came, too.

Later in October, I was with Shantel and Kareem at the art workshop.  Miss Yvonne and I were the leaders of the workshop and we made books with paint and stamps.  We sewed the books.  Miss Erin and I were the leaders of the other workshop.

We made sure that everybody was working on their pictures and made sure that their phones did not ring when they were drawing.

I am really glad that everybody came to watch the show and make art and see my work.  I sold a piece of my work to someone who likes my artwork.  I feel proud.  I am going to donate the money to somebody who doesn’t have money or is looking for a job to help them feel better.

By Jordan Merlino

Last week at Make Studio, I hosted a workshop for the artists on how to apply ink and how to use techniques and different materials for textures and abstract shapes and forms. What prompted me to host the workshop is my observation in the studio of seeing a lack of India ink. The artists use Sharpie markers and watercolor, so I figured giving a demo on different ways to use India Ink would be great (mainly because I used a lot of watercolor techniques with ink). Furthermore, I am very passionate about ink application and usage; it is one of my favorite mediums to work with.

The pay off from the workshops were wonderful. The artists really were able to step out of their boundaries and experiment with the new medium. For instance, Zach Manuel is known for his graphic and illustrative characters, but during the ink workshop Zach created beautiful minimalist ink washes. Chuck experimented with abstract wet on wet application, and then experimented with colored acrylic ink with India ink. What was even more exciting was when staff, other interns and volunteers got involved and interested in working with ink.

-By Zach Manuel

by Jordan Merlino, Summer Intern

What does love got to do with it? Well, love has a lot to do with Chuck Fischer’s inspirations as an artist.

Chuck has been dating his girlfriend Jessica for two years, and he has hopes that they will keep growing their relationship.

My girlfriend and I met at the greenhouse almost two years ago. My mom likes my girlfriend. Our two-year anniversary is coming up in September, and we are planning to go to Valentino’s . . . . We’re planning to get married in 2017. We’re moving in together next year.

Chuck also dedicates some of his artwork to this relationship.

 

Love Is Forever is a piece about my girlfriend and I. It’s really special to me, and the significance goes really deep for me. I also have a photograph from my phone that I turned into a drawing. I blew it up on the computer and drew it that way. I used watercolor and charcoal.

Chuck plans to create more work about his relationship and other types of love — for his family, friends, and towards the world at-large — in the future.

 

See more of Chuck’s work and purchase it via his artists’ page: http://www.make-studio.org/artist_pages/chuck_fischer.html