Mighty Ugly at New Craft Symposium
I had the pleasure of bringing Mighty Ugly to Prince George, BC, as part of the New Craft Symposium hosted by Material Matters of Emily Carr University of Art & Design at Two Rivers Gallery.
UBC Maker Camp 2016
I brought Mighty Ugly to UBC Maker Camp for the second year in a row, and it was a blast! The weeklong camp, associated with Make Media’s Maker Camp and supported in part by the Vancouver Maker Foundation, is for girls entering grades 7 or 8, and it’s the only exception I make to my adults-only rule for Mighty Ugly.
It was such a great group of kids, and I had almost nothing to do while they made their creatures. No prodding or prompting needed! Within a few minutes, they’d even invented a whole society for their creatures to belong to, complete with a supreme ruler, royal children, and a hierarchy of dignitaries and servants.
I love that there’s a girls-only Maker Camp in town, and that the organizer, UBC prof Dave Ng, includes crafty pursuits alongside the mechanical and coding projects.
Camp, man! So much fun!
Mighty Ugly for Valentine’s Day at the Chattanooga Public Library
A couple of months ago, I got a Twitter mention from the Chattanooga Public Library in Tennessee, about a Mighty Ugly workshop they were going to host for Valentine’s Day. And I nearly fell out of my chair. I mean, how perfect is that?! It’s totally perfect. So of course I told the librarian how excited I was, and I sent her a signed book to give away, and I recorded a wee video intro for the event.
Here’s the video (in which I explain why Mighty Ugly and Valentine’s Day are a perfect match, natch) and some tweets from the event that made my heart sing. (If you’re a librarian who thinks this idea is swell, or you’re just an average person like me and you’d like to ask your friendly neighbourhood librarian to host a Mighty Ugly event, check out this link with loads of info to help!)
@mightyugly thoughts from our inner demons on @4thfloorchatt @chattlibrary pic.twitter.com/yrmCbPD7TI
— bibli (@bibli) February 13, 2016
More @4thfloorchatt @mightyugly pic.twitter.com/kNmX3HH9L7
— bibli (@bibli) February 13, 2016
More @mightyugly on @4thfloorchatt @chattlibrary pic.twitter.com/Giq9T9UjBB
— bibli (@bibli) February 13, 2016
@mightyugly @chattlibrary @4thfloorchatt pic.twitter.com/Cg5pNiyVGq
— bibli (@bibli) February 13, 2016
@mightyugly @chattlibrary @4thfloorchatt pic.twitter.com/WDPAEr5GIW
— bibli (@bibli) February 13, 2016
5 Reasons to Do a Year of Making (+ Free Worksheet!)
I’m still finding my way around Periscope, and one of the things I love most about it is that people can comment as you record, so you can respond to what they say or ask. I just love it. Anyway, as I’ve been experimenting with the platform, I find I’ve been chatting with people more and more about daily making and Year of Making, so I did a scope highlighting five reasons to do a Year of Making. The video of my five reasons is below, as is the link to get the free worksheet I promised in the scope!
Scope Notes
- I mentioned my friend Meighan O’Toole (whose scopes are ace, btw), and this post she linked to from someone doing a Year of Making.
- Bullet Journaling. (I’ve written about my own here, here, and here.)
- Here’s a direct link to the #yearofmaking stream on Instagram.
- My online not-really-a-class: Daily Making Jumpstart. (That’s what you’ll find at the website I mention in the scope: camp.kimwerker.com. In a few weeks, I’ll launch my next class on there; sign up for my weekly email to be the first to find out about it!)
- You’ll get the Year of Making ebook if you choose the ebook option when you sign up for the Daily Making Jumpstart, or you can purchase it on its own right here.
- Crafts/art/cooking I’ve done that I had never done before I did my first Year of Making (many of these have become standard fare for me):
- soap-making
- other skin-care products like lip balm and lotion
- mixed-media art stuff
- watercolour painting
- stamp-carving
- related: print-making
- general cooking (I mean, obviously I’d cooked before, but I’ve become a far more competent cook)
- challah baking
- weaving
- bookbinding (my newest love)
- I’m going to start an Alabama Chanin sew-along at some point, and I’ll be picking up this book to learn and work from.
- The brush-lettering ebook I mentioned.
{The app that let me embed a Periscope video here went kaput! I’ll try to dig up the original and will post it when I find it!}
On Being an Expert in Doing Things I Have No Idea How to Do
Several weeks ago, I got an email from the manager of an art-supply store here in Vancouver, asking if I’d like to teach a collage workshop in the store – specifically about how/where to start when you haven’t a clue. One of the things I love about Opus is that they have a very liberal view of whom they consider to be an artist.
Of course, I don’t really do collage. Like, ever.
But I want to. And I’ve wanted to for a long time.
So I considered the where-to-start thing to be totally in line with my goal of experimenting with collage, and I said yes. An enthusiastic yes to teaching this workshop.
Because though I know very little about collage, I am an expert in doing things I have no idea how to do. In fact, I have spent my whole life honing my not-knowing-where-to-start skills.
And very specifically, I’ve become truly ace at not knowing where to start and starting anyway.
So the way I see it, and the store manager seemed to agree, I’m totally qualified to teach this workshop. And teach it I will.
The first thing I had to do to start preparing for the workshop is to start starting. So I laid out my ideas for how to start a collage when you don’t know how or where to start, and then I started executing those ideas.
It’s tremendous fun. You should give it a shot!
Stay tuned for more workshop details. I’ll post about it on Instagram and Twitter (and also here on the blog, obviously) when registration opens!
Note: the very brief bits I wrote about collage in Make It Mighty Ugly were bits I really struggled to write, because I knew I was writing good advice, but I also knew it’s advice I’ve had a very hard time following. I think this workshop will finally be the death of those particular creative demons. Hallelujah!
Ugly Creature from a Reader: Meet Petunia Alex
Check out Petunia Alex, the ugly creature Pamela Arriera made when she worked through Make It Mighty Ugly. I love seeing photos of readers’ ugly creatures, and it’s even better when they include the story they wrote about their creature. Thanks, Pamela, for giving me permission to share yours here!
Have you made an ugly creature on your own, and written out its story? I’d love to see it!
