loving art, science and creative kids
9/27/2014 9:30:22 PM
Curious Cat Emerging
by Marilynne
In looking through my childhood scrapbook there is a photo of me at the age of eight with a large bandage over my nose. Apparently I had been looking over a log at a few chipmunks when I fell forward head first and landed on my nose.....an instance when curiosity got the best of me. Not being stopped by my nosey doings, I continued my quest to understand the natural world. Another time when I was eleven I wondered if the sun was hot enough to cook an egg. On a hot July day I was determined to find out. I cracked an egg in a frying pan and placed the pot on the front porch. It took many hours with bugs flying about but sure enough the egg fried from the top down. It wasn’t so appetizing but our dog certainly had a satisfying treat that afternoon. No parent helped me, or told me what to do. I just did it.
A friend tells the tale of trying to make gunpowder from a variety of household chemicals. He and his buddy waited until his comrade’s parents were away for the afternoon. The two young scientists made a bottle bomb and set it off in the back yard. Ba Da Boom! Their experiment worked, leaving a large crater in the yard and thankfully all 40 toes and fingers accounted for. His parents were not pleased.
Yes, childhood curiosity can be dangerous and I am not recommending letting kids make bottle bombs, but experimenting without an adult supervisor is an important part of childhood. I am concerned that today's parents are so concerned about safety that they are killing curiosity. Their fears, absorbed from reading news articles sensationalizing horror stories, are so paralyzing that instead of giving their children freedom to explore parents sign them up for structured classes and activities. The statistical chances of someone being kidnapped or a child hurt or lost while walking in the neighborhood are extremely low. It is more likely that a drive to the grocery store will cause an injury. Even so….my observation is that parents worry excessively.
Constant entertainment with busy schedules arranged by parents can stunt the desire of the child to become self-directed. Learning to deal with boredom and laziness is not always a bad thing. It takes quiet time to become an observer of nature and it takes alone time to understand yourself. At the age of seven while walking a mile (yes walking) alone to school I observed many large worms on the sidewalk. I spit on a worm and discovered that it split in two. The two parts then wiggled off in opposite directions. Since children today are either bused or walked briskly to school accompanied by an adult, they have limited chance to “see” their environment.
Peter Gray, a research professor at Boston College, wrote in Psychology Today about what we can learn from Hunter Gatherers. Those primitive people believed in values of personal autonomy and equality. They thought it wrong to try to control another person’s life, even a child’s. The way they taught children was by providing them with ample time to play, explore and learn by trial and error. Only when the child was motivated would the adult teach by demonstrating and presenting information. At that point small versions of tools that were in common use were given so the child could practice. Children were commonly invited to observe adult activities and their interruptions were tolerated. Games were played by both children and adults to foster a sense of community sharing.
9/21/2014 12:01:40 PM
The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry
Mixed media painting by Marilynne
Last weekend I attended a Mini-Maker Fair at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) and was impressed by the bustling activity and excitement of over one hundred inventors displaying their creations. Quite a few worked with 3- D printers, producing everything from art objects to practical machined parts and tools. It was easy to project into the future and grasp how this type of dimensional printing in going to usher in the next major industrial revolution.
Originally conceived by Maker Media, the movement now includes hundreds of thousands of people who participate in Maker Fairs throughout the country. The concept developed because the web made it easy for people to share ideas and spread inspiration, and in turn it has brought together local groups of friends involved in DIY (Do It Yourself) projects. General Electric has been active by helping to build “GE Garages” which are spaces where Makers assemble to learn modern ways of prototyping and manufacturing new devices. ADX, a similar group sponsored by Intel, also provides workshop space. Their web site says “ADX is a hub for collaboration where individuals and organizations make and learn. By sharing tools, knowledge, and experience, we’re doing things better - working together.” A focus on design and manufacturing is promoted in classes that are part of the offerings of ADX.
Growing use of 3D printers, laser cutters, welding tools and open-source electronics platforms is encouraging the growth of these techy-craft gatherings which are resulting in a new wave of innovation. These gatherings are not always formally organized. Billed as craft nights, weekly meetings in homes bring like minded individuals together who enjoy building robots, identifying and shaping rocks, developing computer games or playing with electronics and sound. In my Grandma’s day, it was called a knitting circle, in my day… a club, now it is a gathering.
The traditional crafts have also benefited by this DIY movement. I went to one Maker gathering and brought my art supplies along with an acrylic painting to complete. While there I observed a woman crafting jewelry, a man designing something on his computer, two men discussing formulas for making a liqueur, several men welding car parts in order to transform it into a dune buggy, a woman knitting a design she had previously fashioned on her computer, and a host of other people working on a communal art project that involved computer driven electronics. This movement is getting an added boost from Quirky and Kickstarter, two web based companies that help Makers find financial resources to turn their ideas into real life products.
One surprising section at OMSI’s maker fair focused on aboriginal skills. Why would they be included in what was primarily a techy-craft event? Answer...because these primitive tools and crafts represented the high technology of their day. We are reminded that nothing is completely new, just the manifestations are.
I am personally delighted with this trend that brings friends together in a collaborative and creative way. Though synergistic outcomes of these gatherings are often impressive, the enjoyment that comes from developing close relationships with those who share interests is life affirming.
A Sphere being assembled by a Maker with pieces of scrap lumber….. Magnificent!
9/13/2014 5:49:28 PM
Beginnings - If I was a cave artist this is what I might have produced.
Are There Jobs for Archeology Buffs?
Wouldn’t it have been exciting to be the teenager who found a Duck-billed Hadrosaur mummy in North Dakota in 2007? Imagine discovering a dinosaur with skin so that scientists don’t have to guess about the outer covering of this great extinct mammal.
Dinosaur explorations often change our view of history. I always imagined myself on a dig-team, becoming famous for finding a missing link. When my children were growing up I thought it would be fun to take them to the Dakotas or Texas on a dig as part of a family vacation. I never followed through though, so now I have to be satisfied by visiting museums and purchasing interesting books about cultural and physical anthropology.
When I took my 9 and 10 year old granddaughters to see dinosaurs in Seattle, the children asked me to wait as were getting into the car. The girls had to get their “research material” to bring with them to the museum. I laughed at the idea, but waited patiently while they ran to the house, grabbed notebooks and pencils along with a small reference book. At the museum they immediately went from display to display, writing down information and drawing a picture of each dinosaur. My grandchildren were so intensely involved in their studies that I asked the guide if any of the closed cases containing dino-eggs and small parts could be opened for closer examination. Yes, was the answer, and the children were shortly engaged in looking at specimens under a microscope. That museum visit made me realize how fearless, curious, and participatory young children are when given a chance to explore. They often lead the way to learning.
Pre-history is interesting for young and old alike. Kennewick Man, found on the banks of the Columbia River in Kennewick, Washington is shown to be between 8,000 and 10,000 years old. He must have been in a great deal of pain because of five broken ribs that healed improperly and a projectile point lodged in his hip. Because his physical characteristics and diet were so different from other Native American people living in the area his ancestry stirred quite a controversy since his 1996 discovery. He was a seal hunter who came from far away, possibly Alaska or the Aleutian Islands. With his Asian features he might even made the journey himself across the Bearing sea.
According to recent DNA tests my partner, Ray, has a mixture of genes that point to part Asian ancestry. I now wonder if some of his relatives may have been related to Kennewick Man. We had always assumed that he had Clovis ancestry but his test results point to an earlier time. His Northwest coast carvings, though, have always embraced the more recent native art forms.
Archeology teaches us a great deal about our human ancestors but when you go further back in time to look at remains of creatures that predated man’s existence we begin to start to get a more complete story about how change in climate conditions affected their lives. Can understanding geology and archeology help us with current issues of global warming?
Scientists look at prehistoric creatures and how they lived, at changes in land mass and atmospheric and oceanic conditions for clues that can help in predicting the fate of the earth over the next millennium. According to Peter Dodson at the University of Pennsylvania there are great times ahead for dinosaur hunters. In Science Daily he reported that paleontology will be a good career because new discoveries are increasing by 10-20% a year. So…if those visits to museums, digging for dino-bones in toys, and reading books spark an interest in your child you may want to fan the flame. And if forensics and DNA analysis fascinate you it may be time to become a sleuth yourself by joining the National Geographic Genome study.
Please share your opinion about this issue.
Photo of Ray and Marilynne getting ready to perform wearing Ray’s Masks.
9/2/2014 4:39:33 PM
The Family in a Turkish Village - inspired by Greg Hawthorn
A friend of mine received a call from a daughter who was in trouble after a difficult divorce. She and her children were emotionally and financially drained. Happily my friend was able to gallop on his white horse and start the rescue process. She was very fortunate to know that she had loving support during a difficult time. His age and experiences contributed useful suggestions that gave her a rock for stability and the understanding that she was not standing on it alone.
What a difference this type of support means to a child of any age. With tongue in cheek my husband says, “When the kids reach 60, their on their own.” Life is certainly different today than it was when he was young and pushed out of the house after high school.
At some time or other all people experience difficult, unexpected situations. At that time family and friends are suddenly valued and give new insight into the need for interdependence. My granddaughter saw how her “old fashioned, opinionated” parents were right there for her when she became seriously ill. Now that she is better she sees them in new light, showering them with love and respect. Family has a much stronger meaning for her now.
So how do young parents establish respect, stability, and love so that their children will grow up with strong family bonds, ties that in turn foster trust, permit risk taking, and encourage communication?
The answer starts with the three Ls…. listen, listen, listen without judging. When a child feels heard he is being acknowledged as a valuable human being it demonstrates that he or she is respected, and that goes a long way to gaining a sense of self worth. Self affirmation in turn gives the child freedom to express feelings and beliefs.
Listening does not mean lying down and just accepting everything you hear but it does imply that you are going to accept that your child has a right to an opinion. If you do not particularly like or agree with what is being communicated my suggestion is to breathe deeply and take a moment to insure that your blood pressure and adrenaline are down. Train yourself in the art of not “flying off the handle.”
By thinking through your reaction and taking whatever time is needed to clarify your response, it becomes easier to develop a rational way to discuss the issue. In other words, stop and think before shouting. A reply at first might be, “that is a lot to take in, let me think about it and get back to you by this afternoon or tomorrow.”
By responding later without anger you are demonstrating that your child has been heard and that you are willing to take his or her arguments into account before integrating them into your own values, finances, and commitments. The ensuing discussion is more likely to be a pleasant one even if the child is disappointed at the outcome.
Family members may need each other from time to time throughout life but it is very difficult to ask or offer help if a relationship has not been established early. As a parent or grandparent you may ask yourself what else you can do to develop truthful dialog. If you are usually negative then you can be sure that you are not going to hear about the trials, tribulations and happiness that are part of your child’s day. Most kids just clam up.
I have heard some of my friends admit “I just don’t understand my child!” or “That is not who I thought he was.” Relationships don’t just “go bad” and a bad situation does not have to stay that way.
There are other friends who enthusiastically acknowledge that they communicate with their children regularly. They take pride in the fact that they are “very close.” These lucky parents are fortunate for it is likely that their children will be there for them as they age or face difficulties. Tit for tat can be a good thing. Best of all, the joys will be there for you to enjoy as you continue to share life’s adventure.
