Aaron Smith @theartguy@is.aaronbsmith.com

#Introduction / #Introductions

I'm Aaron, a Media Arts / Technology teacher for a K-8 Creative & Performing Arts Academy.

Before I did this, I was a Visual Arts teacher.

I'm very much into #DIY, #STEM, #STEAM, #DnD, #photography, the #Maker movement, and the idea that artists should be fairly compensated for the work they do (vs reposting said work without even attribution).

My politics lean left, but I don't talk about that much here.

I'm a widower.

I talk about games on @Crash.

*"Follow-for-follow." Life's too short to clutter my timeline.

*Post, boost, or favorite profanities. Yes, even the ones included in super-insightful posts. My students can find me.

*Post, boost, or favorite copyright infringement or endorsements of the same. Copyright law needs reform, sure, but it is still used to protect artists. If you're punching down and up at the same time, You're still punching down.

1/?

Rapidly rising floodwaters have created "an inland ocean" in Mozambique endangering many thousands of families, aid workers said Tuesday as they scrambled to rescue survivors of Cyclone Idai who clung to rooftops and trees. Hundreds were dead, many more were missing and thousands were at risk in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mozambique-cyclone-2019-cyclone-idai-death-toll-africa-zimbabwe-malawi/

Paper "On Air" Light Box

https://www.instructables.com/id/Repurposed-Christmas-Tree-Lighting-Neon-Illuminate/

Oh, I am so making one of these.

Was curious, so I looked it up.

I published my first podcast on April 4, 2005.

It's a horrid, poorly edited mess, as most first attempts often are.

Still, it's nice to see how early I got started.

"Earbud Buddies," A.K.A. custom cable management.

Examples are made with 3D printing and laser cutting, but designs could be made the "old fashioned" way as well.

https://www.instructables.com/id/Earbud-Buddies/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email

Seeing as how today is March 15th, I think I'll have a salad for lunch.

"Scrappy Circuits" made by taking apart tea lights from the dollar store and adding cardboard, paperclips, binder clips, and a bit of foil.

https://makezine.com/projects/scrappy-circuits/

The squeegee we're using to make silkscreened t-shirts doesn't prop up well, which makes things messy.

A binder clip fixes the problem pretty fast.

It's the little things.

Only the printing process is done "by hand." Students made their designs using a free program called Inkscape. The stencil was cut out using my Cricut.

Yesterday my Media Arts majors did a test printing of a t-shirt design. I was a little worried that cardstock would be too thick to use as a stencil, but fortunately fabric is flexible enough for this to not be an issue.

When we're done, each student will have their own unique design on the front and a common design on the back.

The alt text in this comic about file formats made me visibly cringe.

https://xkcd.com/2116/