Posted By Janet Lawson, MFT on January 17, 2011

2011 is off to a great start! Thanks to Autistry families and friends we met the $7,500 Miranda Lux grant challenge. These funds are specifically to support our Core Pre-Vocational Workshops and will be used to purchase power tools, video equipment, and workshop supplies. It will also augment our Opportunity Fund making it possible for more families to attend our workshops.

DANCIN’ AT DUFFY PLACE – Saturday, March 5, at 5pm. Mark your calendars for our first big event in the new studio – 37 Duffy Place, San Rafael. The warehouse studio will be transformed into a dance hall and art gallery as we celebrate our wonderful new space and expanding program. There will be a live auction of Fantasy Garden Structures specially created by the Autistry members, a silent auction of fabulous student artwork and music by Cassandra Farrar and the Left Brains.  Join us for an evening of fun and creative exuberance.  Tickets go on sale soon so stay tuned.

The workshops are buzzing!

Friday Build Stuff with Dan: Adam finished building his dual boot computer and is now converting an old laptop into a digital photo display unit. He is fast becoming our go-to IT guy. Corey is working with Dan on the Fantasy Garden Structures -researching photos and helping with the design concepts. Ian G. is doing the very detailed painting of his characters for the new diorama. He is also working with us during the week on a host of Autistry building chores. Ross has finished the sketch model for his World War I piece and will begin the build process. We welcomed a new member, Daniel M. to the group this week. Daniel has been exploring Star Wars scenes looking for the perfect scenario to build.

Saturday Film Stuff with Nate: Peter and Steven added the credits to the Rock ’em Sock ’em epic. It will have its premiere showing at the March 5th event. This semester Ian and Sawyer will work with Peter and Steven to create a group project. I peeked in and it looks like there is a film noir in the works! Lots of venetian blinds and deep shadows.

Saturday Build Stuff with Dan: The train boys! Connor, Ryan, Andrew and Daniel G. are working together on a huge HO scale train layout. This is an exciting and ambitious project based on a layout done by John Olson and featured in Model Railroader. This week they cut out the road bed for the tracks. Everyone got a lot of practice on the jigsaw.

Sunday Build Stuff with Dan: Lots of energy in the Sunday group! David is carving a bokken (wooden Japanese sword). Daniel S. is making fiberglass chest and back armor. As none of us has done this before we will all be learning something new. Devon is adding the final touches to Rattina’s Nest. Gabe, who just joined us is building a multi-level dreamscape diorama.

Tuesday Build Stuff with Dan: Owen is working with Suzi to get Eunice the Unicorn ready for the printers. Abe finished his tug boat and is working on a wooden castle with a drawbridge. He also has a new line of Valentine Cards for sale. Katharine finished the base of her Beetlejuice diorama and will begin work on the house and cemetery. April came on board with lots of ideas and energy! She is working on an undersea diorama – a real challenge.

Thursday Build Stuff with Dan: Two new faces on Thursday. Jon is working on a retro Batmobile as well as creating some great character sketches. Aaron is in the exploration phase, looking through books for ideas and letting his mind go wide and dream. Rinny has created some wonderful characters for her shadow play and has shot several test scenes. Erik, pictured here with Jonathan, is putting the finishing touches on his Sausalito train layout – it is looking great! Jonathan, after suffering through putting together a teeny tiny model is now working on the Titanic.

Lots of work happening around here and we are having a blast.

Janet, Dan, Nate and Liz

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Posted By Dan Swearingen on January 4, 2011

Great project idea. Minecraft Lego and other Lego.

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Posted By Janet Lawson, MFT on December 28, 2010

2010 has been a year of change and growth at Autistry Studios. We moved into a huge and wonderful new studio- 37 Duffy Place in San Rafael. We added 3 more workshops (and another will likely begin soon!). Our membership has doubled. We have new staff, new volunteers and many new families. And there is much more fun ahead in 2011!

We just listed the Core Workshops for Jan-May 2011 and you can find the list here: Spring Workshop Schedule. Click on the workshop titles for more information.

Meet the Challenge! The Miranda Lux Foundation has put up a $7,500 Challenge Grant to support our Core Workshop Program. This is a matching grant which means that they will match dollar for dollar all funds we raise up to $7,500. So, your end-of-the-year donation will count double! Please help us meet this challenge.

Autistry Graphics: We are close to reaching our fundraising goal to launch our first small business enterprise – Autistry Graphics. This new venture will offer training, internships, employment and job placement support for our Autistry Studios members. If you would like to support our efforts to create jobs please email Janet (janet@autistrystudios.com) for more information.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Tuesday March 1st we will have an Open House and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony to celebrate our move to San Rafael. Invitations will go out the first week of January.

Saturday March 5th will be the first Autistry Studios Winter Carnival. We are forming event committees now so please email Janet if can you lend a hand creating this unique event.

Looking forward to a great new year!

The Autistry Studios Team

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Posted By Janet Lawson, MFT on November 15, 2010

What a whirlwind of activity around here! We just finished our first week of workshops in the new studio and it was awesome. We are quickly converting this huge cavernous space into a warm, cozy workplace. As we look around at all the power tools, hand tools, wood, paints, supplies, and miscellaneous materials it is hard to believe we had all that in the barn!

We have had lots of offers to help us get settled into the new space. It has been difficult to organize work parties as we have been working around the workshop schedule. If you are available on Wednesdays please let me know as that is the day we have no workshops and we can get work done on the space.

And – if you have any of the following items you would like to donate that would be very helpful:

Couches (small and large)
Easy chairs
Office chairs
Book shelves
Lamps (floor lamps and desk lamps)

Autistry in the News: Sean Havey wrote a nice article about us for the new San Rafael Patch online newspaper. You can find the article here and join the discussion: Nonprofit Serving Autistic Teens Opens in San Rafael. (Of course we have workshops for adults too!)

Friday Build Stuff with Dan: The Friday guys helped move in this week – unpacking boxes and setting up work spaces. We did manage to get some project work done. Adam is working on our IT infrastructure and trying to figure out how to get all our computers online. Ian G. dug through the mountain of boxes to find the pieces necessary to work on a new diorama. Ross’ is working on his very creative conceptual piece based on World War I. Corey has been building a sketch model of a movie theater reflecting his passion for films.

Saturday Film Stuff with Nate: We added a new student this week – David. He jumped right in with story ideas, wrote a treatment and began a storyboard. Great energy! Peter’s film project is amazing – a spoof on the Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky movies. Steven finished one background and began a second for his new animated epic. Ian finished his storyboard for his new Holiday Classic – Kung Fu Santa!

Saturday Build Stuff with Dan: And another two new students, Connor and Dominic joined Andrew for this new Saturday afternoon Build Stuff workshop. Connor and Andrew are working on a train layout. I heard rumors that it could be a Harry Potter themed diorama with the Hogwarts Express. Dominic is creating fabulous cloth dolls. He is very talented and has been working with a hot glue gun but is looking forward to learning to sew and to create life size dolls. Lots of fun!

Sunday Build Stuff with Dan: Is Sunday workshop turning into an exercise & build stuff class? Devon, Sawyer, Ryan and Daniel all worked on their projects but also took time out for some energetic pugil stick competitions. We all had such a great time we’re figuring out how to add this to our regular schedule – and get our project work done!

Tuesday Build Stuff with Dan: Welcome Katharine! The program is truly expanding and Katharine fits right in. She is an ardent fan of Tim Burton films, especially Beetlejuice, and wants to create a diorama of the graveyard scene. Owen has finished the drawings for Eunice the Unicorn and is now hard at work on Alvin & The Chipmunks meet the Rugrats. Abe created a wonderful new holiday card in a style quite unlike any of his earlier work – truly moving forward.

Thursday Build Stuff with Dan: Our new Thursday workshop has familiar faces but will soon have some new ones. Rinny is back with new project ideas. Lots of great brainstorming happening. I heard mention of shadow play and stop action with bears and elves. We are all looking forward to her next creation. Erik and Dan are talking trains. The Sausalito layout is coming along great and now that we have this bigger space they are both dreaming about grander train ideas.

Our Autistry staff has grown too! Liz McDonough has joined us and is currently working Saturday, Sunday and Thursday. This week we had two volunteers, Dan Weil and Michael Breard. This is all very exciting!

–The Autistry Team

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Posted By Dan Swearingen on November 7, 2010

Easter Seals focuses on many disabilities and especially Autism Spectrum Disorders. Their Living With Disability Study paints a startling picture of the life-long challenges surrounding everyday life and future concerns for parents of adult children with disabilities and adults with disabilities.

Many parents worry their adult children’s basic needs for employment, housing, transportation, social interactions, recreation, healthcare and financial security will not be met:

• Only 11% of parents of adult children with disabilities report their child is employed full time.

• Just 6 in 10 parents of adult children with a disability rate their child’s quality of life as excellent or good (61%), compared to 8 in 10 parents of adults without a disability (82%).

• Huge gaps exist in parents of adults with disabilities’ assessment of their child’s ability to manage their own finances (34% vs. 82% parents of adults without disabilities) and have the life skills necessary to live independently (30% vs. 83% parents of adults without disabilities).

• Nearly 7 in 10 adults with disabilities (69%) live with their parent(s) or guardian; only 17% live independently compared to more than half of adult children without disabilities (51%).

These are the very concerns that we hope Autistry Studios can help address for individuals and families living with ASD and other related communication/social disorders.

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Posted By Dan Swearingen on November 2, 2010

Janet and I are really happy about the presentations we did this Tuesday and Wednesday for the North Bay Regional Center about Building Social Skills and Networking for People with ASD. Here’s a link to the slides we used.

Best Practices slide deck

If you attended, please comment on any resources you’d like us to add and I’ll expand this post.

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Posted By Janet Lawson, MFT on September 23, 2010

Join us for a great workout, great food and great company! To register email Janet or call: (415) 945-9788.

Sign up for a 1-hour Spin with Michael, Dan, or Duncan (or sign up for all three!). Or, sign up for a special 2-hour Spin and Yoga with Teri. The suggested donation is $40 for each 1 hour Spin and $80 for the the 2-hour Spin. To pay online go to the Donate Page! But let Janet know which session or sessions you would like.

The BBQ begins at the end of the first Spin – 11am. And it continues throughout the day. So, work out hard and eat hearty!

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Posted By Janet Lawson, MFT on September 20, 2010

So much has happened in these last weeks!  Where to begin?

Let’s start with news of the new space: 37 Duffy Place, San Rafael.  Our goal is to be moved in by November 1st. The phones are installed and the DSL is connected.  The carpets have been cleaned and all the windows washed. But there is a lot of work left to be done. 

The Ryder Foundation Event: Comedy for Kids with Autism. We had a great time on Saturday, Sept 11th at the Palace of Fine Arts. Five of our Autistry Artists had paintings on display and each one sold! We all had our photos taken many times. It was a beautiful evening. To see photos go to: Henley Photographs.

The Autistry Studios workshops are in full swing.  New projects and some new faces!

Friday Build Stuff with Dan:  Adam has joined us and is building a computer from scratch.  This week he installed the mother board and various other essential parts.  He turned it on and smoke issued forth!  Hmm – maybe that power supply wasn’t so good!  Ross has a wonderful new project idea based on the image of  war as a game of chess with infantry as pawns.  Corey is designing a rather macabre rendition of the Hills Are Alive… And, Ian G. has finished his fabulous diorama of battling skeletal figures.

Saturday Film Stuff with Nate:  Peter is working on a very interesting live action film featuring himself and Steven in the starring roles.  Steven, when not in front of the camera, is creating another unique epic based on his own characters. Ian has developed a storyline combining Santa Claus and Kung Fu Fighting – this should be fun.  And, Andrew is putting the finishing touches on his Rush Limbaugh Roadside Diner.

Sunday Build Stuff with Dan:  Devon is making a rat’s nest – no really, a diorama of pack-rat, Rattina.  She is made of clay and sits in a nest of gathered treasures. Daniel has two projects going – one is his fiberglass chest armor and the other is his Halloween costume. Both are amazing.  Sawyer’s fort has really progressed.  He poured resin for the surrounding water and created a great dock.  Ryan is adding very cool little buildings to his switch track and will soon be adding the final scenery pieces – almost done!

Tuesday Build Stuff with Dan:  Owen has created an awesome set for the filming of Party in Fizzletown. He has also nearly finished the illustrations for his original story, Eunice the Unicorn.  Abe has created several new seasonal greeting cards for Halloween, Rosh Hashana, and Thanksgiving. He is becoming quite an expert at Paint Shop Pro and is looking forward to learning InDesign. Erik’s waterfront is looking so good you want to dive right in!

We are all having a great time building amazing worlds and imaginative creations. Looking forward to building even bigger stuff in the new space!

-Janet, Dan, Nate and AJ

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Posted By Dan Swearingen on September 13, 2010

We had gotten behind on this! Seven new photo galleries are listed on our Photo Galleries pages.

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Posted By Dan Swearingen on August 25, 2010

Many of our students have wanted to work on stop-motion animation videos and we encourage these projects. If the student is completely new to film making we usually like to do a quick start-to-finish stop motion production so everyone gets a good feel for the flow from production, editing, render, to YouTube.

Here are three of these test videos.

Rinny’s with sound took about three hours to produce start to finish.

Owen’s took about an hour without sound.

Peter’s was a very few still taken with a DSLR.

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