Jumpin' Trump: Pull the String and Watch Him Go!

 

Jumpin' Trump: who's pulling the strings?

This contemporary take on a diverting little Victorian pull-toy highlights the current president's white supremacist leanings and points to one of the key oligarchs pulling his strings. Take time out from the depressing prospect of the loss of democracy and our entry into a new dark ages complete anti-science, book burning, and oppression of women and minorities to make this entertaining jumping jack. Feel free to give out the pdf worksheet at marches and protests, and to hang the toy from tree limbs, lamp posts, and Tesla rearview mirrors.

A man who is easily manipulated

The pdf worksheet below is free, comes complete with instructions, and is downloadable. Click here to download.

Here is a preview of your worksheet:

Grab your scissors and give it a go.

Nest Series: The Copper-Bamboo Nest

 

I thought I was done with the Nest Series when I finished the Garbage Nest, but compulsions have a mind of their own, and apparently my nesting days were not quite over. After trimming the roots off some root-clogged bamboo plants growing in water, I simply couldn't toss the trimmed roots. I knew from past experience (the Roots Project) what fun can be had with bamboo roots, but I also realized they weren't substantial enough (or I didn't have enough of them) to comprise the entire shape and structure of a nest. For no particular reason, I tried cutting off some thin strips of copper from copper sheeting I had in my stash and the problem was solved. The copper adds some much-needed structural integrity to the nest. This one is tiny and delicate and houses a papier-mâché bead constructed from old travel notebook pages and gold Chinese joss paper. (For more on how to make these beads, click here.)

A nest in the hand...

A nesting bardo bead

Copper strands offer structural support

The Nest Installation

And here, for the very first time, a few photos of the Nest Series installation.

Suspended amongst the philodendrons

I hadn't realized until a house guest arrived shortly after the nests were installed that my guest daybed in the front room is itself part of the nest series when converted into a comfy place to curl up with lots of fluffly pillows and quilts.

Guest daybed amidst the nests

Nest Series: The Garbage Nest

 

When garbage becomes home

This nest, comprised of plastic garbage bags, candy wrappers, and other bits of refuse fished from the trash, proved to be the trickiest to figure out.  I decided on knitting as the technique, but then had to invent a really wonky pattern that involved starting to knit from the tips of the pattern below, keeping them well separate, and adding stitches to each of four panels row by row until I merged them all together to form the nest wall. To construct, simply fold the triangular edges under, overlapping, until they form the base of the nest and stitch together.

How to knit garbage

How to knit garbage

Miraculously, when folded in place and stitched together, it does indeed form a nest.

The nest

I cannot think of anything better to make a cozy home in this nest than my extensive collection of pop-tops from cans, which I use for everything from jewelry making to assemblage to wall hangings. On reflection, I realize nests would be a perfect system for storing random art supplies.

A clutch of pop-top tabs

I thought this Nest Series has come to a fitting end with this garbage nest, but that was before I harvested roots from my bamboo. Stay tuned. . .

Nest Series: Krishnamurti Nest

 

Krishnamurti Nest

Next up in the nest series is the Krishnamurti Nest, inspired by a number of week-long retreats I've had the great good fortune to attend at the Krishnamurti Foundation of America down in Ojai, California. Situated on the site where K himself lived and taught, the setting of orange groves, pepper trees, and abundant wildlife is surrounded by the Topatopa Mountains. One pepper tree in particular, the tree under which K experienced a transformative spiritual rebirth, (backstory here), warrants special attention and a loving pat or two on its trunk.

This nest is partially made from one of the booklets offered as part of the superbly facilitated dialogue sessions run by Richard Waxberg and Deborah Kerner. The nest has been built to house an abundance of pink peppercorns and leaves from the property where K used to live.

Materials: booklet pages

Materials: pink peppercorns and leaves

Each nest in this series has required reinventing construction techniques based on the unique materials being used. In this case, thin wire was wrapped in strips of paper and used as a framework. More paper, cut into strips, was braided and then woven in and out of the infrastructure.

Nest building in progress

Nest building

The final nest is light, airy, and almost as magical as sitting on the back lawn during a K dialogue, listening to the birds and the rustle of trees and realizing, I am all of this.

The nest

Nest Series: The Seaweed Nest

 

The Seaweed Nest

The winter of 2025 seems to be a time for huddling down and nesting, and here we have number three in the Nest Series.  This organic creation was inspired by a rain walk on the shores of Lake Merritt, Oakland during one of the many atmospheric rivers that hit the Bay Area coast in the past few months. A king tide had created a surge that threw mounds of seaweed and shells onto the lake path. I collected a bunch, took it all home, and created this.

King tide seaweed

Really cool seaweed

I've worked with seaweed before (check past Seaweed Projects), and knew the trick was not to try to stitch or otherwise fasten the raw material together, but to mold it into the desired shape and keep tweaking the molding process as it dried.

Molding the seaweed

Tweaking the mold as it dries

One of the challenges in this nest series is to decide what to house in a particular nest. In this case the decision was relatively easy. I opted for a combination of seashells tossed up by the tide and a few choice pieces from my collection of sea beans. If you have walked the shores of Costa Rica, Nicaragua, or East Africa, you have encountered sea beans — seed pods that drop into waterways or shorelines and are carried away by the tides to travel to distant shores. For those curious to learn more, "What the Heck is a Sea Bean?" is an entertaining post with a sea bean identification guide.

The nest

A clutch of shells and sea beans

On to the next nest!

Trump-o'-Rama: The Second Coming

 

Smashed Trump Cascarone

In preparation for this inauguration day, January 19, 2025, I have rounded up past work to create this Trump-o'-Rama full of fun-packed activities, fashion, and more to help you rage against the night.

Trump Cascarones

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This how-to comes complete with instructions and downloadable pdf to enable you to create these unique, confetti-filled egg shells for your funereal festivities. Go ahead, smash a Trump and feel bitterly better.  

Smash a Trump

Dialogue Pin for Troubled Times: Not My President

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These were a hot item the first time around, and the idea is to engage in dialogue with strangers about what is going on — even if their political beliefs differ from your own. I find it is helpful to carry a few extra pins with me so that when someone asks me about mine and we have a conversation, I am able to offer them one to carry on the dialogue with others. 

The "not my president" pin

Make Your Own Orange Man Voodoo Doll

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Don't miss this opportunity to create your own ugly little voodoo doll and stick it with pins. Two different varieties! This post offers a complete how-to with instructions and downloadable pdf. Come on, you know you want to.

Trump voodoo doll

Alternate voodoo doll

All the Rage: Voices Against Trump

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From the All the Rage fashion line, an upcycled shirt embroidered with quotes about Trump (none of them positive). Time to forage through thrift stores, wield your needles, and start stitching your own protest fashions.

The Voices Against Trump shirt

Bleeding Heart Liberal Pin

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Now is the perfect opportunity to break out your political jewelry and wear it with style. But first you have to make it. You will find easy, detailed instructions on how to create your own Bleeding Heart Liberal pins in this post.

Bleeding Heart Liberal pin

All the Rage: Trump Thaumatrope

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Here is a nifty little toy you can make in a few minutes and better yet, it comes on a postcard you can mail out to everyone you know. Give it a whirl. This post includes a downloadable pdf so you can launch your own toy business in a matter of minutes.

The Trump Thaumatrope - lock him up with the twirl of a string

All the Rage: Snowflake Shirt

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Yeah, you have feelings, you care about others, you believe in fairness and justice and civility. Admit it, you are a snowflake. Turn an intended insult into a badge of honor. Once again, you will need to wield your embroidery needles for the cause (think Betsy Ross). This simple black linen sleeveless top has been transformed into a bold and yet stylishly subtle walking billboard.

Shirt front

Closeup of front

Shirt back

All the Rage: Political Fashion

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This upcycled thrift store shirt is embellished with the seven words highlighted in a memo and follow-up meeting at the Centers for Disease Control under the last Trump regime, advising staff members not to use these words in any official documents prepared for the budget. Laurel and Hardy images are interspersed for comic relief. Again, the idea is to take your beliefs or ideas on the current state of affairs, transform them into fashion, and take it to the streets. Simple how-to instructions included.

Nasty Little Women's Wear: An Evolving Textile Piece

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This interactive piece was done for a gallery show. Participants could write their reactions to Trump's first term on scraps of cloth and safety-pin them to this hand-stitched dress for a 5-year-old child. The bodice of the dress is embellished with embroidered lines of the word, "not."

Nasty little women's wear

Going Forward 

Now, as we find ourselves on the brink of what many think may be the end of democracy, a new Dark Ages, or the collapse of civilization, we each need to follow our conscience and do what we can. In my case that means art, needlework, and installation pieces. What does it mean for you?