spin art

spin art...

today we celebrated my younger son's third birthday

it was a small gathering of some neighborhood kids and the local cousins
others were invited
but not everyone could make it
seven kids under seven is really enough
any more could have been too many

the birthday had its theme
not sure what scripted its direction
but somehow we went towards spin art and tie dye t-shirts
the kids arrived and went wild with some free play
once some primal energy was burnt i had the kids herded into the basement
there were some painting drop cloths on the floor and the spin art kit

the spin art kit is not that dirty with some parental guidance
without parental instruction the first child would use all the paint
and all the paint would be on the walls
but somehow the kids were all actively interested enough that there was a cycle of everyone waiting their turn and making two postcard size images

this toy has always been a favorite of mine

as a child at camp the day for spin art was always a favorite of mine

i recall in high school breezing through the bethesda elementary may fair
they had a spin art booth
i was there with lawrence mcdonald
neither of us had the dollar for the tickets and the game
but we shared an interest in the spin art craft tool and the consistently original results
no two results identical
like paint splattered snowflakes each one unique and not to be replicated

at this time lawrence was in his first or second incarnation of bells of
recording a great deal
playing a bit
but yet to be released
there was always talk about the record cover and the first release

at times there was talk about a trip to the cliffs
a jump off the cliffs with a guitar in hand
the image in our heads changed
never sure of the direction
not quite sure what guitar to jump with

then at the site of spin art craft kit there was a new idea
to custom design each and every 12 inch record
spin art each and every album by hand
then use a spray paint stencil to finish the job with the band name and the album title

we were young and full of ideas
also living with the time of youth
so we had the time to develop thoughts and dreams that may never be followed
so we plotted and schemed
trying to figure out the process
how things would work out best
how we could make a custom template with a bicycle wheel
get everything assembly lined
get a handful of b-town skaters to lend a hand
it could be done
we were sure of it

in the end we never did a spin art record cover
and the idea of the cliff jump
jason farrell used that for the back cover of a swiz seven inch
but that is a story for another day
an arguement that lawrence and jason can has out at another b-town bbq

lawrence did release those songs from that era on teenbeat
not on vinyl, but on cd the cover of that first album; 11:11, was graced with a drawing by peter quinn
lawrence loved the art of peter quinn
peter quinn's art was used on that first cd by bells of and the next several releases to follow

never knew peter quinn well
if i recall he died a few years ago
suicide if i remember correctly
but do not repeat that until you check your facts

previous rant about bells
this archive has a link to the wallet i wanted to buy
we need more paint for the spin art
as we had another session with the paint after dinner
after we made a dash across the bridge into virginia for a target run
where we bought the huffy version of snowboards for the kids
could not resist
7 bucks on sale
now where do i get these future rippers helmets?