Cartogram of Oregon Counties

Building a chart

The state of Oregon’s Open Data Portal provides access and assistance to a whole number of datasets and charts. I’ve been interested in looking at the similarities and differences between counties and locations (mostly in healthcare). I’ve done a few instances of small multiple charts, but wanted to place all the little county charts together in a better context – about where they are situated in real life. So, I began trying to make a cartogram template of Oregon, where all the counties are the same size.

I began with a few quick sketches, but found I was erasing more than I was drawing; so I ended up cutting up small pieces of paper for each county and moving them around. I found this worked very well and recommend it to anyone trying to do something similar. However, there were still some issues I couldn’t get around.

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Understanding Other People

When worlds collide. My amateur, ongoing, reading list for understanding, and working with, those you may not agree with. My example is to look at the US political, right/left, conservative/liberal, cultural divide. Readings in no particular order. I’m also trying to strike some balance as to what to read.

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Experiments in Clay

I dug up this oldie-but-a-goodie from my early days in clay. I really wanted a short spout on a long jug, but knew it also wouldn’t hold much. I came up with an idea and roughed it out as you see above.

Dealing with the hand-built internals to this thing was way too finicky even for me; so I passed on refining the idea. However, I thought I’d share in case others get the urge.

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My Clay Whistle Note

Ever want to make a clay whistle? How about a complete instrument?

This note is to help one make and play a four hole ocarina. You can forget the extra holes if you just want a whistle.

It may take a bit of practice to get the right angle on the edge of the hole. Try blowing at different angles and sides of the hole until you hear a tweet. If all else fails, seal up the hole and make a new one with a different angled edge.

Worksheet, music, & lyrics released under a Creative Commons license.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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My Clay Throwing Notes

Another batch of my class handouts from back in the day. For teachers and students.

I am releasing these under a Creative Commons License.

You are free to:

Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material
for any purpose, even commercially.
This license is acceptable for Free Cultural Works.
The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.

Enjoy and drop me a note-

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Posted in Art | 36 Comments