Maker Faire Bay Area 2024
For the Love of Wieners
Home: California, United States
Why does she do it? Collecting trash year round and soldering LEDs? For the love of wiener dogs of course! Contemplate our society’s single-use plastic trash in these LED and upcycled sculptures by Tenaya Conklin. Wiener dogs are the best of man's best friend, and we celebrate our love for them in these terrific topiary hounds, featuring Tenaya’s favorite trash and LED circuits combined! Rogue Making offers activities to learn about electricity via the A in STEAM. When Tenaya isn't "making makers," she makes fabulous wiener dogs to delight!
https://www.RogueMaking.com
Makers
Tenaya Conklin
Tenaya Conklin at heart is a maker. She “makes makers,” sews, solders, builds circuits, programs, teaches, and she makes music in a band with her mom and dad. Tenaya has two sons with husband James, who married her in the ultimate LED wedding dress. They enjoy a beautiful life in San Jose and soon, they’ll get back to more rock climbing.
https://www.RogueMaking.com
What Inspired You to Make This?
“For the Love of Wieners” is dedicated to two of my best pets, Woodchuck and Sween, the wiener dogs. First there was Sween, a wiener dog that we adopted second hand through the newspaper. At first I was resistant, though I loved dogs, but when dad brought her home, she won my heart and we were inseparable for much of her life. Her personality was so strong and unique, she was so short, long, funny, and strong. My favorite part of her was her giant chest. She is the center of many legendary “Sween stories” in our family. When I had the opportunity, I wanted to get a Christmas puppy to make a pair of wiener dogs. I found Woodchuck, on the internet! He grew into the absolute cutest, sweetest, and most zen wiener dog I’ve ever met, just a complete adorable, funny, precious dog, like William Wegman’s Fay. How often is the second dog you get, the best?! The two of them together were my favorite companions for hikes, strutting through the city, doing the Pride Parade, and driving in my Buick! When I became a maker on March 16th, 2013 (see the article Dale Dougherty wrote about me!), my first project was a 300 RGB LED individually programmable strip that I wanted to program with an Arduino. The trouble was, it was SO long, I had to roll it out and then it was hard to see if my patterns were effective. I brought a wire framed wiener dog I had just got and wrapped the LED strip around the wiener dog’s long body. It was perfect, now I could see my patterns flowing across and without knowing, I had made a matrix! A maker meetup group and my brother helped me learn about how to alter the patterns and of course, how to make them look the best on a wiener dog. Sween lived to be 17 years, 2 months and 20 days. Woodchuck lived to be 14 years, 8 months, and 18 days. It is completely ridiculous to be so attached to dogs, but I know many of you can relate. I gave them the best life I could and though I miss holding a wiener dog in my arms, I will eventually get another one or a pair. Big paws to fill for sure!
