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| © Courtesy Trevor Holmes Trevor Holmes is in his seventh year as a full-time teacher of the technical aspects of theater at Idyllwild Arts Academy. |
By Emma Haber, The Desert Sun
During California's COVID-19 lockdown, Trevor Holmes has, like a lot of people, spent much of his time reading and catching up on TV shows. And because he lives a mile above sea level in Idyllwild, where spring is still trying to decide if it wants to get out of bed, he's been spending additional time mountain biking and gathering firewood.
But the pandemic has also prompted Holmes to apply his professional skills to the home manufacture of face shields made of polylactic acid (also known as PLA) plastic and overhead projection transparency sheets.
Holmes, who works as a teacher at the Idyllwild Arts Academy, says he's made "about 14 dozen so far, but I'll keep going. I already owned a 3D printer, but I bought another one to keep with demand."
The term "3D printer" can be misleading because such a device is not limited to producing print objects like newspapers, magazines and books. A 3D printer builds three-dimensional objects by taking instruction from computer-generated patterns, usually by successively adding material layer by layer.
Though Holmes has confirmed that the face shields block moisture particles by spraying water in his own face, they have not been regulated by any government organization. But their successful use has resulted in high demand, and he has another order of more than ten dozen going out this week.
Holmes sends the face shields to Los Angeles. There, Idyllwild Arts graduate and Hollywood costume designer Lauren Oppelt has launched the “Mask Crusaders” group, whose roughly one hundred members have teamed up with the Costume Designers Guild (Local 892) to deliver protective masks to hospitals in states as far away as Rhode Island and Florida.
Holmes is in his seventh year as a full-time teacher of the technical — or backstage — aspects of theater at Idyllwild Arts, where he was a high school classmate of Oppelt until his 2005 graduation. He went on to California Institute of the Arts, earning his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in design and production, before returning to Idyllwild Arts.
This year, he is teaching Introduction to Design as well as drafting. He was interviewed just before all of the academy’s arts and academic classes — which were on pause during the three weeks of Spring Break — were about to resume with online instruction. As for most Idyllwild Arts teachers, online instruction would be new to him.
“That’s all right,” Holmes said. “I’ll make it work.”
During California's COVID-19 lockdown, Trevor Holmes has, like a lot of people, spent much of his time reading and catching up on TV shows. And because he lives a mile above sea level in Idyllwild, where spring is still trying to decide if it wants to get out of bed, he's been spending additional time mountain biking and gathering firewood.
But the pandemic has also prompted Holmes to apply his professional skills to the home manufacture of face shields made of polylactic acid (also known as PLA) plastic and overhead projection transparency sheets.
Holmes, who works as a teacher at the Idyllwild Arts Academy, says he's made "about 14 dozen so far, but I'll keep going. I already owned a 3D printer, but I bought another one to keep with demand."
The term "3D printer" can be misleading because such a device is not limited to producing print objects like newspapers, magazines and books. A 3D printer builds three-dimensional objects by taking instruction from computer-generated patterns, usually by successively adding material layer by layer.
Though Holmes has confirmed that the face shields block moisture particles by spraying water in his own face, they have not been regulated by any government organization. But their successful use has resulted in high demand, and he has another order of more than ten dozen going out this week.
Holmes sends the face shields to Los Angeles. There, Idyllwild Arts graduate and Hollywood costume designer Lauren Oppelt has launched the “Mask Crusaders” group, whose roughly one hundred members have teamed up with the Costume Designers Guild (Local 892) to deliver protective masks to hospitals in states as far away as Rhode Island and Florida.
Holmes is in his seventh year as a full-time teacher of the technical — or backstage — aspects of theater at Idyllwild Arts, where he was a high school classmate of Oppelt until his 2005 graduation. He went on to California Institute of the Arts, earning his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in design and production, before returning to Idyllwild Arts.
This year, he is teaching Introduction to Design as well as drafting. He was interviewed just before all of the academy’s arts and academic classes — which were on pause during the three weeks of Spring Break — were about to resume with online instruction. As for most Idyllwild Arts teachers, online instruction would be new to him.
“That’s all right,” Holmes said. “I’ll make it work.”
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| © Courtesy Trevor Holmes Trevor Holmes models one of his face shields made of polylactic acid plastic and overhead projection transparency sheets. |
"Before COVID-19 came along, I used my 3D printer for fun stuff," he says. "That included making props if the theater department staged a play that was set a few centuries ago and we needed things you just couldn't find anymore.”
For example, for last month’s performances of "The Glorious William & Mary (A Tragic {But Mostly Comedic} Royal Love Story)," Holmes 3D-printed what was supposed to be the Sovereign's Orb of William of Orange, King of England, Scotland and Ireland.
“I based it on the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch, from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," which the playwright, Kasidy Devlin, loved because he’s a big Monty Python guy. But it's great to know that now my little 3D toys are helping to save lives."
Yes — great, important, valuable, even crucial. But Holmes is thinking what everybody else is thinking while the battle against the virus rages on.
"It'll be even greater when we don't have to live like this anymore and I can go back to the fun stuff."
Emma Haber is the founder of EH PR Group and oversees publicity for Idyllwild Arts along with other notable arts and hospitality clients in Los Angeles and Palm Springs.
See more at The Desert Sun
For example, for last month’s performances of "The Glorious William & Mary (A Tragic {But Mostly Comedic} Royal Love Story)," Holmes 3D-printed what was supposed to be the Sovereign's Orb of William of Orange, King of England, Scotland and Ireland.
“I based it on the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch, from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," which the playwright, Kasidy Devlin, loved because he’s a big Monty Python guy. But it's great to know that now my little 3D toys are helping to save lives."
Yes — great, important, valuable, even crucial. But Holmes is thinking what everybody else is thinking while the battle against the virus rages on.
"It'll be even greater when we don't have to live like this anymore and I can go back to the fun stuff."
Emma Haber is the founder of EH PR Group and oversees publicity for Idyllwild Arts along with other notable arts and hospitality clients in Los Angeles and Palm Springs.
See more at The Desert Sun
