This year, Liam was invited for the first time, to display one of his pieces in the Burbank Art Show as part of Pastimes for a Lifetime and I've gotten several requests to purchase his paintings. This one was a big hit at the art show and has gotten the most "print" requests.
Liam just performed his 9th live gig as a musician with his new band the P-22s (named after the famous Griffith Park mountain lion). His band-mates appreciate what he does on the keyboard and are accepting of all of his quirks. When the old band split, they asked Liam to be part of the new group. I always hoped people would appreciate him for those things he does really well. This was the first real test of that hope. We're very lucky to have found such an amazing group of kids and a teacher who helps them all to play well and grow as musicians.
He's spent countless hours teaching himself advanced techniques on video editing programs and I expected that eventually, he'd create content that others might find interesting. As of today, his YouTube channels have 1,116 subscribers and 2,015,299 views. Many viewers are parents with kids, who love his countdown and alphabet videos, created in stop-motion, Sony Vegas Pro, Animate or After Effects. He also applies special effects to bumpers and clips (the Clasky Chupo "Splat" is a popluar one, as well as the PBS logo and the animated sequences from Sesame street).
Here are links to the most-viewed videos from two of his channels:
https://youtu.be/yxzNdr_Jk5M
https://youtu.be/uJcKWHF2ygQ
There is a whole community of YouTubers modifying videos with layers of effects, and they like to give detailed instructions on how to create them (or ask each other in comments how it was done). Liam has started to make short, tutorial videos of his process, as well as making comments on other videos.
He's produced several music videos and intro bumpers for his music teacher, which he uses on his own YouTube channel and for social media.
And he's starting to appreciate people liking his work. It's slowly dawning on him that you can make things FOR someone, and that it is cool when they enjoy it. After making the music videos and intros for his music teacher, he said, "I think Dan will love this!"
I'm so happy that we decided to let him spend as much time as he wants on his passions. The world is a much more welcoming place, when you enter it with something interesting to share. And Liam's work is always interesting, as are the people with whom he shares it.
Liam is now entering what would be 6th grade, in a typical school setting. I am more excited than ever to see where his talents take him and find out who else will be joining us along the way.
