Coil Pots - Student work

I'm very excited to share the coil pots made in my Ceramics I class. 

This first one made by senior Lilith Huang is simply gorgeous.  I especially love the two organic holes where we can see the black glaze on the inside.  The holes were not originally part of her design.  She took the pot home one night to finish it up and on the way back to school it fell over in the car and broke into several pieces.  All Lilith's teachers felt so bad for her that they allowed her to spend the whole day in my class putting it back together again.  I took her 8 hours of extreme patience to do it.  The holes resulted in the pieces that just wouldn't go back together again.  I'm glad they didn't, it looks so amazing just the way it is.  

Sorry about the color quality on this next beauty by senior Nikki Shah.  going to try to retake the pix tomorrow.  Anyways, this piece has so much movement and flows so nicely all the way around.  And the ending is brilliant Nikki.  Way to go with your remarkable design skills.  

In this big beauty by junior Justyn Li, she is trying to give the impression of  a lily pond.   I feel she has succeeded, including the feeling of rippling water.  Not many could have pulled this off Justyn!

Senior Sandra Osaji really got into the building of her pot.  She shows us great design with impeccable craftsmanship, and a lovely ending as well.

Senior Sophia Lu went to town building her piece.  I find it really interesting that she used two different color clay bodies then shows it off with a transparent glaze.

Junior Aditi brings us a lot of rhythm and movement with her coil work.  I wish I'd have taken a pix of the other side so you could have seen the visual flow around the piece.    

This pot by junior Carol Oh has been built with our white clay body, Arctic White.   When you glaze it with transparent it really is a spectacular look as you can see here.

I especially love this close-up of Carol's piece.

This work, by senior Emmerline Kim, is so lovely.  I love the asymmetry of the form and the way she glazed it.

And this last one by senior Kristen Palmer, is one of my all time favorite coil pots.  So unique, such simplicity but so powerful.  A brilliant design kiddo!

Class of 2013

Graduation is so close and I'm already getting teary eyed.  Just wanted to tell you all how much I enjoyed this year with you, and I look forward to putting together my annual Senior Tribute this summer.  So I hope you all stay tuned in because I haven't even begun to post all your work yet from this year. Make sure you stop by for one last hug before you leave.  

Sending my love to all the seniors of 2013.  

Flowers the work of alumni Michael Chen from 2012.  

Spring in my Garden

Fertillizer does wonders, between the bat guano I spread and all the watering I do, my plants continue to thrive.

What was especially thrilling for me this year was the blooming of my bearded iris bulbs that my son and I bought from the Fullerton Arboretum's annual April garden sale about 3 years ago.  The blooms were ginormous.  This white/yellow bulb had a total of 4 large blooms, each lasting a couple of days.    

What I always love to do is bring the garden indoors.  This year I had a very special handmade student clay pot to house them in courtesy of Eddie Ponce.  

Happy Father's Day To All the Dads in My Life

To Vinnie Sposa, head of the familia, you are the most handsome, wonderful father-in-law a girl could hope for.  Miss and love you and we will be there soon.

To Jimmy Sposa, my love, and the greatest Pop-Pop with his grand babies.  They adore you, wonder why?  LOL

Jim, you are the best father to all our children, always giving of your time, and helping our kids out at the drop of a hat.  Here you are under your son James' car helping him drop the trannie...

sharing your many musical talents with Zach, and encouraging him to play... 

waiting so patiently and never complaining as we shop for Dani's college gear...

attending all our special functions...

entertaining your grand doggies...

enjoying and hanging out with your beautiful daughter Julie whenever you can...

and taking excellent care of our baby Sophie.  Thank you sweetheart!

James, not only are you the most gorgeous stepson with the healing hands (he's our physical therapist at Ando Aston in Anaheim Hills), but you are an amazing daddy to your children (you take after your dad), and an excellent cook to boot (from your grandma or Giada? certainly not your dad  LOL).

And our Julie's husband Mike, we are especially proud of the man you are, a loving and attentive husband to Jul, a wonderful son to your folks Mary Ann and Joe, and a great father to your daughter Aleah.  May you continue to make your mark with the Orange County Sheriff's Dept.  They have a gem in you, and they know it!  You are their rising superstar!

And  to Inars Agrums, father to our children together, you are the best daddy, always there for them, supportive, hard working, and the best "ex" a girl could ask for  LOL

And you are also the best caretaker for all Dani's animals, Bogie, Lily and Yeezy.  But don't let her talk you into anymore!  LOL

Happy Father's Day to All.  Love you Boys!!!!

New Blog Header - Student Work

A Great Big Thank You to junior Josh Berger for creating the new header on my blog.  I asked his permission to use his eco-dyed and stitched work that he created in my Intermediate 3-D class to put under my ARTISUN logo.  I love how it looks Josh, and I've had many positive responses to the whole new look of the blog.  Couldn't have happened without your hours of patience as you taught me how to work it.

Here is Josh's beautiful piece below.

Couch Redo - My Work

Here is my first attempt at reupholstering our worn and ripped leather couch.  We found this really cool fabric store in Tustin that specializes in this kind of fabric along with drape and curtain fabrics.  We must have spent two hours walking the store and cutting off samples.  Decided on a worn looking tapestry fabric in all the colors of the room.  My husband pulled apart the sofa  (back cushions and side arms). Then I went to work with Beacon's (yes, the moving company) fabric glue and a heavy duty staple gun.  An hour an a half later, wella, a new and improved look. 

With all the leftover samples that we didn't use (a good 13 of them), I sewed them together for two new patchwork style accessory pillows.  Talk about a sense of accomplishment!

And my husband was really proud of me.  :)

Recycled Art - Student Work

Sophomore Karisma Dev, who has taken an art class with me every year since she was a 7th grader, really enjoys making Recycled Art.  One of her latest creations is this magnificent crown that she's made with rolled up newspapers, used wire and cardboard, mirror shards and melted crayons.  Recently she just won first place with another piece in a recycled competition.  Way to go Karisma, you are on your way!

Self-Portrait Collages - Student Work

Let's see, these were done as their final Project for 1st quarter, and gee, now we are almost at the end of 4th Quarter.  So behind....sorry young ones!

The beginning 2-D class made these intricate mixed media pieces.  They are only 4" by 4" but they are full of content.  The kids had to jump thru all kinds of hoops for this assignment, showing me they can put together the 14 elements and principles of design.  Understanding of good design is key. 

This top one above was done by one of my superstars this year, senior Alice Zhang.   All of these works are signed and titled.  Because Alice was in my 3-d class last year she has brought in some of her embroidery and wood-burning skills for a very decorative piece.

This next one by junior Alex Rendon had so much creative texture and layering for the eye.  And below his is junior Cathy Luo with her very powerful self-portrait titled "Don't let me disappear".      

This next highly expressive piece is the work of junior Saarika Bhakta.  I love how the woman is morphing into a tree, and just the joyfulness of the piece.

Next we have junior Judy Shih with this really thought provoking piece called "Underneath it all".  These kids are really soul-searching and reaching deep into themselves thru these works.

8th grader Nathan Lam brings us this gorgeous tropical setting, and below junior Curtis Cha gives us so much wonderful texture to delight our eyes.

The beautiful colorway above is "Sailing into Success" by junior Alex Lee, and senior Ashley Chowdhury, another of my top artists this year, is pulling out all the stops in her work "Sweet Misery" below.

And lastly we end with senior Sheila San Agustin's heavenly piece.  I have to apologize to Sheila, her piece was supposed to be presented on the diagonal, with the corners at top and bottom. Sorry I took the pix wrong kiddo.  Sheila is also incorporating her 3-d sewing skills.  I love when these young ones apply their previous learning to new works.  Shows they are using their critical thinking skills.  And that's always a good thing.  :)