Audrey Pulido - Student Artist

I'm very tardy in posting senior Audrey Pulido's bag from 1st quarter, but better late then never I guess. This was a really labor intensive piece that Audrey, who is a 3rd year 3-d art student, started the year with. I gave her some white blue-faced leicester wool roving that she dyed with food color, and while doing that she learned to spin yarn on the spinning wheel. I then had her spin and ply her dyed roving (all the pink fiber you see in the bag)), then she designed and knit up this bag, needle felted the flower, and lined the entire piece after she washing machine felted it so it would shrink and be stronger. Phew! Lots of work. But look at what she learned and created. Remarkable piece Audrey.

Pam de Groot - Fiber & Textile Artist

Just had to share my new find with all of you. This is fiber and textile artist Pam de Groot from New South Wales, Australia. I found her on a friends blog recently (see column on right - Lori Lawson) and I just adore her work. She is a hand spinner, feltmaker, basketmaker, and so much more. She has a fabulous blog http://www.pamdegroot.blogspot.com/ and I thought I'd post a few of her works to share with you. Would love to know her process for her handspun yarns. It looks as if she felts her yarn after she spins it, and then in the pix below is she crocheting it into a basket? or coiling it? not real sure but I'm definitely gonna try and find out. Fabulous, that's all I know :)

And then take a look at this sculptural yet very functional hat she has made. Her color choices are bold and inspiring. So much fun to look at.

Kelli Nina Perkins - Bookmark Swap - Fiber Artist

Couldn't resist posting these colorful works of art. I got them off of Kelli Nina Perkins blog (see Artists I Follow on right side). They were made by a group of artists that Kelli is doing a swap with.

I'm posting them so my 3-d art students can see since we are working out of Kelli's book "Stitch Alchemy". My beginners tried their hand at creating stitchpaper, and my 4th year student Ashley Morris is making a paper quilt from her stitchpapers, again inspired by Kelli's work. I'll be posting Ashley's finished piece soon. It's soooooo cool!!!!

Audrey Pulido - Another Fiber Super Star - Student Artist

Audrey is in my Advanced 3-d Art class which means it's her 3rd year with me. She is a very strong designer and an impeccable craftswoman. Last year she learned to piece fabrics together with a sewing machine for her quilt project. This year she is learning to fuse fabric to make her design with. This is her sweet little preliminary that she was to practice on, embellish and frame out. She created the frame with cardboard and paper mache collage. It's a stunning piece and only her practice. Can you imagine what she's going to do for her real one? Can't wait.!

Ashley Morris - Fiber Artist Extraodinaire - Student Art

What a pleasure it has been to work with Ashley again this year. She is a junior here at Whitney and I've been working with her since the 7th grade where she has taken 4 levels of 3-D art. Last year was the 1st year she couldn't work me into her schedule, but she is back this year in 4th level 3-D and going strong. This is her most recent finished piece, a sensitively hand felted, free motion quilted and seed beaded work. The wool batt came from Joanna Gleason's farm in Lyons, Colorado where Joanna raises her flock, then hand dyes their wool and sells it. Ashley felted the batt, then stitched the heck out of it, and finished it off with a couple hundred beads. The piece was extremely tedious and time consuming but so worth the effort she put into it. You are an Amazing Woman Ashley!!! Below is a close-up. Look closely at the whole piece and see how she moved the thread colors from light to dark. Incredible, she's only 16!

Farewell 2nd Quarter 7th Graders

It was a bit of a rocky road at first, but we made it. And I think we had a lot of fun in the process. What I do know is that there was a lot of artistic talent in this group and I'm hoping for many of you to return to me for future art classes. So don't forget about me, stop by and visit at lunch, and come in at Open House time to see the room full of art! I'm sorry to see you go and I will miss all of you! Make me proud, and Chase, Turath , Brandon , Justin, Jonathon and Tiffany, behave yourselves please. I want Ms. Improta to love you as much as I do!!

More 7th Grade Art Wheel - Color Embossments - Student Art

Wanted to show off my 7th graders final pieces for the quarter. We spent several days learning the basic techniques in watercolor and pastel. And then I introduced them to the very basic techniques involved in printmaking, and zeroed in on embossment. I had them build a plate from very dense cardboard as their base, then they glued on shapes, textures and lines using additional cardboard pieces, yarns, wire, screen, laces, low relief buttons, seed beads and anything else around the room that might work. I gave them thick, wonderful, cotton rag embossment paper, had them wet and blot it, then place it over their dried, glued down plate, and sent the whole thing through the printing press. It was so fun to see the delight on their faces when they saw their print for the 1st time. Then they had to choose from watercolor, colored pencil, or pastels to finish piece off with. Everyone's favorite belonged to Benjamin Domae (above). Another favorite belonged to Sharon Oh (below)

More of my favorites belonged to (above) Jada Gonzales and Raji Ganapathy and (below) Erica Abrina and Karen Malacon.

And these last two beauties were done by Kyung Yi and and Anna Lee (below). Can you believe these are just 7th graders doing art for the first time? I am so lucky to teach at this school. I count my blessings everyday for this wonderful job, and I also send thanks to my very wise mother, R. Patricia Foote, who I never really appreciated till it was too late. She encouraged, pushed and cajoled me to follow my dreams. She passed away 2 years ago in March after a brutal 10 year battle with Alzheimer's disease. Miss her so much. She would have loved Sharon's rose (above).

7th Grade Art Wheel Soap Scrubs - Student Art

One of the 7th grader's favorite units this quarter were the soap scrubs that we felted over bar soap with dyed wool rovings. The ones this quarter were especially sculptural and so much more cool and interesting to the eye then last quarter's pieces. We are looking at Courtney Shin's above. It was one of my favorites.

Aren't these so much fun? Just love all the tails, knots and bows that the kids designed with. Their favorite part of the assignment was getting very soapy and wet while working. What a mess we had for clean up! Above we have from left to right, top to bottom: Jeremy Brown, Brandon Pu, Jonathon Xue and Turath Liebenau. Below are Bianca Tolentino, Anna Lee and Tiffany Chu. These are fabulous you guys!!!

Alma Gudino - Student Artist

Senior Alma Gudino had a little free time on her hands last quarter so for extra credit she created this fabulous collage series. We had just finished a unit on 2-d collages (see Self-Portrait Collage Finals under labels on right side ) so she was on a roll to do more. These are so lovely Alma, great job! Below is a close up of my favorite one. All students: you can turn in yesterdays EXTRA CREDIT on the day you come in for your final this week.

Curvy Bridge

Saw this incredible looking bridge on a friend of a friends blog and couldn't not put it on my blog. It's just so dang cool. How come we don't build bridges like this in the USA?? Or maybe we do and I just haven't seen them yet. This pix is for you senior Michael Clark cuz I know how much you love unusual sculptural structures. This one happens to be on an atlantic roadway in Norway. For EXTRA CREDIT in third quarter on green paper cut it into the shape of this bridge and write down the name of your favorite architectural structure. Can be found anywhere around the world. Of course write your name and period on the paper. :)

Xmas Hydrangea

Couldn't resist this unusually beautiful hydrangea at Trader Joes. Gave it to my best friend for his patio table this past Xmas. We are going to either re-pot it or put it in the ground, and are hoping for the same amazing colored blossoms to return next year. If anyone has any suggestions about the best way to do this, please let me know.

Slab Footed Bowls - Student Art

Love this piece done by one of my favorite students this year, senior Kyoung Lee. The assignment was to built a shallow slab bowl over top a mold, then to attach feet that worked visually with bowl. Also to bring in surface design for added interest. I feel Kyoung did this masterfully. And then he choose to stain it with red iron oxide and cobalt carbonate rather then glaze it to further enhance it.

Above is senior Julie Chong's backside (hands holding up her bowl) which we both loved, especially how the glaze turned out, very earthy.

Above is senior Chris Shishido's favorite design motif, his classic bear claw that he has used for many of his assignments. He informed me today that he is ready to move on to something new :) What I really liked about this piece was how his foot, below, is the bear holding up his claw. Very clever Chris!

And above we have senior Erin Unson and junior Chareena Eleazar. Both girls did amazing coil inlays as part of their surface designs and then stained with rutile and red iron oxides, then glazed with transparent. What beauties they are ladies!

Pen & Ink Wash Drawings - Student Art

I'm really tardy in showing off these sweet little pieces. They were done in 1st quarter by my 2nd level drawing/painting students. What makes these pieces so remarkable is that they were drawn with only a sharpened dowel dipped in india ink in a modified contour style (see Betty Edward's "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain"). The object of the lesson was to draw from real life and include as many contour edge details as possible. Then the students were required to lay down at least 3 values of ink wash. But this year I made them jump thru one more hoop before I let them be done. They had to also bring in watercolor and collage elements into enhance the piece even further. So these are a few of my favorites. Above we have senior Shabnaz Khandoker who did a great layout design as well as brought in very exciting colors, and below we have senior Brandon Liao's clever composition that contains a lot of wonderful movement.

Above is senior Ashlee Chang who cut out her shells and put them in bas relief back into her background, and below is senior Anne Guu with her playful composition.

And then we have senior Kyoung Lee (one of my favorite students to bug :), and then senior Kate Lee who has not drawn since the 7th grade, look at her go!

Transformer Down

At 10:00 a.m. yesterday our school lost power from one of our transformers, and more than half of our school was completely in the dark, including the classrooms. I was one of the lucky teachers. Only half my room was in the dark, so my kids were able to keep on truckin' on their projects. But two hours later and no Edison company within site, with the entire school in a

lockdown mode, the kids were getting restless and found other ways to entertain themselves. In the top photo Kevin and Paul took turns painting each others faces with india ink (very hard to wash off, silly boys) and another group got a card game going on.

Above, this was the scene in the science room which was completely in the dark. They made luminaries and played the game Mafia. I put my flash on and in the pix below this was exactly the same scene.

At 12 noon they had all the teachers and students (at least 1030 people) report to the gym and hang out till school let out at 2:50. They put my class over in the far corner. Here we are below.

And here was the entire crazy scene below. Because the kids went to the gym in one of the biggest downpours in history (we are having some serious rain issues and a few small tornados here in So Cal) the kids were soaking wet and very smelly. It was pretty nasty and very stressful trying to cope with that many bodies for over 2 hours, so I am very thankful to be back in my classroom today. Cal Ed showed up at 3:30 and power was restored by 4. YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

7th Grade Art Wheel Collage Boxes - Student Art

These gorgeous collaged boxes belong to my 2nd quarter 7th graders. Within this group I'm finding out that I have many talented future art students. So you guys must come back to me when you get older. Inside these boxes are housed their wire wrapped pendants and their lovely stamped pattern tissue they made to wrap the necklaces in. (See post below this one) In the pix above we have talented artists Kyung Yi and Sharon Oh.

In the photo above are a few more of my favorites that came in. On the left is Benjamin Domae, and the one on the right belongs to Karen Malacon. Then below is a close up of Karen's gorgeous work. Look at all the great overlapping textures she achieved.

In the photo above we have young art star Anna Lee's up close, and below her is a close up of Sharon Oh's. All these kids seem to have an innate sense of design.

7th Grade Art Wheel Wire Wrapped Pendants with Patterned Stamped Tissue

It's truly amazing what you can get 30 7th graders to do once you get them quiet, in their seats and focused (not an easy feat with my 2nd crop of kids :) This assignment was about package design, pattern/texture and working with wire. In the photo above Raji Ganapathy has stamped out a beautiful pattern design on tissue to wrap her pendant with.

And inside when you peel back the tissue Benjamin Domae and Karen Malacon have created these incredible wire wrapped necklaces.

Preliminary Floral Watercolor/Collage/Ink - Student Art

Last quarter my 3rd year 2-d students were required to do a small prelim. in preparation for a much larger floral watercolor unit. They were also to bring in some text as well as some pen and ink work. These small prelims. actually turned out better then the larger ones. Sometimes that's just the way the cookie crumbles. From left to right: junior Jason Kwon, and seniors Hannah Park and Jullian Kho. And below is a close-up of Hannah's. Love this piece! For EXTRA CREDIT on a piece of pink paper tell me what has been your favorite art assignment this year and why. Of course put your name and period on the paper and cut it into the shape of a heart.

2-D Class Self-Portrait Collages - Student Art

These little treasures were done by my Beginning 2-d class for their 1st Quarter Final. They had to pull together all the Design Elements we had studied in a collage format with Self Portrait as their subject matter. Wow! That's a lot of stuff. As you will see they are extremely complex and well thought out, and very expressive as well. The top piece was done by an exceptional talent senior Sonya Liu, and the one below by gifted designer, senior Pankti Patel. Sorry a few of them are a bit out of focus.

Above we have one of the class favorites done by senior Jeremy Chung, and below his is a highly expressive piece by senior Nandini Kannan.

Senior Edna Wong did the beauty above and senior Betty Tong did the lovely piece below.

One of my personal favorites, above, was done by junior Suzanne Kang, and senior Alan Tsim did the very cool one below. Sadly, all these seniors waited till their last year here to take my class. And as you can see they are all such great designers. I sure wish they would have come to me sooner so I could have had them for a second and even a third year to take them further with their artistic skills.

And finally we have juniors Paul Kim and Kevin Aquilo who both came up with very original designs. I am so pleased with all the pieces. Every year they just seem to get better and better. Great work class!

Sewing Machine Review w/ Watercolor and Collage - Student Work

Before I have my 3rd level 3-d art students embark on their Art Quilt unit I have them do a few simple works combining paper, collage and watercolor, so they can practice their machine sewing skills that they learned in level 2. Sometimes they freak out because there is drawing involved and after all they are my 3-d students not my 2-d students, but I have them keep the drawings real simple and we focus more on design, watercolor, and implied line (sewing machine) with a bit of collage thrown in. These always turn out well and are usually very sweet as you can see in the pix above. All four of these were done by senior Audrey Pulido with a close up down below.

Mishima/Sgraffito Bowl - Student Work

My 2nd level Ceramics students recently finished glazing their gorgeous mishima/sgraffito bowls. This beauty belongs to senior Steven Ebalobor. Mishima is an inlay technique and sgraffito is an overlay technique. Both are done with a porcelain slip that the kids mix colored oxides of their choice into. I'm pretty sure Steven used black oxide in his mixture with a transparent glaze over top. The slip is applied when the clay is still very wet, we call that plastic clay. The feet on this bowl are skateboards. Very clever Steven :)

Knit Scarf Samplers

After my Intermediate 3-d students finished making their knitting needles and dyeing their yarns earlier in the year (above), I taught them to knit and crochet with their goods. So here are the finished scarfs that they made for their first quarter final (below). From left to right: seniors Alma Gudino and Jullian Kho, junior Angeline Tran, senior Trisha Shah and Junior Olivia Hill.

The girls learned 9 different patterns, so their scarfs had to have an example of each in them. They were Knit and Purl garter, Stockinette, Seed, Mistaken Rib, 2 by 2 Rib, Checkerboard, Basketweave, and Striping. Above are the samples that I knit for the kids to show them how to do the patterns and what they'd look like before being sewn together. And below is a close-up of Trisha's finished scarf with a crocheted trim and fringed ends. The last part of the assignment had them taking their scarfs home to wash and block them. These scarfs along with other recent art pieces from my other classes went on display today in the office. Come take a peek!

3-D Wire Sculptures - Student Art

Before we left for winter break , my beginning 3-d students finished up and mounted these terrific wire sculptures. As a preliminary exercise we made wire wrapped pendents first to get the kids used to working in this medium. It is an expensive project but worth the results. Top piece done by senior Michelle Choi.

Many thought to bring in beads as embellishments as did (above) junior Hillary Chan and (below) senior Ashlee Chang.

The tree done by senior Jenny Dai was one of my favorites and the way sophomore Kelsea Lee mounted hers will act as inspiration for the students next year.

The piece above was an extra credit work done by senior Kevin Ni after he did his first 3-d one. And the beautiful boot below was created by senior Anne Guu. Anne always comes up with something amazing!

And lastly, one of my very favorites this year was done by senior Marisela Herrarte. What I love about Marisela is that she always pushes herself to come up with something entirely different and original that's never been done before. I know this is overused but boy oh boy, can she work outside the box, or in this case within the box. :) Way to push yourself woman!!!

One More Finished Work

This was a fun little pattern that I picked up last month at the Shepherdess in San Diego. It's knit from the top down with no seams to sew (love that). I had 2 left over skeins of Noro Yarn (wool/silk mixture) from another project, and I really like how they knit up into this sweet child's vest. This ended up under the Xmas tree for a very lucky little girl I know.

More Finished Work

So excited to finally finish this little wall quilt that I started at least 12 years ago in a workshop for piecing curves. Got it done right before Xmas so I could give it as a gift to my best buddy. I'm calling it "Where Love Grows". I had originally planned to give it to my mother but she passed away before I got it finished.

Here are a few close ups of the free motion machine quilting. I'm really pleased with how it turned out. Plus it just feels so good to finish something that's been in the works for so long!

Xmas Lights 2009

Before we moved to far away from the holidays, I wanted to show you some of the amazing light displays in our community of Yorba Linda in a section called East Lake.

East Lake is a man-made lake nestled into a valley with rolling hills surrounding it. It's a gorgeous place to live, every house is on the water with boats docked in front of each home.

At Xmas time there is a boat parade and snow is brought in for the children to play in.

Each street is decorated to a theme color by the residents and it becomes very competitive. And this year was no exception. The residents out did themselves once again.

My mother almost bought one of these homes when she moved from La Mirada (where I grew up) to Yorba Linda. But she bulked at the price tag. And that was 17 years ago (I remember them being around $320,00 then). I'm sure each of these is now going for at least a million or more. I believe this one belongs to race car driver John Force. He owns several homes in our community, as well as has his race car company here too. This one was my favorite, probably because of the text. :) My children and I both walked and drove around East Lake on Xmas Eve and then again Xmas night. It's one of our Xmas traditions. EXTRA CREDIT: on a piece of green paper cut in the shape of a tree tell me your favorite Xmas memory or tradition. Please also put your name and period on the tree.

HELLO, I'm Back! Happy New Year

Wow, it actually feels good to be back to work, but it sure was hard to get up at 5 this morning after sleeping in for 2 weeks straight. So nice to see all the kids and get them doing art again. I got a few things finished up this Holiday Season that I gave as gifts to my favorite people. I finished this Free Form Crochet bracelet that I had started a few months back, and embellished it with a few beads and gave it to our Drama teacher here at Whitney, Jodi Improta. Saw her this morning in the halls and guess what she had on? Yeap, her new bracelet. I was so thrilled to see her wear it. Oops, gotta go, incoming students.

Farewell 2009

I'm leaving for my 2 week Xmas Break and not sure if I'll be posting during that time, so I just wanted to wish all of you a Joyous and Happy Holiday Season. Finally got my tree up last night with the kids helping with their favorite ornaments. Sorry the pix is so blurry. Many of the ornaments are handmade by either myself , my children or my Whitney Students. So many memories! Speaking of my students, senior Anne Guu brought in over 70 cupcakes that she and her boyfriend made and decorated last night, so that she could give one out to every student in every one of her classes. She has such a big heart. And Anne, I ate mine and it was delicious. Thank you for the yummy treat. I will be at Java Joe's in Yorba Linda on New Years Eve listening to my friends "The Rockits and the High Lites" play and sing. Come out and join me there for dinner and an evening of music and dancing. The cover charge for the night is $75 and includes everything. Merry Xmas and Happy New Year everyone.

7th Grade Art Wheel Embossments-1st Quarter

I've been missing you guys from 1st quarter and wishing I could see all of you before we leave for winter break to wish you a Happy Holiday. So if you see this, drop on by tomorrow for a hug. This was the last assignment for the 1st quarter 7th graders. They designed a printing plate using cardboard, string, wires and anything else they found around the room that might work under the printing press without ripping the paper. Then they printed an embossment and had a choice with color media. They could bring in watercolor, pastel or colored pencil. It was a fun assignment for them because they really enjoyed working the printing press. Above we have Smruthi Maganti, Jihee Lee, Matthew Chou, and JuEun Lee. And the close up below belongs to Deborah Gordillo. Rock on little ones! I'm hearing great things about you from Ms. Improta.

Moonbabies - Students Art

Just getting around to posting my Ceramic I classes Moonbaby (little clay dolls that are made in Zambia for children to play with by their mothers) assignment, their first project of the year. They were given a lump of clay and told to pull, pinch and manipulate the clay into an abstract human form. What they were not allowed to do was to attach any pieces or parts. So this is actually a pretty challenging 1st assignment. I just didn't tell them that at the time :) They all did an awesome job with the project and here are a few of my favorites. Above we have seniors Erin Unson and Eugene Kim, and below are seniors Jessca Lee, Jennifer Su and Julie Jung.

And last but not least senior Janet Hurtado did the very cool design below. They all finished the pieces off with an oxide staining technique.

7th Grade Pattern-Line-Texture-Color

My 2nd quarter 7th grade wheel class has just finished up their wonderful line/texture pieces and I wanted to show them off. Even though this new group has been a lot tougher to manage there is a lot of artistic talent in their midst. The top pix is a group shot of all 30 pieces, and the one below is a close-up of one of my new favorite students, Karen Malacon. She totally got what I wanted in this assignment. She always gets what I want! :)

The one directly above belongs to a young man who on the first day of class told me in no uncertain terms that he would never be able to do any of the art assignments, that he was a terrible artist. I think not! Just look at the cool piece Turath Liebenau came up with. It was one of my favorites of the bunch. Another favorite was done by Jada Gonzales below. A great job by all the kids. Now if I could just get them to stop talking so much, to actually listen to what I tell them without me having to repeat things 10 times, and to not run and poke each other constantly, we'd really be in business. :)

Janice Tsao - Alum - Class of 2008

Janice, who went all the way through 4 years of drawing and painting classes with me, recently came by for a visit. After a year at UC Davis, she has decided that she wants to transfer to Cal Arts in Valencia where she'd like to major in animation. So I asked to see her portfolio and these are a few of the pieces she brought in that I felt where exceptional. She has been attending an Arts Academy here in Cerritos called Vision 21.`It has an excellent program with many of it's teachers graduates of Art Center in Pasadena. So these are a couple of works that she created there under their watch. Above is an incredibly detailed pen and ink drawing with several close ups to follow. You 7th graders pay attention to her use of line and texture. Just like our last assignment.

These next two works were from a life drawing class she attends there with actual live models. Very impressive

And above is an acrylic piece that she did of a live concert she attended, and below is a mixed media work that is very powerful. Terrific job Janice. I'm so proud of you. And good luck at Cal Arts. They have an amazing program there.

Rebecca Chen - Alum - Class of 2003

Rebecca was by far one of my most unforgettable students and produced so many thought provoking pieces for me in the 6 years that I worked with her here at Whitney. She was instrumental in refurbishing the custodian's work room into our current Art Lounge (see side label Art Lounge) where she not only laid the flooring, but did numerous collages on the cabinets and doors. Plus many of her works are on display in the lounge including this extraordinary piece. She took at least 5 of my various art courses that I offer here and was given a very generous art scholarship to the San Francisco Art Institute. The last time I heard from her she was traversing across country between 2 different restaurants working as a sous chef in both. I put this piece up because my current beginning 3-d students will be building a paper mache structure to house a quilt in that they are currently working on. And I really like the one that Rebecca built here for her amazing embroidered piece. Sorry the close up is a bit blurry!

Congrats Danielle on Coach's Award!

Attended my daughter Danielle's golf banquet last week where she picked up the much coveted Coach's Award. Here she is (right side end) with her team mates at the Yorba Linda Country Club where they hold the banquet each year. This is her second year on the Esperanza High School's Junior Varsity team. Congratulations on another great season Dan. I LOVE YOU! And you are look FABULOUS!

Wanted to get a shot of both my children while they were both dressed up for our annual Xmas picture. They clean up real nice LOL My son Zach, who also played golf for Esperanza won the Coach's Award when he was there from the same coach that gave Danie hers. So we are keeping it all in the family. So very proud of both of you!!!

So from our home to yours, my children and I would like to wish all of you a very Happy Holiday season. (Great job on the lights Zach) :)

Kristin La Flamme - Fiber Artist

#1
Gotta spend a little more money cuz I just recently discovered Kristin's multi-media fiber works that are absolutely fabulous. Love how she is combining quilting with knit/crochet, beading, embroidery, text and so much more, then mounting it all on linen. You can view her work at http://www.kristinlaflamme.com/. She graciously agreed to let me to post some of her work because I wanted to share it with all my 3-d art students, especially Audrey, Ashley, Breeana, Anne, Ashlee, Marisela, Alma, Christie, Olivia, Angeline, Jullian, and Trisha. I know you 12 would appreciate her work the most. Love you guys!
#2
So all my art students, I ask you again, which one will I purchase?

#3
For EXTRA CREDIT on a pink piece of paper cut in the shape of a house, put your name and period on the front, and on the back side tell me which piece is being shipped to me from Hawaii where Kristin lives. #1, #2, #3, or #4 ?

#4

Margie Fish- Fiber Artist

Decisions, decisions, decisions! Which one to buy? Which one can't I live without? On my excellent adventure last weekend with my son Zach, I found the most comprehensive fiber store in Old Town San Diego called the Shepherdess, and inside a plethora of art, books, fibers, and beads to buy. But what really captured my attention were the felted vessels of Margie Fish. I just knew I had to own one of her works. These were the 3 I had to choose from, each one more unique then the next. Which one??

Well, I finally made my decision this morning after looking at her pix numerous times. The price range is from $200 to $250. So for EXTRA CREDIT for all my classes, on a piece of green paper cut into the shape of a vessel, put your name and period on the front, and on the back side guess which one I picked (the blue, the orange-brown or the green with pine needles around the top. Let's see how well you know what I like. If you guess correctly you get 3 extra credit points, if wrong only 1. Good Luck!

An Excellent Adventure

Over the Thanksgiving Holiday, with my daughter gone to the mountains with her boyfriend's family, I asked my son if he'd like to take a trip. I told him to pick where ever he'd like to go (within reason LOL), and with Plant Science being his major at Cal Poly Pomona, he thought it would be fun to visit all the gardens at Balboa Park in San Diego. So off we went on the Friday after Thanksgiving. And what a beautiful day to travel, brisk but sunny. And of course I had to fit in at least one fiber store on the way down. My son is such a patient boy with his mommy. :) So we stopped in Solana Beach to visit Trios Gallery (crafts store) and Knitting by the Beach. We also hit an orchid farm right outside Carlsbad Beach off the 5 freeway. Beautiful plants but way overpriced! Above is the root structure of an incredibly old tree in Balboa Park. I asked Zach to crawl inside so you could appreciate the scale of this old beauty.

For lunch we ate down on the water at Seaport Village in downtown San Diego. After getting a bit lost and having to stop and ask for directions we finally made our way to Balboa Park. The park was bigger than any park I've ever experienced and crowded, making parking a bit of a challenge. But it was so worth the struggle. The 1200 acre park was placed in reserve in 1835 and has 15 major museums, as well as many specialty gardens, plus a dog park. This man was playing the most beautiful instrument with the most unusual noises coming from it. In fact there were magicians and entertainment where ever you looked.

Here is their rose garden but honestly, I think the rose garden at Cal Poly is even better that Balboa's. The cactus garden was extensive but in dire need of some maintenance. I couldn't resist crawling into this cacti trunk below.

So many of the cacti are really old and so large. I was really impressed with the structure of this old beauty below.

Another garden that we visited was the Japanese Garden. But you had to pay to get in and it really wasn't worth the money. The Japanese garden at CSULB is so much better.

The Botanical Garden Lath House below was a favorite. Extremely impressive in size and scope of species.

Loved the way this plant was wrapping it's roots around it's neighbor in the pix below.

My favorite plants in the Botanical Garden area were the orchids. They had so many varieties, with so many of the plants in bloom.

Outside the Modern Museum were these fabulous mosaic sculptures that I knew my mosaics teacher Katherine would love.

Below is an interior shot of Ontario Orchids in Vista. We visited here on our way back home. Prices were so much more reasonable here and I bought Zach a very cool wall mounted orchid. We also were able to stop at a fabulous fiber store in Old Town San Diego called the Shepherdess. What a treat that was for me. I was able to pick up a couple of new books for inspiration. Thank you Zach for waiting in the car for a good 45 minutes while I browsed.

This was the view from our hotel window. We were able to get a room on the 8th floor in one of the two Marriott Towers in the downtown seaport Gaslight District. We overlooked the Coronado Bridge and the shipping lane. Zach drove us over the bridge so we could see the infamous Del Coronado Hotel. Would love to stay there one of these days. Below was a chef building a gingerbread house inside the lobby of our hotel. All in all, Zach and I had a really excellent adventure. Let's do it again next year son. I Love You So Much!!

Creative Framing Solutions - Student Art

Wanted to show off my 3rd year drawing/painting kids 1st Quarter Finals. They were to choose from either their color pointillism or prismacolor metamorphosis to frame up in a creative way that visually flowed without taking attention away from their original art work. So above we have junior Jason Kwon's piece and below is senior Jullian Kho's work. I think both the kids came up with wonderfully creative solutions.

7th Grade Art Wheel - Value Scales

My new crop of 7th graders are starting off with a BANG! Every quarter we rotate them, so this is my 2nd batch. They are a talkative bunch, and I don't quite have them where I want them, but I'm slowly but surely getting them there. I'm finding out that there is a lot of talent in this group, so I'm very excited to see what I can get out of them. This was their 1st assignment, to do a simple 5 step value scale. These were the most creative ones that I'm featuring. The best one of the bunch (top) was done by Kyung Yi, and the ones below were created by Adora Islam, Anna Lee, Sharon Oh, Brandon Pu and once again Kyung Yi.

Felt Pouches - Student Art

Just finished 1st Quarter Finals and these were the pieces that my Beginning 3-d kids created for their class final. They had to use their newly acquired sewing and embroidery skills to make these adorable felt pouches. Plus they also learned some beading skills as well. The photo above displays all their pieces which are now on display in the front office

Above and below are close ups of senior Ashlee Chang's pouch, both the front and back sides. Ashlee always goes above and beyond the minimum requirements and comes up with phenomenal designs as well as using amazing craftsmanship to put them together with. She takes her work home with her every night and she also works on her pieces all thru the day to be able to do what she does. Notice also the Polymer beads she made to go onto the draw string ends.

Above we see a close up of senior Hannah Park's pouch, and below is Senior Anne Guu's. Look at the incredible mount of beading that both girls put into their work. Extremely time consuming.

Want to wish everyone out there a Happy Turkey Day, and to tell you all that I am so very thankful to be teaching art at Whitney High. I'm a very lucky woman! And a BIG thank you to all my art students who work so hard to make me happy. Love you guys so much!

Jordon Joyce - 2008 Alum

Jordon, whom I have worked with since the 7th grade in several of my art classes, recently came by for a visit to let me know he has changed his major to art and that he's thinking about becoming an art teacher. What a nice surprise! He is currently taking art classes at Cerritos College and this terrific clay piece that he sculpted just came out of the glaze firing. It was so fun and expressive that I just had to take a pix.

Mosaic Class at the Muck

Just wanted to show off a couple of skulls getting finished off in my mosaics class. Here is Sue grouting hers, and below is a completely finished work. The Muckenthaler in Fullerton offers up many wonderful day, evening and summer art classes, and I highly recommend Katherine England's classes. She is one of the most fabulous artist/instructors that I've ever worked with. See side bar to view some of her work.

Burnishing Whistles - Ceramics I

There are so many things that I love about teaching here at Whitney, and here is an example of one of my favorite things. How good the students are to each other, how supportive and respectful they are with one another. Here senior Christopher Lu is letting senior Nicholas Fernando know how good his burnished whistle is looking. Chris didn't know I took this shot by the way, I had to be really sneaky :) Extra Credit for 7th graders and Beginning 2-D Art only: on a yellow piece of paper cut into the shape of a banana put your name and period on front side and on back tell me what your favorite food is. You never know, I might bring it in as a treat one day.

Santa Barbara Coastline

This last weekend I traveled up to Santa Barbara, Ojai and Santa Maria in search of fiber and crafts stores, but made the mistake of thinking they would all be open on Sunday (Saturday no problem) Lesson learned, should have called first. Oh well, found several that made the trip worth while. :) Betty's Yarns in Santa Maria on Broadway and Battles as well as a wonderful quilt store in Old Town Orcutt, think it was called the Old Town Quilt Store on Clark St. In Ojai, so many wonderful shops on their main drag in the Arcade area. Primavera being a favorite, as well as Artful Living and Human Arts. Did I buy anything? Of course :) But the best part of the trip was the gorgeous weather on Sunday coming home and the fabulous views of the coast.

Extra Credit for my Beginning 2-d class only: on a blue piece of paper cut into the shape of a teardrop, write down your greatest fear involving the new drawing unit we are starting.

Tissue & Paper Collage Portfolios - Student Art

Every couple of years I change up the design idea for my 2-d beginner portfolios. This sun motif idea originated 2 years ago when alumni Regina Teng and Kenji Tan both deviated from their rubric and came up with this idea. And it worked out so well last year that I repeated it again this year (look at sidebar under Portfolios and you will see the ones done last year). The students build 2 separate collages on 18" by 24" paper consisting mostly of tissue paper but I also require them to find one other special paper that contains a visually textual element to throw in the mix. So senior Sonya Liu has cut out many special papers that she found in magazines and is now collaging her tissue over top in the piece above. In the work below senior Meliza Panganiban has finished her second collage and is ready for part 2 of the design process.

The pieces above and below (senior Brian Choi and junior Suzanne Kang) are showing how the kids overlap the 2 collages and begin cutting out their sun motif designs. They cut thru both papers at the same time so that the pieces match exactly when they are alternated and glued back together to form the portfolio's outer covers.

The rest are the finished works. After collages are cut up the students are given 2 pieces of cardboard that they glue the pieces down to, alternating the two different collages as they go. The gorgeous piece above belongs to senior Sonya Liu, you saw her begin her paper collage in the first pix. And below is Brian Choi's finished portfolio.

Junior Michael Jo did the striking piece above and below is a close up of junior Kevin Aquilo's portfolio. I love the richness of his design and the photos he incorporated under the tissue.

Above is junior Paul Kim's piece in which he achieved a very high contrast between the 2 collages (exactly what I was hoping for, but very difficult to do), and below is senior Alma Gudino's very complex design.

And last but not least is senior Betty Tong's beautiful work. Great job all of you!

Farewell to my 1st Quarter 7th Graders

Just wanted to say good-bye to my sweet babies. Gonna miss you guys so much!!!! You were a wonderful group to start off this 7th grade wheel experiment with. I've never had a group of students work so hard for me with such joy and enthusiasm. You've set the bar really high for the other 3 groups that will be following you this year. Thank you for all your hard work and the amount of energy and effort you put into my class. I hope to see all of you at least one more year in another art class before you graduate. Love you all! And be good for your other teachers, make me proud!!! And don't forget to bring your parents in Open House Nite so I can meet them. The date is April 22. See ya then!

These are some of the kids working on their felt soap project. Way too much fun! To my new 7th graders in 2nd quarter for extra credit tonight: put your name and period on a piece of brown paper and then write down on the other side of the paper what your favorite thing about going to Whitney is. Where do you get brown paper? Be creative! Think kitchen.

2 Point Box Constructions - Student Art

Just wanted to show off a few of my 2nd year 2-d students 2 point box constructions. Besides the construction they also had to build in a border treatment and bring in a bit of color into the graphite work. The top piece belongs to senior Anne Guu, and the one underneath belongs to senior Esther Lee.

Senior Brandon Liao did the piece above and senior Mary Lou Bunn did the fun piece below.

Sewing and Embrodiery Basics - Student Art

My Beginning 3-d students have been working their butts off learning how to sew and embroider so that we can move on to more challenging assignments like quiltmaking. These are their very sweet preliminary studies that actually turned out quite extraordinary. From top to bottom, left to right are seniors Ashlee Chang, Sherri Singh, Anne Guu, and Jenn Dai.

And after they finished the flat pieces they learned how to make a simple pillow. I offered extra credit if they embellished the front with more embroidery. So these belong to Ashlee Chang, senior Marisela Herrarte, junior Hillary Chan, and Anne Guu.

Moonstone Mounted Sculptures - Student Art

When I first started this project with my 2nd year clay students they were all sculpting some type of moon as subject matter, thus the title 'Moonstones". But over the years it has evolved into any form so long as it has an expressive face attached and lots of surface design. In the second half of the assignment, after their pieces are bisqued fired, we sawdust fire them and then rub them with pigments. And lastly, they mount them for display. So sawing, sanding, staining, drilling and wood burning come into play in the finished mounted works.


The expressive piece above belongs to senior Steven Ebalobor and is a bit of a self-portrait. He's showing how's he's feeling about missing his girlfriend who went away to college. I think he has done a wonderful job expressing his sadness and pain. The bead/tear drops raining down from the cloud are a clever design element. The piece below belongs to senior Ekta Doshi, and I love all the colored pigments she has combined in the staining of the clays surface.



The piece above and below belongs to senior Wayne Chen and his subject is an hour glass which he very cleverly mounted using two posts instead of the one.

And this last shot is a close up of the wood burning that Steven did on his wood. All 3 kids did an exceptional job in a very short amount of time!

One More Happy 21st Birthday to my Son

Took our boy out Friday Nite for his 21st birthday to the Yard House in Brea for our first alcoholic beverage together. Who would have thought his drink of choice was to be a Pomegranate Margarita. I'm thinking this wasn't his first drink after all LOL. Did he get carded you want to know? Yes he did. :) Then came back home to do the birthday cake, candles, and presents. And then off he went with his friends to a comedy club in Downtown Fullerton where I'm sure some more drinking was going on. Happy Birthday Baby!!!!!!!!! I LOVE YOU and I'm so PROUD of the man you are turning out to be.

Free Form Crochet Workshop

Always wanted to learn free form crochet (learned free form knitting several years ago with Valentine Devine) and last night at the Yarn Lady in Lake Forest I was able to do just that with artist/teacher Wendy Seigel.

They had at least 3 different classes going on in one evening with lots of fiber enthusiasts, plus one adorable 3 month old. They are open almost every evening with different groups meeting for spinning, knitting, feltmaking, dyeing, and other fiber related classes. I was also impressed with the quantity and quality of their yarn selection.

Wendy brought some beautiful samples with her to show and I ended up buying the middle wristlet from her. The top piece is the one she taught me with and was gracious enough to let me keep to teach my students with, and the bottom piece is the one I worked out. Both of these are unfinished and I can't wait to get back to mine and finish it up. I loved having no pattern to follow and Wendy taught me so many new tricks and turns. A really enjoyable evening. Can't wait to go back for another class and some more yarn shopping. :)

A close up of Wendy's finished piece.

View from the Laguna Hotel

On Halloween night after dropping my daughter and her boyfriend off at the Irvine Spectrum, I headed down to Laguna Beach to have dinner with my cousin at the coziest little Italian bistro in the Village. Afterwards, to kill time till I had to pick the kids up we headed to the Laguna Hotel for a cup of hot chocolate with lots of whipped cream on top. Yummy! And this was our view of the coastline. What a beautiful night it was. Got to wear my amazing new cashmere needle felted scarf to keep me warm. One of my many new purchases at the Artistic License Craft Faire at Estanzia Park in Costa Mesa that I attended 2 weekends ago. I'll post a picture of it tomorrow.

Happy 21st Birthday Zachary

Hi sweetheart, just want to wish you a very Happy day. Wish you could be home with us, but we will see you on the weekend to celebrate and have a drink together! LOL :)

One Last Farewell to Halloween

Just wanted to show off my own children and their pumpkins they carved for Halloween. Danielle did the cat and Zach was able to capture a likeness to our dog Bogie. Unfortunately, we didn't even have one trick-o-treater to see them this year. So Sad! But the good part was there was a lot of leftover chocolate candy bars :).


Here are my babies on their way to the Duck's game last Friday night. I think the Duck's might have won that night.

Self-Portrait Collage Finals - Student Art

Well, we are already headed into the end of 1st quarter. I can't believe it went by so quickly! Most of my classes have some type of performance based final that is worth 25% of their grade for the quarter, a few like ceramics have a written final. The piece above, done by senior Esther Lee last year in Beginning 2-d Art, was so beautifully done, with so much sensitivity that I needed to show it off so the kids this year could see what I'm expecting. Not only are these pieces mini self-portraits, but the students are also required to bring in all the elements and principles of art into their works. So line, shape color, texture, balance, emphasis, movement, etc., there are 14 all together (a lot of hoops for them to jump through). So the assignment really showcases everything they've learned about design and craftsmanship over the past 8 weeks. Last year, senior Amanda Lui did the powerful piece below. Both girls are pursuing the arts in college.

Happy Halloween from the Art Room at Whitney High

These are a few of my sweet 7th graders I keep talking about as well as my 9th grade Art Tech for their class. Lorenzo Gutierrez, Katy Uchiyama, Clarisa Marie Bloemhof, and Larisa Lagade. And down below dressed as hippies with their handmade Tye-Dye T-shirts are Lizzy Kruger, Melina Castorillo, and Yasmeen Pardo.

Many of our students go all out for Halloween and a lot make their own costumes as well. So I just had to snap a few pix this morning to share. Above are seniors Ashlee Chang, Anne Guu, and Ekta Doshi. And below are juniors Kevin Aquilo and Paul Kim. Happy Halloween to all!!!!!

Color Pointalism - Student Art

My 3rd year drawing/painting students just finished up a unit in color pointillism (drawing only with dots of color much as Seurat did in Sunday in the Park). What I love the most about working with my kids at Whitney are their highly developed critical thinking skills and us always encouraging them to think outside the box. First of all I require them to come up with an original idea to work with and then give them a minimum set of goals to each within the piece. But I really encourage them to bring a twist to their work, to come up with a new idea within the medium that no one has seen here at Whitney. So I've had kids lay watercolor down first and do their pointillism over that , but senior Jullian Kho wanted to know if it would be OK to watercolor over top the water based felt tip markers we use. I told it it would probably bleed out her work, but I also encouraged her to give it a try and see what happens. We both really liked the look so off she went on the piece above.
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Junior Jason Kwon choose to work in the traditional manner in his gorgeous landscape while senior Hannah Park watercolored over her image but controlled it so it wouldn't bleed out her work. Great solutions all of you. Below is a close up of Jason and Hannah's pieces. These pieces are extremely time consuming and require a lot of patience which you can see my students have in abundance!

7th Grade Art Wheel - Wire Pendants with Patterned Stamped Tissue

The most difficult assignment this year for my sweet 7th graders has been the wire pendant project. They were asked to bring in an interesting rock, shell or charm, and then I showed them how to use pliers and wire cutters to capture the object within the wire so that it looked aesthetically pleasing and well crafted. They were also allowed to embellish with other things like smaller beads, charms and stones. It was rough going at times, but eventually all 30 of them were able to finish a pendant that we then strung onto ribbon or a chain they had brought in from home. The pieces actually turned out quite well considering how much they struggled with this small motor skills task. The piece above belongs to Smruthie Maganti and is one of the more sophisticated ones. I'm finding out that Smruthie is an amazing designer and craftswoman and I'm hoping she will come back and take more art classes with me. Hint, Hint! :)

You are also seeing glimpses of their collaged boxes that I posted last week along with another unit we did in conjunction with this one, Stamped Patterns on Tissue Paper. I taught them some surface design with carved rubber erasers, and 7 different patterns that they could stamp out. After practicing all 7, they chose a color tissue that would work visually with their boxes and stamped out their favorite patterns. This tissue was then used to line the boxes with and to provide a beautiful tease before you see the pendant underneath. The 3 pendants above were done by Evelyn Aldana, Paul Dean Versteeg III, and Lizzy Krueger, and the box and tissue below was done by Katy Uchiyama.

Karisma Dev did the box, tissue and pendant above, and Eduardo Jacinto and Matthew Bautista did the pieces below.

And these last two were done by Ju Eun Lee and Deborah Gordillo. Fantastic job class!

Tye-Dye Unit - Student Art

A really fun unit for my beginning 3-d students, to reinforce the color theory unit that we studied, was tye-dye using cold water Rit Fabric Dyes (I added salt and vinegar as mordants to each dye-bath to help absorb and set colors). I show them traditional tye-dye from the late 60's and early 70's and then some more modern techniques as well. And then the kids came up with new ideas I've never seen before. It's a learning experience for me too!

We start off the trials on white paper towels (pictured above) and then we go next to squares of bleached white muslin cloth (100% cotton, below). Also this year because my 7th graders were running 3 days ahead of schedule I let them try out some paper towel samples as well (pictured directly above).

The cloth pieces above will be used at a later date for the front and back panels of an appliquilt assignment the beginning 3-d kids will be tackling (below).

Then both groups had time for some extra credit dyeing where they brought in 100% cotton t-shirts and really enjoyed themselves (below). We ended up with many striking pieces from both groups!

Rockits and High Lites at Java Joe's this Friday Nite

If you want to come out this Friday nite and enjoy some great live music from the 50's, 60's and a bit from the 70's, my good friends The Rockits and The High Lites, will be performing at Java Joe's in Yorba Linda from 8:00 to 11:00. There is usually a dinner buffet being served out front for around $5 to $8 if you want to eat there. Also a Domino's Pizza next door, and one of my favorite restaurants, The Wild Artichoke, if you really want to splurge before the show is a few doors down. It's such a fun evening with dancing and the braver audience members getting up to sing with the band. This is bass guitarist Jim singing with a few of the more gutsy gals from the crowd. Come join us!

Breeana Johng - Student Art

Breeana, who should have been in my 3rd year Advanced 3-d class this year, but couldn't fit me into her schedule, just finished designing and making this cute doggy backpack for her pup. She also designs and sews her own clothing. She is a remarkable young woman and just wanted to show her off :)

Below are a couple of polymer beads she just finished. Too cute! EXTRA CREDIT - on a piece of green paper trimmed in brown, cut into the shape of a young sapling tree, put your name, period and answer this question, what artist are you most inspired by and why? Hand this to me when you walk in my door tomorrow. :)

7th Grade Art Wheel - Collaged Jewelry Boxes

A Great Big Thank You to all the Whitney High Staff and the owner of Discoveries Gallery in Tustin who helped me to collect over 120 jewelry boxes that my 7th graders could collage on top of. After a color theory unit my students were asked to pick only one color scheme to work within and to find beautiful papers to collage onto the boxes. This top one was a group effort for one of the teachers who gave me many of her old boxes. After a few of the boys finished theirs I asked them to start on this one as a favor to me, and then I finished it up. So thank you to 7th graders Edurado Jacinto, Paul Dean Versteeg III, and Jun Son for your help! These boxes were made to house wire necklace pendants that the students made a couple weeks ago. I will post those at a later date. And as part of a package design unit the students were taught 7 different pattern/textures that they had to stamp onto tissue paper. That paper was then used to wrap around their pendants in the interior of the box for a more complete look (as shown below).

One of my very favorite boxes was made by Smruthi Maganti (above), and then two others that I felt were terrific as well belong to Deborah Gordillo and Ju Eun Lee (below).

And look at these gorgeous ones created by Athena Mao, Edurado Jacinto (above) and Karisma Dev (below) A wonderful job by all!

Sunset in Laguna Beach

Last Friday night got to travel with my musical friends down to south Laguna Beach just before it turns into San Juan Capistrano, and this was the sunset that awaited us. Couldn't have asked for anything more beautiful.

Intermediate 2-d Art Quarter Final - Student Art

My second year drawing/painting students have just finished learning 1 & 2 point perspective and now they will be going on location around the school (either inside or outside) to draw what they see building-wise in 1 or 2 point. Then they will be required to alter reality within the foundation's structure. This top piece done last year by alum Mindy Cho was done from the bench outside Senora Barry's room looking into the food court area. You can see the actual building in the mid left corner as well as one of our picnic benches but everything else she pretty much altered. A fabulous piece Mindy! And down below is alum Amanda Garcia's piece from last year. Her viewpoint was from our V.P.'s office by the flamingo planter looking toward Senora Barry's room. Your attention to detail was amazing Amanda, and both girls had beautiful shading styles and craftsmanship. Mindy's piece was in 2-point and Amanda's work was 1-point.

Ashley Morris - Student Art

Junior Ashley Morris (4th year 3-d art) just finished up her second project of the quarter. This is a child's hat that she created from raffia strips (20 pieces thick) that she braided into a 30 foot long rope, then she coiled it onto itself and stitched the edges together. For embellishment she added the gross grain ribbon and a few of her own polymer buttons. Adorable!

"The Great Shakeout" Statewide Earthquake Drill at Whitney High

How could I resist photographing these sweet faces as I held my students captive under the art tables during our earthquake drill. These faces belong to my 3rd period beginning 2-d class and as you can see they had to squish themselves up like sardines to all fit under the tables. But they were so cooperative, it couldn't have gone better. Thanks guys!

Career Day at Whitney

Couldn't resist featuring senior Pankti Patel and her very cool , creative skirt that she threw together last night for Career Day today. She wants to go into the fashion world so to show her future career she cut out photos from fashion magazines and attached them over top an existing sun dress. I felt it was such a clever idea that took some serious time and thought so I gave her extra credit for her efforts. Way to go Pankti! It's EXTRA CREDIT time again students. On a piece of pink paper cut into the shape of a heart edged in purple write your name, period and tell me what is an odd fact about you or an unusual talent that you possess.

Beginning of Year Throwing Demonstration

A couple times a year I get to sit down at the potter's wheel and throw a few pots to demonstrate an assignment or extra credit opportunity. So this year for my beginning clay kids I produced these two pots with a little added slip trail embellishment. Always forget how much I love to throw. Don't know why I don't do it more often. If the glaze turns out decent you might see them again in their finished state.

The Remakable Katherine England - Pro Mosaic Artist

In preparation for the Annual Fullerton Spring Garden Tour this year in which Katherine's amazing home and garden will be featured, let me show off her newest garden creation in it's step by step construction. Looks like she's staring here by sawing into some type of soft Styrofoam, and then below, stacking and gluing these pieces to form the foundation of her piece. Then she's taking a rasp to the whole thing to further enhance the form.



(Above) Next comes the sticking on of the flexible netting to hold the concrete slurry that's being slathered on by one of her very good looking helpers. :) (below)



And then we have Katherine gluing down the glass shards. Notice how gorgeous she looks no matter that it's probably over a 100 degrees inside her garage studio. And look at that glorious mane of hair that woman has!

Looks like another friend helping her to grout her piece.

And then the finished green man. Knowing Katherine she probably whipped this piece out in less that a week or so. She's that talented and when she starts something she bulldozes through it till it's done. You are incredible Katherine! You inspire me everyday.

Ashley Morris - Student Artist

It only took her 2 years but she finally got this beauty done. Ashley, now a junior, started this piece for me 2 years ago for her final assignment in my Advanced 3-d art class. It was a new assignment and I totally misjudged how many days it would take to complete, so many of the kids didn't finish. So all last year I bugged Ashley to finish it on her own at home but she was just too busy with school and sports, so now that I have her back this year for 4th year 3-d art I made her finish it for her first assignment of the year, and it was totally worth the wait! Below is a close up. They were required to begin on a wood base and use at least 4 different media and build a bas relief work. Ashley used nails, paint, tissue collage, wire, glass shards, and Styrofoam. I have been working with Ashley since she was in 7th grade and she is an incredibly talented designer and craftswoman!!!!

1 Point Box Constructions - Student Art

These are a couple of the pieces turned in recently by my Intermediate 2-d class. The minimum requirement was to build a 1 point box construction that has at last 3 boxes in it, and then to shade it in with a wide range of values using only one light source. The top one done by senior Ashlee Chang was my favorite because I felt she really pushed herself the hardest and came up with a highly creative design. The bottom two were also outstanding works, also showing a good deal of creativity and effort. They were done by seniors Marisela Herrarte and Anne Guu.

Polymer Beads And Buttons - Student Art

Just finished a color theory unit in my Beginning 3-d class using Polymer Clay. Gave the kids the 3 primary colors plus a black and white for tinting and shading and off they went to make all the colors and combinations of the color wheel. Then took them through another unit where I taught them different bead and button techniques that can be achieved with the clay. And these were the results. My students always love this unit, and we make use of the beads and buttons in other assignments as embellishments.

Janet Hurtado - This one's for you!

It's little Prince Bogie, fresh out of the shower where he accidently jumped in last night to see what was going on in there with my daughter Danielle. Boy, did he get a very wet surprise. :) Janet, my Ceramics student, has been hoping for more Bogie pix. Hope you like this one! EXTRA CREDIT On a piece of purple paper cut into the shape of a star, edged in green trim put your name, period and answer these questions: What are you like in a group setting, and how do you think you affect group dynamics?

Color Theory - Student Art

This years Beginning 2-d students are coming in with very high skill levels in place (drawing, painting and designing). These are just a sampling of the many wonderful pieces that were turned in recently. Even though we are an academic magnet in our school district, these kids are coming to me with exceptional right brain critical thinking skills, making my job a joy! What is a shame is that many of these kids waited til their senior year to take my class, and now I will not be able to work with them again at a higher level. Oh well, at least they are discovering that they have art in their souls! This top piece was done by senior Alan Tsim.

The above three works were done by seniors Jeremy Chung, Nandini Kannan, and Sonya Liu.

And these last four were created by seniors Edna Wong, Brian Choi, Sarah Lee, and Pankti Patel. And this was just their first assignment, can you image what they are going to do with the rest of the year's assignments. I'm so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oops, One More

Just had to show off one more piece that came in late. It was definitely worth the wait. Done by Clarisa Marie Bloemhof, it easily became one of my favorites. Love the bold tribal feel it has.

7th Grade Linear Textural Designs with Watercolor

I am so pleased with the way these sweet little designs turned out. I gave my 7th graders a lesson on linear textures as well as watercolor washes for backgrounds, and away they went to create these beauties. No pencil sketches were allowed on top of the watercolor backgrounds; they had to freehand these in felt tip markers, so their craftsmanship skills were really put to the test. Above you can see pieces from the entire class.

This one done by Sergio Garcia was one of my favorites. He really understood what I wanted.



Both Yasmeen Pardo's watercolor and textural lines really captured my attention.



And Eduardo Jacinto's piece really popped!



Loved the sensitive stylings of Smruthi Maganti.



And Katy Uchiyama's piece was gorgeous, such precision and a beautiful wash.



Michelle Chung interpreted the assignment as lines and shapes and created this wonderful piece.


As did Paul Dean Versteeg III who managed to also create an atmospheric feeling with his background wash.



Another creative interpretation by Athena Mao. Very cool piece Athena!

Value Studies/Right Brain Drawing Review - Student Art

My 3rd year drawing students just completed these combination value study/realism drawing reviews using the right brain skills they have in place learned in 1st and 2nd year 2-d art. I gave each student a kernel of popcorn and they were instructed to enlarge it to at least 3" by 3", to draw it as realistically as possible and then to shade it in and include a cast shadow. In the top piece done 3 years ago by alum Rebecca Chung (probably the most talented art student I've ever worked with in the 30 years I've been teaching here) her kernel is morphing into a cobra ready to strike along with some other dark and frightening imagery. The bottom 3 were done this year by seniors Hannah Chang and Jullian Kho, and junior Jason Kwon.

Handmade Knitting Needles w/ PolymerClay Knobs & Hand Dyed Yarns - Student Art

These colorful yarns and whimsical knitting needles were just finished yesterday by my Intermediate 3-d students, all 6 of them :) They hand dyed the wool yarns (Lamb's Pride Worsted) with food colors (Wilton's Icing Colors). I had asked them to achieve a variegated yarn in color as well as value. At the same time they each sawed off 2 dowel sticks to 12 inches long each, sanded and waxed the sticks (shoe polish from the grocery store) then made fun little polymer clay knobs for the tops. I especially love the hot dog and hamburger done by senior Christi Connors. The lady bugs were done by senior Alma Gudino, piggies by senior Trisha Shah, bear and shark by senior Jullian Kho, space ship and moon by junior Angeline Tran, and stripped & beaded balls by junior Olivia Hill. And the best part is that today we started our knitting unit with these yarns and needles. How good is that? God, I love my job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1-Point Box Constuctions - Student Art

My Intermediate 2-d students are currently working on these 1-point box constructions. These two are from last school year and were done by alum Regina Teng and Amanda Garcia. Both pieces are highly creative and beautifully crafted. Regina and Amanda, if either of you are following my blog, I miss you guys and hope all is going well at college.

Color Theory/Tempera - Student Art

Last school year I posted these four remarkable color theory assignments done by my Beginning 2-d art students. Since my new 2-d kids are working on the same assignment I wanted them to see these as well as the two other posts below, also done in tempera (if interested in names on the four pieces above, please see side panel and click on color theory)

I've honestly forgotten who did these three gorgeous prelims in tempera for our realistic unit last year so I'm gonna take a guess here. The top two I believe belong to seniors this year, Brandon Liao and Esther Lee, and the one below belongs to alum Krystal Rodriguez. I forgot to write it down, so I apologize for my guesses. It's a bitch getting old! For 1 point of EXTRA CREDIT on a piece of green paper put your name, period and answer this question:What would someone close to you describe as your best and worst traits?

My Summer Art Projects

Every summer when I'm not teaching I love to try out new assignment ideas as well as finish off projects that I've started and never finished (way too many to count), and to prep new fibers for my Beginning 3-d class. Then at the beginning of the new school year I like to hang them all on the board and share them with my new and returning students so they can actually see that I am a working artist and craftswoman. So this is my 2009 collection :) The brown and plastic bags are filled with hand dyed raw wool fibers from Capistrano Fiber Arts and above each bag I've spun and plied up all the color ways that Lori Lawson dyed for me so my Beginning 3-d students can see what the finished yarn looks like. I take these students through a hand spinning unit in the spring. Instead of using a spinning wheel or drop spindle I teach them on a hooked coat hanger end. Works Great!


In the lower mid section here I've finished up a couple sawdust fired clay masks by adding some bead embellishments. Can't even begin to remember how many years those masks have been sitting in my studio. I do a mask a year when I demo them to my Beginning 3-d kids.

The pillow above was started in a crazy wonderful workshop with Valentine Devine many years ago and I just finally got back to it. The workshop was a free form knitting extravaganza with a bit of crochet embellishment. I love how this piece turned out with the bas relief front face.

These last two pillows were crocheted from the hand dyed, hand spun yarns that I made as the samples for the 3-d kids to choose from that were in those bags in the first pix. This first one was made from the 2008 yarn samples and the one below was crocheted from the 2009 samples. I gave the one below to one of my favorite people, Suzanne in our college center. She has helped me so very much over the years and was especially good to me last school year when she set up the art work for the senior awards banquet nite when I wasn't able to. Thank you again Suzanne! The backing fabric for both these pillows was hand dyed by nationally known quilt artist Ricky Tims, so the back sides are just as vibrant as the fronts.

USS Midway - San Diego

Over Labor Day weekend my friend and I drove down to Encinitas and San Diego. We stayed with her parents in the hills of downtown San Diego and her dad, who was a Korean War Veteran, was also serving as a docent on the aircraft carrier the USS Midway where he was able to give us a personal tour. These are some of the pix I shot along the way. I was completely overwhelmed by the scale of the ship and the personnel that it would take to operate this beast. Above is a shot from the flight deck overlooking the bay and the Coronado Bridge that takes you to Coronado Island and the infamous Del Coronado Hotel. And below is a huge sculpture of the famous photo from the 1945 cover of Life Magazine of the sailor coming home from war.

The interior of the carrier was humongous and had a variety of planes and interactive activities. Many of the planes in this area where from WWII, and still had their pilots names written under the windows and the pilots pictures posted next to the planes. It made the experience more personal and realistic.

Back up on the flight deck were many more aircraft. These were more modern planes, bombers, and helicopters from the Korean, Vietnam and Gulf Wars. It was possible to go into the interiors of many of these planes. Very cool but very hot inside. That weekend had record breaking heat going on in San Diego.

Really wanted to go inside the tower area but we ran out of time. But it sure was nice to get away.

7th Grade Charcoal Cones

My sweet little 7th graders continue to work their hearts out for me. I introduced them to charcoal and turning a 2-D triangle into a 3-D cone form. By the end of the assignment many of their faces were covered in charcoal. It's such a messy medium, but I think they really enjoyed it. From top to bottom: Grace Han, Matthew Chou, and Rachel Zhang. Once again Matthew told me he had nothing better to do the night before we turned these in so he was able to fill up the whole paper. I love that! EXTRA CREDIT On a piece of purple paper with your name and period attached, write down what makes you nervous.

Intermediate & Advanced 2-D Art Value Scales- Student Art

Been focusing so much on my 7th graders lately, so now I'd like to show off what my 2nd and 3rd year drawing students are starting off with. They too had to do value scales as a drawing review, but unlike my 7th graders who only had to achieve 5 values of grey, my 2nd year had to get 8 to 10 and my 3rd year had to come up with 13 (which is really hard to do). This top piece was done by 3rd year junior Jason Kwon who has the most beautifully sensitive drawing skills, and the 2 below where done by 2nd year seniors Anne Guu and Kate Lee. I love how Anne brought a little color work into hers and I'm thrilled to have Kate back in the fold. She hasn't been able to fit me into her schedule since she was a 7th grader. Welcome Back Woman! :)

Graphite Spheres - 7th Grade Art Wheel

Just loving my sweet new 7th graders and how hard they are working for me. These three spheres were a one day assignment but many of the kids took them home to spend a little extra time perfecting them. The one above done by Matthew Chou blew me out of the water because he went so far above and beyond what I asked them to do. He simply said he was bored :) Lucky me! The one below was done by Smruthi Maganti and she has given it such a nice rounded feeling plus she has a lovely shading style as well.

And this last one was done by Grace Han, who has also achieved a wonderful 3-D feel. For one EXTRA CREDIT point how would you describe yourself in one word only. Please use a blue piece of paper to put your answer on along with your name and period.

Bored Children and a Farewell to Summer

My son and his friends are so bored right now because most of their group has gone back to college, and they don't have to be back till next week. And they have just run out of things to do and money to do them with, so last night they broke out the Monopoly game and probably laughed more and had the most fun that they've had all summer. They even let my daughter Dani play and they were there for hours. It was so cool to watch them go back to this game after so many years and still enjoy it so much! Good-bye summer. Hello school, homework and studying :)

Value Scales - 7th Grade Art Wheel

We are experimenting this school year with a 7th grade wheel rotation that includes an art component. So every 8 weeks I get a new crop of 7th graders to teach art fundamentals to. I am loving my first group of kids. They are a little scared and a lot excited to be doing art and I'm really enjoying their enthusiasm and energy. Their first assignment was to create a 5 step value scale in graphite. The one above was done by Eduardo Jacinto, and the one beneath was made by Karisma Dev.


These next two were done by Sergio Garcia and Clarisa Marie Bloemnof. I am so impressed with these kids, and I feel so lucky to be working with such talent! Can you imagine what they will be producing with me by 4th level art in their senior year!!!!

Lump Boxes - Student Art

Have a few more posts to go from my students from last year and then I'm bringing up the new art students that started last week. These are some fun little boxes from last year that start from a solid block of clay. The outside shaping is done by throwing the lump on the board from various directions, and the insides are carved out and then some type of lid closure is usually attached on the inside lip so lid won't slide off. The kids were also required to put some outside surface decoration on the piece. Some chose to embellish their pieces like this fabulous one done by senior Cynthia Tsai.


This sweet box was done by senior Estelle Hong. Look at her attention to detail, not only in the surface decoration but in the glazing as well!


Juniors Steven Ebalobor and Jarvie Elpedes came up with some very cool solutions.

These three were also noteworthy, done by seniors Jessica Song, Jessica Su and Eaning Woo. What I especially love with all these pieces is that no two are alike!

I especially liked this middle one done by junior Crystal Valino, and senior Rikaya Obilo made the adorable one on the left. I'm sorry to say I can't remember who did the one on the right, but I think the shaping on the outside is very cool with the angle and it still manages to stand up.

Suzanne Singing her Heart Out!

Suzanne and Mary, from our library college center, along with their husbands Mike and Gary, joined me in Yorba Linda last Friday night at Java Joe's to listen and sing along with my favorite live band The Rockits and the High Lites. Suzanne was even brave enough to get up and sing along with bass guitarist Jim. The place was packed and we had so much fun singing and dancing! Attention all art students: here is your second opportunity to collect those extra credit points on Monday when you walk in my door. Just read the post below this one and follow the directions with just one change, find a piece of brown paper to do it on (can be any size). Be creative where you find the brown paper at, think outside the box :) You should probably be able to find it in your kitchen.

Art Students Grades 7 -12 Take Advantage of this Extra Credit Opportunity

After looking at these beginning of the year assignment examples please put your name, the name of your class, and the period of your class on a small piece of paper and hand it to me as you walk in my door tomorrow. That will be your only opportunity to get these 3 extra credit points. Enjoy the pictures.

Beginning 3-D art- Beads and Buttons out of Polymer Clay


Intermediate and Advanced 3-D Art - Handmade Knitting Needles, Hand dyed Yarns, Hand Dyed and Handspun Yarns, Felted Bags, Handknit Scarfs



Ceramics I - Moonbabies (Abstracted Figure Sculptures)


Ceramics II - Decorative Mounted Sculptures

Intermediate & Advanced 2-D Art - Value Studies

Beginning 2-D Art - Color Theory

Advanced 2-D Art - Color Pointillism

Mosaic Faces

This is a piece just finished by Gail from Katherine England's mosaics class of her daughter Jessica. And I understand that her daughter drew the flowers that her mom put into the piece. I really like the black and white checker border that frames the work. Really makes it pop!

Solar Pillows - Student Art

These solar printed pillows were the final assignment for my Beginning 3-d class and they always turn out so well. Plus the solar printing is always fun for the kids to watch as their images develop. I order chemically treated cotton fabric from a place in Washington state called Blueprints on Fabric (http://www.blueprintsonfabric.com/) These pillows showcase the student's design, sewing and embellishment skills that they have picked up throughout the year. The top four belong to from left to right, top to bottom: senior Shahnaz Khandoker, junior Jessica Lee, and seniors Emily Choh and Jenny Ham.


This is one of my all time favorite solar pillows done by the very talented senior Ivy Hu.


And this outstanding piece was done by 8th grade perfectionist :) Lilith Huang.


And lastly this pillow was done by one of the sweetest 7th grade boys I've ever worked with, Aman Patel, who also proved to be a very talented designer. Hopefully, you'll be coming back to me Aman in your junior or senior year!

2007 Alum Irene Ky

Irene got in touch after running across my blog recently. Said she got inspired to pull out all her art stuff and start creating again. I love that! Her boyfriend wants her to knit him a beanie. Good Luck with that Irene, send pix when done.

Bogey's New Collar

For years I've been trying to get my daughter interested in the fiber arts, knitting, spinning, etc. but with no luck until just recently when she saw some alien creatures featured in my Vogue knitting magazine. All of a sudden she wants to know if I have any extra yarn anywhere (of course I do!) and where my crochet hooks are. I found her on youtube teaching herself how to crochet, and was thrilled. With a little help from me and the computer she is off and running, and has been crocheting day and night. Here is her first creation for our naughty pup Bogey. As you can see I wasn't able to photo him without him moving his head so sorry it's a bit blurry, but it really shows off Danielle's handwork.

Breeana Johng - Student Art

Just wanted to get your attention Breeana :) cuz i know you follow my blog. Hey, come back and see me. Left a message for you on your home phone. I've figured out a way to get you into the Adv. 3-d class any period that will fit your schedule, so if interested come on by the classroom

Katherine England - Professional Mosaic Artist

Just wanted to update you on some of Katherine's latest pieces. But first I want to show you one of her earliest works and one of my favorites since the first day I walked into her studio (above) She never got around to grouting this whimsical guy, and in the end I think she felt it didn't need it because she had fitted the mosaic pieces so tightly together on the old silver platter. Below are a few of her recent works. She has been teaching face making workshops and these are a couple of samples that she whipped up. I believe both girls are likenesses of her two daughters.

If you look closely you can see fused glass pieces that she makes and incorporates amongst the other glass shards. I also really admire how she solves her borders on both works. She's my hero!


A close up of the one above.

Summer Garden 2009

Just a couple random shots of my summer garden. June is always gorgeous with the agapanthus (spell check couldn't find the correct spelling so I hope I'm close enough) blooming in their purples and whites, and then my begonias really filled in nicely there at the edge of the planters.


One of my favorite blossoms is this variegated canna which blooms from yellow orange into red oranges depending on how old the blossom is.


Another favorite but not as vibrant this year as I would have liked are my hydrangeas. But I 'm just happy they even bloomed, cuz last year I hardly had any blossoms at all. I know I need to fertilize more but I'm oh so lazy about that. Every now and then I'll throw out some bat guano. Alum Billy Sevedge turned me on to it and it really greens up the leaves and promotes blooms.


This is a great shot of how the baby tears moss grew around my piggy and stepping stone. Unfortunately, with the lack of water and too much sun this summer that moss is almost all dormant right now. But supposedly we are in for lots of rain this year so I'm hoping it will all come back.


And this amazing bloom belongs to a succulent I got for Xmas from a good friend of mine. After I took this shot it sent up 2 more blooms just like this one. Isn't nature cool!

Laguna Beach Art Festivals 2009

Every summer since my 20 year old son Zach could walk, I've been taking him to Laguna Beach to see the art work at the 3 art festivals. Our favorite has always been the Main festival where the art is juried in and is of very high caliber. The Main (pictured above) is also where the Pageant of the Masters is performed in the evenings. Below is a shot of the interior of the Main where they currently have a live art display being added to everyday in the middle there.


This costume display really intrigued us. It was made from all recycled plastics. And there was a photo next to the display showing actual people wearing these outfits.


But our very favorite part of the Main is the student art work sent in from all the Orange County School Districts from grades kindergarten thru senior high. The fractured portrait below was done by a senior and won first place in it's division.



The other two festivals are the Sawdust (above) and the Art-A-Fair (below). The Sawdust is my daughter Dani's favorite, and over the last couple of years we have run into April Strong, a Whitney alum, who is the balloon lady there every summer. She always makes us balloon bracelets that we wear around the fair grounds. Congrats go out to her younger sister Rachel, also a Whitney alum and one of my all time favorite students, who just recently got married this year.

Busy Week

Last Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday I traveled with my friend up to San Luis Obispo for a gallery showing of her work, and one of my favorite stops was here in Morro Bay to grab a quick lunch, and to shop the downtown stores. There were several nice galleries, one in downtown and the others along the waterfront, all with local artist's works. We also stopped in Los Olivos on the way up the coast. What a cool place that is, a real throw back to rural America. Many great wine tasting stores along with a couple decent galleries. Definitely a worthwhile stop. But my favorite part of the trip was Thursday nite in downtown San Luis. It's a farmers market with many great food vendors plus hundreds of people shopping, eatting and partying. A real interesting mix of college students, young families and an older crowd. There were a couple of live bands playing, so we danced in the streets. So much fun! Below is the view of the town of Morro Bay from the big rock.


Then on Saturday night, my favorite band, the Rockits, with one of the High Lites from Vegas, performed at a neighborhood block party. So much good food and lots of great music.


There is Jimmy on Caroline's guitar that she redid for him. Everyone is loving what you did on that guitar Caroline! And Dan is blowing beautiful music on his sax.


Looks like Ritchie and Jim are having an argument but they are really singing to each other. Pat is in the background on the keyboard.


And here is Dan's girlfriend Sue, and her pup dancing to the music. Sue and her dog work with children to help them overcome psychological problems. She takes the dog everywhere she goes. He's almost human! And so well behaved, unlike my naughty dog Bogie.

Steffi Wong - Student Art

This was senior Steffi Wong's final assignment of the year in my 3rd year drawing/painting class. The assignment was to pick a piece of music and create a 2-d piece of art that works with the song. The students usually love this assignment because it allows them a lot of freedom to create art and listen to their favorite music at the same time. Steffi chose a lovely piece of music and when I listened to it her work of art flowed so beautifully with it. The students were allowed to select whatever media they felt worked best with the song, so Steffi chose watercolor, tissue paper collage and pen and ink. Below is a close up so you can see the wonderful texture she was able to achieve in her work. She worked this piece out on a full size piece of watercolor paper in less then 10 days time, not an easy task. These kids work their butts off for me. And I hope you all know how much I appreciate your hard work! Fantastic way to go out Steffi. You made teaching such a pleasure!

Caroline Ma's Gifts to her Classmates - Student Art

These sweet little polymer clay pins (using Laurie Mika's mixed media mosaic techniques) were made by senior Caroline Ma as going away presents for her fellow classmates, plus one for Mama Agrums :) I'm pretty sure she gave all the seniors theirs at Graduation but the rest are with me to be given out the first week of school, so Breeana, Emmerline, Jhoanna and Audrey, stop on by. Really like how she mounted them on paper that she watercolored. Great presentation Caroline, and I love how no two are the same.