ARTISUN

Congrats to my Girl !!!

2012-01-26T14:28:00.000-08:00

For getting her official acceptance notification from her top choice college yesterday to Cal. Poly Pomona, and for getting invited to the Honors Program there. Congrats are also long overdue for being nominated Homecoming Princess by your friends and peers at Esperanza High School.

Your mamma is so happy for you and knew you'd get in...

your dad is so proud, but sad you will be dorming it, cuz he's gonna miss you like crazy...

your brother is thrilled you will be following in his footsteps and graduating from his Alma mater, hopefully with a great job out of the experience...

And Jim says "Here's to You, Dani Girl, We love you Big Time!"

Knit & Crochet - Student Work

2012-01-25T14:57:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since you've seen anything from my Intermediate 3-d kids. This was a beginning of the year assignment that had several components. If you scroll down the right side and click on Knitting Needles with Polymer Knob you can see the knitting needles the students had to make out of wood dowels and Polymer clay knobs and the wool yarns they dyed with food based colors. Then I took them thru a basic Knitting Unit where they were required to learn several different stitch patterns using their knitting needles they made and the yarns they dyed. So cool!! For their 1st Quarter final the kids had a choice between knitting a scarf or a pillow top/blanket with their goods.

Above we have the gorgeous pillow top by senior Borah Lim. In her piece you can see several of the patterns they learned.

This next piece and it's close up were made by junior Nida Fatima. Nida took it upon herself to teach herself several more patterns so that she could include them in her scarf.

Loved the happy colors in this next top by senior Pauline Yang. Pauline already had some great knitting skills when she came to me, so she was able to explore more difficult cable patterns in her work.

This Infinity scarf was knit and designed by 9th grader, yes, 9th grader Karisma Dev, superstar extraordinaire.

Look closely at her craftsmanship. So perfect, so beautiful. And I like how subtle her dyed yarns came out. Ya did good woman!

This next one above was done by senior Ingrid Huang. Love the autumn tones she chose.

As did junior Rita Labib. It was really funny how Rita hated learning how to knit. In case you haven't tried it, it is a very difficult global skill to learn with a lot of struggle at first. And Rita doesn't like to struggle. She is used to things going fairly smoothly for her. Huh, Rita?? But now that the unit is over I see her in the mornings before school sitting in the halls knitting away. Cuz once you master a global skill it becomes really fun and enjoyable!!! Am I right Rita??? LOL

Also notice the crocheted edging that they learned how to do around the outside of all these pieces, another difficult global skill.

More Perspective - Student Work

2012-01-24T13:55:00.000-08:00

After the 2-D Intermediate students get thru the 1-Point Basics, I challenge them with a box construction. All of these kids went past the minimum requirements and came up with very complex pieces.

This first one above belongs to senior Jessica Liu, and is truly remarkable. Did she have to bring in color?

No.

Did she have to design more then 3 boxes?

No.

Did she have to include any other subject matter other t6hen boxes?

No.

Did she have to shade it in with one light source only?

Yes!

Let's look at some more. Junior Laura Kadi this this darling, playful piece above and below senior Crislyn Ogawa tilted her horizon again (very effective strategy by the way since the eye loves diagonals).

Above senior Michael Chen created a powerful, striking piece with his design, and below senior Janice Min gives us the softest, most lovely box construction. They are all so different, so unique, it's hard to say which is your favorite. But for EXTRA CREDIT I want you to tell me which one you liked the best. Try to cut out a cube in 1-point perspective, so it can't be just a flat square or rectangle, but it must look 3-d on a 2-d surface. Any color paper will do. On the front side put your name and period, and on the back tell me who drew your favorite box construction.

2-Point Cityscapes - Student Work

2012-01-23T14:43:00.000-08:00

After taking my Intermediate 2-D kids thru the 1-Point Perspective basics, we immediately went into 2-Point exercises. This was their 2-Point Cityscape. Once again, they only had one day to learn it and do it in class, but of course many of the kids wanted to wow me so they took their piece home and added so much more. Above we have senior Michael Chen...

and this one was done by my senior T.A. David Hyun, a brilliant young artist who has been studying with me since the 7th grade. He saw that the other class was working in perspective so he asked to borrow a pen and showed this piece to me at the end of class that day. That's right, he just whipped it out like it was nothing. I was so impressed that I asked him if I could display it at Open House. I'm telling you I work with some of the most incredible children here at Whitney!

Golf Banquet Time 2011

2012-01-20T15:24:00.000-08:00

I'm so proud of my girl. Danielle has been playing golf since the 8th grade when she first was introduced to it in her P.E. class. This was her 4th year playing for Esperanza High School. This year was special because she was co-captain of the Girl's Varsity team.

The banquets are always entertaining because the girls get to get all gussied up in their pretty clothes and they like to take a lot of pix of themselves.

And usually it's all about the shoes, unfortunately, it's also about their farmer's tans from being outside in the sun so much. LOL

But the girl's can get serious when they need to as the coach is presenting their awards. Thank Goodness!!!

Meet My 2nd Quarter 7th Graders

2012-01-19T13:43:00.000-08:00

Creative, sweet, well-behaved, enthusiastic and fun, that's how I would describe my new crop of 7th graders. I'm enjoying you all so much, and am impressed with all the artistic talent and hard work going on.

For their 3rd assignment I introduced the kids to charcoal, had them experiment with finding their own shading style, and which sticks or pencils they liked the best. Then the assignment was very basic: draw a cone, shade it in , put in a cast shadow, horizon and do something with either the fore or backgrounds. Of course these young ones did so much more for me, and these were my top picks.

Karthik Sivanadiyan created the cool design on the top left, and Insha Khan drew the humorous one on the top right.

Superstar Felix Yiu did the very detailed piece on the top left and Raul Hernandez did the lovely desertscape on the top right. I think we only have 3 more weeks together at most. What am I going to do without you Eunice, Michelle and Brian??? I don't want to give you guys up! They are the most pleasant group of 7th graders I've worked with, and it will be very sad to see them go.

1 Point Cityscapes - Student Work

2012-01-18T13:25:00.000-08:00

This year I have a really strong group of Intermediate 2-D students who are working very hard for me. One of our assignments in First Quarter was the study of 1 and 2-point perspective. This 1- point cityscape was a one day exercise that many of the kids spent a lot of extra time working on at home to make them special.

First we have senior Crislyn Ogawa who started off with her horizon on the diagonal. And then after the line drawing was graded she took it back home to bring in the shading which adds so much flavor to the piece.

Senior Michael Chen has a passion for Star Wars and video war games. So I can usually count on him to bring some kind of war theme into his work.

And senior Michelle Lee chose to cut her city up and mount it atop a sun motif, plus she brought a bit of color into it as well, making this a very unique piece which really stands out from the group in a critique situation. Clever girl!

A Happy 23rd Birthday to My Son Zach

2012-01-17T12:00:00.000-08:00

I know this is a bit tardy Zach (like by 2 months!), sorry, but I just did the math and I realized you are 23 years old. That's so crazy!!! It's going so fast. For some reason I thought you were just turning 22. I guess that's what happens when you are such a right brainer like me, those numbers get foggy. Wow, that would make me...too old!!

But I want to tell you how very proud I am to be your Mamma, you have always been such a good, sweet, and smart boy, you never gave me an ounce of trouble (unlike your sister LOL, only kidding Danielle), and you have matured into the most wonderful young man, sincere, responsible, educated, a hard worker, a world traveler and on your way up the ladder at Dole Foods. Buy Dole!!!

I'm so glad we could all be together this year to celebrate your birthday.

I love you big time, all the way around the world!!!!

More Clay - Student Work - Extra Credit Pinch Pots

2012-01-13T13:22:00.000-08:00

Many times my clay students get done with their assignments early, so an option for them is to make an extra credit piece. That's what junior Rita Labib and senior Jaimee Chirico did in these too pieces. We had just finished pinch pot bowls and mugs so one of the extra credit challenges was to make and take two pinch pot bowls, score them together, paddle them into an interesting shape, then turn that shape into a subject. Rita went for a sweet blow fish and Jaimee a sun motif.

Rita chose to finish hers off in our sawdust fire and Jaimee used oxides on hers. I really like how Rita built in a lid for hers and Jaimee thought ahead to pierce holes to string beads on after the glaze fire. Great job both of you.

Coil Inlay Trivets - Alum Work

2012-01-12T13:33:00.000-08:00

Today is a clay day. This work was done last school year by alum Freddy Perez but it wasn't finished firing till the beginning of this school year (long story) LOL Anyways, it was the most remarkable coil inlay that was produced last year and I want my Ceramics I kids to see it tonight since this is their current assignment. Notice students the hole at the top so it can be hung n the wall. Notice the center slab shape and how he carved it out to melt glass shards inside. Notice all the other carved out areas as well. A great piece Freddy. Miss you, stop by sometime so we can catch up.

Nude Coil Torso - Alum Work

2012-01-12T13:27:00.000-08:00

For some reason this fabulous piece by alum Chareena Eleazar, didn't get posted last school year when she finished it. And it's that time of year again for my 2nd year ceramic kids to make their nude torsos. For Chareena, this was her third time to work in coil, and it was her most difficult challenge to date.

The students can pick a male or female figure and are allowed to work as realistic as they want to go , or they can abstract the piece thru exaggeration and distortion. They must all build in the ciol technique, the piece must be smoothed out on the inside but they can leave their coil work showing on the outside or they can smooth the outside as well or try some type of combo technique.

I encourage them to try to bring in some expressive quality so the piece doesn't look so static like the Greek nude figures from antiquity, they try to not end piece straight across the top, and they don't make it perfectly symmetrical.

Chareena choose to finish hers off with a glazed inside and an oxide finish on the outside. A congrats out to you Chareena, I heard a rumor that you are getting married to your armed forces sweetheart. I wish the both of you all the best.

Tissue Collage Portfolios - Student Art

2012-01-11T13:36:00.000-08:00

Have I told you lately how much I love my job teaching art here at Whitney High School??? Just look at the products I'm getting from my Beginning 2-D kids. They give me so much effort in their projects, they come up with the most breathtaking designs, and they are as sweet as they can be, wanting to please me. I am truly a lucky woman!

These pieces I'm showing off today were done in the beginning of the year as we were studying the 14 Design Elements and Principles. I asked the kids to work each collage in one color scheme only, and then to take the two collages when they were dry, stack them on top of each other (right sides facing down), and to use a sun motif to inspire their design. They then cut out the design shapes and alternated them as they glued them down on two different pieces of cardboard.

The piece above was made by senior Joseph Chon. Look close at the pix below and you can see how difficult it is to cut thru the collaged papers. They are very thick and stiff with Mod Podge medium. Curves are especially hard to cut .

The colorful piece above was done by senior Joan Kim who used a warm color scheme for one collage and a cool color scheme for the other. She will be majoring in art in the fall. The gorgeous work below was created by senior Carolina Navor whom I've been teaching since she was in the 7th grade. I asked the kids to bring in a special paper for their collage (I provided the tissue paper).

Look closely at Carolina's and you can see that she, like Joseph, used text as their special paper. Plus Carolina also brought in some papers that had stamped suns already on them.

This complex beauty above was done by senior Emily He and showcases her name in the center area. And senior Archie Ravichandran outdid herself with her very difficult but stunning and powerful piece below.

A close up of Archie's shows the difficulty level of the design she had to cut out, alternate and re-glue. It also shows all the different kinds of text she bought in to use (some that she wrote out herself).

In the work above, senior Corrine Marcus was able to achieve both rhythm and movement within her beautiful design. And below, senior Michelle Chang pulled off another very complicated piece. Take a look inside her circle to see a baby growing. Amazing and lovely pieces. Congrats to all of you!

For EXTRA CREDIT on a multi-colored piece of paper, cut out a sun motif. On the front side put your name and on the back side write the name of the person whose portfolio you liked the best. Hand to me tomorrow when you walk in the door.

Xmas Lights in the Southland

2012-01-10T13:39:00.000-08:00

Two Fridays before Xmas, when I got home from work, my hubby asked me if I had ever seen the Xmas lights at Rogers Gardens. No! I didn't even know they had Xmas lights or were even open in the evenings, and it's one of my all time favorite places, so off we went. We arrived just after sundown and it was so crowded, but totally worth the drive down in traffic.

I knew they decorated the place for Xmas but I had no idea how beautiful it was lit up in the evening. In the center of the garden they have two trains meandering thru the trees, scrubs, flowers and poinsettias.

And in the indoor greenhouses the poinsettia displays were just awesome.

But it was the decorated trees inside the Xmas shop that were spectacular. Huge trees filled with gorgeous ornaments that you could pluck off the trees and purchase.

Did I find a few bobbles? You bet!

They also featured Xmas artists. These styrofoam covered trees were to die for and very expensive.

In their covered patio area Jim asked if I'd ever been to Fashion Island in Newport to see the big tree? Nope. He said how long have you lived in So. Cal and not seen these sites?? All my life...

...so across the street we went to Fashion Island and this is what awaited us, one of the largest real trees I've ever seen. Truly incredible. I can't even imagine how much time it took to decorate this beauty!

The ornaments were huge and many.

We ended the evening with a cup of hot chocolate. Perfect....

Happy 2012 with a Sophie Update

2012-01-09T14:21:00.000-08:00

Princess Sophie Agrums Sposa isn't a puppy anymore. She's almost 2 years old now, but still loves to chew. Thankfully it's only on her doggie bones. She carries her bone from room to room, from inside to outside, and walks around with them sticking out of her mouth. Kinda looks like she's smoking a cigar. She definitely keeps us laughing. ")

I also want to welcome the new followers to my blog! So glad you have joined us.

Happy Holidays to Everyone!

2011-12-22T14:03:00.000-08:00

Wishing all of you a relaxing, peaceful, joyful and loving holiday season with your family and friends.

I will be taking a 2 week break from the blog so I will see you again in the New Year.

Here are some of my favorite holiday decorations. My handmade button wreath. All my special Xmas cards that past students have given me. Let's see, I see one from Jan Yeh, Mark Bayua (spelling?), and Breeana Johng. I have them on display throughout my home/studio.

Below is a close-up of alumni Victoria Au's tiny felt ornaments and Flora Li's beaded angel that they made for me on the little Xmas tree.

All the ornaments on my tree below were either made by my children, my students, my mother, myself, or favorite artists. Each holds a special place in my heart.

Unfortunately my tree has vanished into cyber-land and it won't come back. I'm just not savvy enough yet to figure everything out with all the functions on this blog. If you really want to see it chick on Xmas 2010 and know that my tree looks pretty much the same except this year it's a little smaller. :)

The small tree below has other cherished ornaments by artists Leslie McCabe, Judy Coats Perez, and myself.

A close up

And our sweet, lovely tree at Jimmy's place adored with many of my mother's antique bulbs, Danielle's Xmas angel at the top that she made in kindergarten, and the beautiful and colorful handmade ornaments that Julie brought me last Xmas from New York.

A very special Xmas wish to my in-laws, Bette and Vinny, in Hobe Sound Florida. Wishing we could all be together this Xmas. Stay well. Jim, Danielle, Zach, Julie, Mike and I send you our love.

And Happy New Year!!!!

Thanksgiving 2011 - My Family

2011-12-21T15:26:00.000-08:00

I have so many things to be thankful for this year, especially now at the Holiday Season. This Thanksgiving we were all able to celebrate together, my kids, my husband Jim and my ex, Inars. This was a first and worked out really well. We will be doing the same for Xmas Eve and Day, with Jim's daughter Julie and her husband Mike joining us for our reindeer games.

Of course we played several games of scrabble, all the while Dani and I where knitting away on our projects or helping out in the kitchen.

My ex did most of the cooking inside while I bar-b-qued the turkey outside in garlic, rosemary, onion and lemon juice. It was actually one of my better birds, very moist.

I got a chance to relax and get to know my son's girlfriend Bree a little better...

But most of all, I'm most thankful for my two beautiful babies below.

Zach and Dani are the best thing I've ever done.

Follow your hearts and be happy, I'll always be there for you.

My Work - Felt Pouches

2011-12-20T13:33:00.000-08:00

Most every year that I've taught felt embrodiered pouches to my Beginning 3-d kiddos, I make a piece right along with them so I can demonstrate the steps along the way. The works here are some of my better ones from over the last couple of years, and are currently for sale at the Drawing Board in Yorba Linda.

If you haven't had a chance to drop in yet, it's a really cool, eclectic mix of crafts, fine art, graphic design and photography.

Give me your feedback if you do get a chance to stop in.

Wire Pendants - Student Work

2011-12-19T15:03:00.000-08:00

I can't seem to show you enough from my beginning 3-d kids. These wire wrapped pendants came out so well. I was especially impressed with how a couple of the kids used hardware parts in their work. Junior Sara Shams did this amazing piece above. I love how she used both the gold and silver wire in her piece as well as all those seed beds; plus the amount of time and effort it took to build this one.

I felt the most creative was this one above by junior Hannah Park, using up my garage sale hardware findings. I'm thinking of only having the kids use the findings next year. Thanks Hannah for your inspiration!

Below we have junior Sheila San Agustin and junior Ashley Chowdhury, both doing a wonderful job with the wire assignment.

Another of my favorites was made by senior Jerrie Rui with the shell angel below. Very clever to add those wings Jerrie!

And junior Alice Zhang did the dream piece below. She like Hannah incorporated some hardware findings into her work. Love that!

For EXTRA CREDIT, find a small piece of thin wire (paper clip, grocery store twist tie, etc),and twist and bend it into a recognizable shape. Attach a small piece of paper with your name and period so I can give you extra credit points and hand to me when you walk in the door tomorrow. On the other side of the piece of paper write down the name of the student who made your favorite wire piece from above.

7th Grade Collage Boxes

2011-12-16T15:18:00.001-08:00

Back to my first quarter 7th graders with their sweet and colorful collaged boxes. This top one by Melissa Ongko was my favorite with the little tent on top and the primary color scheme. The "Chill" box below was made by Chirag Doshi. I really like how he put the red with the neutral black, white and grey color scheme. It really makes his center of interest pop.

Above Jenny Diaz did this adorable kitty box. All these boxes were made with recycled papers and Mod Podge acrylic matte medium. An easy, inexpensive project with beautiful results.

More Felt Embroidery Pieces from My Beginners

2011-12-14T12:36:00.000-08:00

The pillows from yesterday were made after these gorgeous flat pieces. These flat works were my 3-d beginners first attempts at embroidery. The attention to detail, the incredible designs and the amount of time put into these pieces were truly remarkable. I love these children. I love my job, look what I get. Beauty surrounds me all day long!

I want to start with junior Hannah Park whose piece was one of my personal favorites. Hannah is gifted in 2-d art as well as 3-d. You saw many of her works last year on the blog. Below hers is junior Nikki Shah's. Nikki is another amazing young artist that I've known and been working with since her 7th grade year. I'm so glad you are back Nikki.

Two up and coming superstars are juniors Sheila San Agustin above and Phoebe Liu below. I'm really hoping that both these girls will return to me next year for the 2nd level crafts class. As you can see they are amazing designers and impeccable craftswomen.

Next we have juniors Alice Zhang whose fun pillow was featured yesterday, above, and Sam Arias below. I've got my fingers crossed that these two younguns will also come back to me. Alice is new to me this year and I'm quickly discovering her many talents in the arts, and Sam I've been working with since her 7th grade year. She is also one of my most talented 2-d kids.

The lovely piece above was made by junior Julia Chanco, and was also one of my favorites this year. I'm hoping it will be for sale at Open House (hint, hint) :) Below we see senior Aparna Vancheswaran's work again because everything she stitches is outstanding. I will be sad to see you graduating Aparna, but Julia you had better come right on back to me LOL

And lastly we have junior Emily Yang whom I'm also getting to know and love. What a sweet piece this is Emily. Your stitching is remarkable and I already know that I've bugged you enough that you will be returning next year.

Embroidered Felt Pillow Basics - Student Work

2011-12-13T13:45:00.000-08:00

I know you met my new Beginning 3-d crop with their tye-dye pieces last month, well here are a few of their embroidery basics on sweet little felt pillows they made. They learned about 8 different embroidery stitches, some seed and bugle beading techniques, and how to stuff and close a pillow with no knots showing.

Below we have seniors Shivanti Kariyawasam, Aparna Vancheswaran, and Megan Machado with Aparna's close up of her front side above.

Aren't these pieces adorable? It was really hard to choose which ones to show off. Above we have juniors Alice Zhang and Sheila San Agustin with junior Ashley Chowdhury and senior Sunny Cheon below.

Which one do you like the best? For EXTRA CREDIT on a piece of colored paper cut into a very long strip with your name and period on one side and the name of the person who made your favorite pillow from above on the other side, roll it into a beautiful blossom like the rose above. Secure the bloom by twining a piece of string tightly around the bottom and knot it. You decide if it remains a blossom or spread out the petals for a larger bloom. Give to me when you walk into room tomorrow.

Sewing Machine Review w/ Watercolor & Collage

2011-12-12T15:00:00.000-08:00

These cuties belong to seniors Kelsea Lee and Nandi Best. They are the only two in my 3rd year 3-d art class, that's cuz they are very, very good. They hadn't used the sewing machines since last year so I wanted to make the review fun and colorful.

I had them do several loose drawings in pen and ink. Then lay down some paper collage elements. Then I showed them a few watercolor techniques and off they went. When everything was dry they used their sewing machines to loosely outline their ink drawings. A close up of Kelsea' s work above.

Nandi's 3 pieces above and below.

Meet My New 7th Graders

2011-12-09T13:00:00.000-08:00

Here they are, my new young ones. And what a talented, sweet group of kids they are. So well behaved, such good listeners and hard workers, I'm falling in love all over again. If you are new to the blog, I get a new crop of 7th graders every 8 weeks. I try to teach them a bit about design, drawing, watercolor and crafts. So I start them off with value scales and these were the top 3 turned in.

This top one belongs to Insha Khan. she's showing me here that she has some innate design skills as well as an understanding of value ranges.

This next one was done by Tae-Min Shim. He is showing me such tight, beautiful craftsmanship which is something I stress in all my classes.

And this last lovely one belongs to Kathryn Tolentino. I miss the old group, but know that I'm really enjoying you new little ones.

One More Value Scale - Student Work

2011-12-09T12:49:00.000-08:00

Senior Janice Min recently resubmitted her beginning of the year value scale for me to evaluate for inclusion into our Open House Art Show in April. After each assignment's class critique and evaluation, I allow my students to take back their pieces and make them even better. Then they give them back to me for photography and possible consideration for Open House. If the difference is substantial in the piece their grade will go up if they ask me to re-grade it. Janice, you made the cut :)

Eskimo Kiss Hooded Cocoon

2011-12-08T13:44:00.000-08:00

Top View Above

How could I resist this adorable pattern by Tricia Drake in the recent copy of Living Crafts Magazine. I already had this gorgeous skein of hand dyed blue yarn in my"Can't Live Without It " yarn drawer, but the contrasting yarn for around the hood I had to hand spin with Lori Lawson's hand dyed roving from Capistrano Fiber Arts. And if anyone is interested in purchasing my hand knit bunting, it is currently for sale at "The Drawing Board Gallery" in Yorba Linda, Ca. Just give owner Jamie Kough a call at 714-693-7156 and it could be yours :)

Side view below.

Moonbabies - Student Work

2011-12-07T13:04:00.000-08:00

I don't think I've shown off any of my Ceramics I kids and their work this year yet. I have another fantastic bunch to work with, just like the last couple of years. This was their very first experience with the clay at the beginning of the school year and they came up with these exquisite little abstracted figure sculptures that I call moonbabies after the ones of the same name made in Zambia, Africa.

These top 3 belong to senior and homecoming princess nominee Shavonna Walker, senior Jaimee Chirico, and senior Alice Cho. After Jaimee's piece came out of the glaze firing she took india ink and painted on the tribal designs. I think I'm going to make that a new requirement next year. Thanks Jaimee for your inspiration.

Above we have sophomores Tahnee Thantrong and Aman Patel. It was cool how Aman thought to put nails thru his piece while the clay was still plastic before the bisque firing. Another new requirement next year perhaps :)

Below we have senior Opal Patel with her very expressive piece.

Here is senior Priya Shah's sweet moonbaby. The kids were supposed to bring in expressive qualities to their figures and all of them did such a great job with this requirement as you can see.

One of my personal favorites belonged to senior Michelle Lee. So simple but so powerful. I also enjoyed the way she stained it with the oxides before glaze firing it.

These last two excellent examples were done by junior Eddie Ponce and senior Brady Son. See, aren't these kids fabulous? And this was only their first assignment. Wait till you see the rest of the quarter's projects!

For EXTRA CREDIT, on a piece of brown paper cut into the shape of a moonbaby, put your name and period on the front and the name of the person who made your favorite moonbaby from the post above on the back side. Give to me when you walk in tomorrow.

Extra Credit

2011-12-06T15:15:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to show off some of the fun pieces my students are turning in for their extra credit points. Usually once a week I throw in an extra credit opportunity to encourage the kids to check my blog every night. I ask them to cut their paper into specific shapes, use specific colors or to create their own multi-colored papers. I give them a subject matter that usually relates to the post that they need to cut their paper into. I also encourage them to be as creative as possible; that the more they do the more points they will earn. Then they use these extra credit pieces to vote for their favorite work in that post. The student who earns the most votes then in turn gets an extra credit point. So two weeks ago I had them create fish and last week portraits. Above is junior Rita Labib's face and below we see the fish of junior Stella Park, 7th grader Brian Hu, junior Corrine Marcus, senior Opal Patel, senior Janice Min, 7th grader FelixYiu, and freshman Karisma Dev. The kids who did the fishes voted senior Tiffany Yeh as having done the most beautiful color theory piece. And senior William Luo was voted favorite collage self-portrait. Congrats both Tiffany and William!

An Omission

2011-12-06T12:13:00.000-08:00

Oops, I forgot to include this shot yesterday in my post of our drive along the coast. Of course, no matter where we go I'm always able to sniff out a yarn store, and there just happens to be a great one off the freeway going back home from Laguna called the Yarn Lady. It's off the Lake Forest exit on the 405 freeway, real close to the Irvine Spectrum. Well anyways, Jim is always such a good sport when I haul him into these places. He usually attracts all the ladies or falls fast asleep, but that day it was the pups that wanted his attention. Thanks for being so patient and good to me baby. Love you big time!!

Crystal Cove over Thanksgiving Break

2011-12-05T14:21:00.000-08:00

I was extremely thankful this year for many things. One of which was a week off break this last Thanksgiving Holiday. Yeap, a whole week off, and it was soooo good!! Jim and I had lots of fun getting our Xmas shopping done, getting special projects out of the way and just hanging out with the family. But our most memorable day was driving down to the beach to explore Crystal Cove. This piece of coastline has been turned into a State Park and is known for it's beauty, it's seclusion and it's rustic cabins; some of which have been renovated and can be rented out on a daily basis (although they are booked up 7 months ahead, so good luck!).

The houses were built throughout the 1920's thru the 40's for a total of 46 cottages. Tent camping was also very big there in the 1950' and 60's. All of the homes are very weathered and lots of people come here just to visit and take pix. In 1979 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. There is even a coffee table book of the place.

Below is one of the cabins that has been remodeled, you can see it's being rented, the man on the balcony is enjoying the gorgeous day.

Above is one of the homes that hasn't been redone. You can see how the ocean air has weathered the wood. They have a little museum on the premises and right now they are having a gallery showing of all the weathered objects that have survived over the years and been collected. They even have opened up one of the homes so you can go inside and see how it must have looked in the 50's. So cool!

These two shots were my favorites of this old mailbox with the ivy vines climbing it's sides and the worn out stairs below.

They even have a cute little beach cafe (below) so if you can't get a cabin you can stop in for bite. My daughter Dan has actually stayed in 3 different cabins here overnight with girlfriends families. Lucky girl.

It was such a magnificent day that we continued along the coast to Main Beach in Laguna, for some people watching, sitting in the fresh air and ocean spray, shopping and lunch.

This is Main Beach looking in both directions. The guy below thought we wanted his pix and got overly friendly with us. I don't think so buddy, I was actually going for the lite house in the background. LOL

Clay Angels - An Extra Credit Opportunity

2011-12-02T12:22:00.000-08:00

Ceramics Students, this is for you, a really fun and playful clay project for the Holidays. I was at Aardvack Clay supply in Santa Ana over the Thanksgiving breaking and wandered into their work area where a clay student graciously allowed me to photograhph her work. She had drawn these sweet angels to scale on paper along with thier wings, and then rolled out a big slab of clay. She transferred the images onto the clay by tracing with her bug pick overtop the drawings. She then lifted the paper off the slab and carefully cut out each angel and it's wings. Notice how there is a loop at top of each angel, and there is a corresponding hole in each wing set, so that after glaze firing you slip the wings onto the angels, then hang for display. Such a clever idea!! So Ceramics I & II, let's see what you can come up with. Could you do a bird instead of an angel? Of course :) How about a flying cow? Oh Yeah!!! Go for it!

Fall Leaves in the So. Cal.

2011-12-02T12:09:00.000-08:00

This is what greets me right now as I drive up the hill to our home. It's a glorious sight and I just wanted to share it. We actually have fall here in the south-land!!

One More Collage - Student Work

2011-12-02T09:26:00.000-08:00

Somehow this one escaped but I was able to locate it in cyberspace and bring it to you. It should have been in the self-portrait collage post yesterday. It was done by senior art student Emily He, and was one of my favorites. She calls it "Caged Behind Broken Glass", and I feel it is such a lovely, sensitive and well thought piece. And I love that she thought to incorporate the bamboo skewers in such a clever way. Great work Emily.

2-D Collage Self-Portraits

2011-12-01T15:09:00.000-08:00

If you've been following along for the past 2 years you will know that I get amazing work out of my Beginning 2-d kids. And this year is no different. Their self-portrait collages were exquisite, so deeply thought out and so beautifully executed. Of course they had to jump thru a ton of hoops for me with the requirements I laid on them; a few examples are a bas-relief focal point, textural elements, a color scheme, text, and the list goes on and on. This top one was done by senior Michelle Chang, and she titled it "The Weight of Age". It's just so sensitive and lovely.

Above we have sophomore Megan Yeu with "Taken Back to Reality". Aren't these just gorgeous and so well done? Below is senior Carolina Navor with "The Ability to Let Go". I have the kids start their base with a collaged backdrop in which we recycle a lot of various papers I collect. Then the kids have access to all kinds of embellishments such as beads, buttons and hardware that have been donated. But the best part of these pieces are the critical thinking skills used to put the major portion together with like the girl on the swing Carolina has built.

Next we have senior William Luo with his extremely well thought out piece that he calls "Lost in Thought". Totally cool piece!!! And below is senior Victoria Wang with "We Fall Like Leaves". Just look at the attention to detail these kids put into these works!

Above senior Joseph Chon sat for days thinking how he wanted to portray himself. He racked is brain, getting so upset because he just had one of those brain freezes. Almost on the last day this is what he came up with, simple but so effective. He titled it "Waiting". And lastly we have senior Tiffany Yeh with her piece titled "Stripped". Again, check out the attention to detail and the involved collaged backdrop.

For EXTRA CREDIT on any colored piece of paper, cut out the profile of your face as best you can, decorate it and put your name and period on the front, and the name of the person from above who did your favorite collaged self-portrait. The more you do with it the more points you will earn.

Another Home Depot Chicken Sighting

2011-11-30T13:37:00.000-08:00

I can't even begin to tell you how many times I was at the Home Depot over the Thanksgiving break, shopping for this and that, never once seeing those darn chickens. But then I got lucky, I had a sighting. Actually I heard them rather then saw them first. They were making a big ruckus cuz some little kids had spotted them and were taunting the heck out of them. I calmly went over and in my scariest teacher voice told the kids to get lost , that they were bugging the chickens. Those young ones looked at me and I could tell what they were thinking "Yeah right, who do you think you are lady?" Kids these days- no respect! Then they ran over to their parents and told them about the mean old lady LOL!!

My Late Summer Garden

2011-11-29T13:43:00.000-08:00

Since I don't have a big yard to play in anymore, I give all my attention to my balconies. These first two shots are on my studio's second floor balcony. The impatiens and lobelia were beautiful this year, and are continuing to bloom into the fall. My tree (I think it's called a Carolina, but looks like a ficus) is getting big and falls over whenever the Santa Ana's blow into town. I recently had Jim drill a hole into stucco wall and anchor that bad boy. It survived this last weekends onslaught. Yippee!! I'm even getting my fushias to grow and bloom because I have a lot of good shade on this balcony.

Below is our second story bedroom balcony that gets full sun. So on the railing Zach and I planted boysenberry and black raspberry vines. I lost the raspberry plant, but the boysenberry produced fruit all summer long. I've got a spider plant that throws off it's babies over the edge for a very pretty look, and my pink and red bougainvillia bloomed all summer long in the far corners.

But my favorite flower this summer was the lily that Zach gave me for Mother's day. I planted the bulb in May and it bloomed for me in late June. Ahh... :)

Sagger Fired Mounted Clay Sculptures

2011-11-28T13:35:00.000-08:00

These wonderful pieces belong to my 2nd year clay kids. It was their first time to build with porcelain clay and they loved it. Afterwards we sagger fired them in a trash can and then some of the kids choose to rub metallic compounds over top their surface. Above senior David Hyun sculpted a moonstone with a cityscape on top. Then after it came out of the sagger fire he used an ink pen to draw images and text along the side panels. What a cool piece David.

The students were also required to mount the sculptures on a wooden base that would flow visually with the sculpture. I love that David built another cityscape on the wood. Very clever boy!

Check out this expressive piece above by senior Tiffany Liu. Love the metallics she rubbed on the body and the sand and shells she embellished with on the wood block. All the kids were required to sculpt an expressive face into their sculpture. I definitely think Tiffany's was the most expressive and playful. Below senior Hanna Woo really stepped out of the single wood block mount by combining several pieces of wood on which to mount her apple. Hanna actually made the blocks interactive by drilling larger holes thru all the blocks so they could swivel and be re-positioned. Brilliant idea!! And because she used various woods, when she rubbed them with finishing oil, they looked fabulous. Her final move was drizzling paint down the wood to bring in some black for visual flow with sagger colored apple.

Wow you guys, Great Work!!

Happy Thanksgiving to All

2011-11-18T15:25:00.000-08:00

From our family to yours, we want to wish you a very Happy Holiday. I'll be taking a blogging break for the next week, but I'll be back on November 28th. See you then!

My First Gallery Show

2011-11-17T15:24:00.000-08:00

A little tardy getting these pix up from October 15, but oh well, better late then never, right?

Owner Jamie Kough has done a remarkable job with her new gallery space. She has so many classes and activities for both adults and children, there is always something fun going on here. It's called The Drawing Board and you can check out her website for a list of shows and activities at www.drawingboard.info

Jamie has a real eye for display, and I was really pleased with how beautifully she hung my work. Notice the roses in the foreground from my honey. Jimmy encouraged me to do the show but unfortunately he wasn't able to attend because his band was playing a show in Vegas, but he sent roses to the gallery and they were there the night of the show when I walked in. :)

There were several other artists there with me but I've tried to crop the pix so you can see my pieces. It was kind of a retrospective show for me. I had work there all the way back from 1976.

I brought in clay, fiber, and mosaic pieces...

and made a couple of sales. Oh yeah!

A few of my art quilts were made in workshops with famous quilter's such as Ricky Tims and Gwen Marston.

I had over 70 good friends, family, faculty, staff, alum and students that came to support me. I was overwhelmed and felt so loved. Thank you all for coming by. You really made this night very special for me. A special thank you to alumni Andy Hsieh and Rik Slayman for joining me.

And a very special thank you to my babies, Dan, Zach and Julie for dropping in with your significant others.

And the best part is that Jamie has asked me to bring in more things for her next show. Fill you in when I know more...

OH YEAH!! I'm back in business - Color Theory - Student Art

2011-11-16T12:25:00.000-08:00

It feels so good to have my blog back. Thanks to junior Emily Yang who figured out my problem and helped me fix it, plus taught me some new stuff too! So I guess that old saying about teaching an old dog new tricks holds true LOL

I've been dying to share what I got out of my new Beginning 2-d kids; these gorgeous, colorful works of art. The assignment was to design, mix and paint a color wheel, and then to also design, mix and paint a monochromatic, value, and analogous color scheme scale, along with the 3 dominant complementary sets and their neutrals. A lot of color theory stuff. They could combine it all on one piece of paper or they could divide it up between 2 papers.

Above, senior Joseph Chon has combined his into one glorious piece. Plus he's added a bit of visual texture. Below sophomore Megan Yeu has executed this amazingly complex work and is also throwing in some visual texture with a felt tip marker.

I have so many talented beginners this year and I'm so excited to be working with them. Above we have senior Michelle Chang with her beautifully painted Theme Park...

and these next two belong to sophomore Jessica Perez, who like Megan, is some real up and coming talent to our art program. Jessica's color wheel is above and her color schemes below. She is coming to me with impeccable craftsmanship and solid design skills.

And then this last one was done by senior Tiffany Yeh, who when she began working on this, blew me out of the water with her drawing and design skills. Where have you been girl for the past 3 years? So many of these talented kids wait to take my class till their senior year and then they are gone. It's just soooo sad!

For EXTRA CREDIT on a multi-colored piece of paper (use your critical thinking skills on how to get a mult-colored paper, there are lots of ways), cut out the shape of a fish, and on one side put your name and period, and on the other side write down the name of the art student from above whose piece(s) you liked the best. Please hand me your beautiful fish when you walk in the door. The more work you put into this fish the more points you will earn. You could even make it 3-dimensional rather then 2-d for more points. Oh boy, I can't wait to see them!

Blog Down

2011-11-15T16:58:00.000-08:00

Got a little problem with my current browser at school where I do all my posting of pix, gonna try to iron out the kinks tonight and tomorrow. So please say tuned till I get things back up and running.

Thanks,
Deb

7th Grade Soap Scrubs

2011-11-09T13:55:00.000-08:00

Farewell little ones, tomorrow is your last day before I give you up to Ms. Improta. It's been a blast getting to know all 30 of you, I hope you've had as much fun as I've had. I think David is going to miss all of you even more then me. He sure has enjoyed getting to teach and demo for you, and giving you a bit of advice along the way. You young ones be good to Ms. Improta, she has a lot of cool things to teach you.

Your soap scrubs turned out real well. From top to bottom, left to right: Helen Park, Anuj Patel, Annie Oh, Manav Gandhi, Shreya Shethand Alison Oh.

I hope you all get a chance to take one of my classes again in your junior and senior years. See ya around, and come and visit me.

Value Scales - Student Work

2011-11-07T12:58:00.000-08:00

These were done by my Intermediate and Advanced 2-d students as a warm up/drawing review at the beginning of the year. I'm just a little tardy getting them posted. My Intermediate class had to do a ten step value scale and my Advanced kids a 15 step scale. They were allowed to be as creative as possible with their subjects that their scales were put into. The whole thing was done in graphite.

Above we have senior Michael Chen (Art II) with this very clean piece, and below is senior Crislyn Ogawa (Art II) with this very mystic feeling subject.

Junior Sam Arias (Art III) drew this beautifully sensitive alligator above with her crazy, amazing right brain drawing skills, and senior Jessica Liu (Art II) did the dramatic, emotionally charged piece below.

What a great way to start off the year!

My Son's New Blog

2011-11-05T16:44:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited, my son has just started his own blog, and I want to share it with you cuz I'm just such a proud mama. If you haven't been following along recently, my son, Zach, just graduated from Cal Poly Pomona last June as a Plant Science major and has a love of gardening that was instilled in him at a very early age by my mother who babysit for me. She taught him all aspects of gardening from watering and planting, to weeding and bugs, and his favorite part was watching his little plants grow. Then with me in our home, he watched me design with plants. I would take him with me to the most beautiful nurseries like Rogers Gardens in Corona del Mar, and would let him help me pick plants to put in our yard.

So now that he has a full time job and his own bungalow in Pasadena, he is starting his own garden. The patch above in the pix is the plot of land attached to his home that the landlord is letting him experiment in. So if you are interested you can watch him develop this land into a lush vegetable and flowering garden. His blogsite is http://www.socalvegetablegardener.wordpress.com/.

Your nana is with you Zach, she is all around you, watching over you and now she will send you bees to pollinate your plants. We are both so very proud of you and your endeavors.

Good Luck baby!

The Wonderful World of Tye-Dye Student Work

2011-11-03T13:37:00.000-07:00

Oh Boy, did the kids in the Beginning 3-d class have fun learning how to tye-dye.

You can see we used rubber bands, paper clips, clothes pins, staples and string to resist the dyes. The kids were given the 3 primary colors to dip into as well as black. These were their results:

Junior Lily Lin

Junior Mark Ilog

Senior Aparna Vancheswaran

Senior Luis Gomez

Junior Sara Shams

Junior Joy Chung

Junior Julia Chanco

Sophomore Alex Rendon

and junior Sheila San Agustin. Now I know those of you, like me, who grew up in the 1970's are wondering if we do any traditional tye-dye patterns. Of course, you can see one below

done by junior Tiffany Lee. These gorgeous pieces of cloth are going to be the backdrop for a fabric journal the kids will be making a little later in the semester. In years past they were the foundation for our appliquilts the kids made like the one below by alumni Ashley Chang who graduated in 09. You might recall that her appliquilt along with this year's senior Kelsey Lee and 09 Alumni Kevin Ni where featured 2 years ago in Quilting Arts Magazine which was a big thrill for us.

Boo!

2011-11-02T12:59:00.000-07:00

Out of my 154 students this year, juniors Sam Arias and Sheila San Agustin captured my attention with their artful costumes. Way to go girls!

You are scaring me Sam LOL

Sam is enrolled at Cerritos College in her free time and taking a class called Blood, Gut and Gore. She wants to work in Hollywood. I think you will have no problem getting a job Sam, cuz you are GOOD!!!

From Our House to Yours...

2011-10-31T13:17:00.000-07:00

have a happy ...

and safe Halloween

Charcoal Cones - 7th Grade

2011-10-27T15:07:00.000-07:00

Here are my young ones again, gotta show off more of what they are learning. After graphite we moved on to charcoal pencils, vines and sticks. We talked about light sources, cast shadows, value ranges, and foreground and backgrounds. These were the top in the class.

Sabrina Chen

Annie Oh

and Alison Oh. Beautiful work ladies!

Blog Challenge - Student Work

2011-10-26T13:18:00.000-07:00

At the start of the school year I offered up an extra credit challenge to see how many kids were tuning in to my blog, and these were some of my favorite results. These first 2 pix were the ones done by my terrific 7th graders starring from top to bottom, left to right; Tiffany Pan, Chirag Doshi, Shreya Sheth, Sabrina Chan, Raymond Bolanos and Melissa Ongko.

The challenge went like this: : on a multi-colored piece of paper (yes you can make the paper multi-colored by using crayons, markers, collage and such) cut out an asymmetrical geometric or organic shape. Yes, it must be asymmetrical! Then fold, tuck, wrap, bend and mold the piece of paper into a 3-d vessel like the girls did above(see 5 Day Quilt Challenge). When you have a pleasing form glue, staple or stitch (or however you can think of) to hold the vessel's form. The most creative, interesting solution will win 5 extra credit points. For participating you will earn 2 extra credit points. Have fun!

I loved them all, so unique and well thought out, and I also felt the 7th graders did just as well as my older students. Above we have junior Alice Zhang, junior Corrine Marcus, junior Sheila San Austin and below my personal fav was senior Shivanti Kariyawasam.

All three views.

I was especially impressed with the stitching Shivanti brought into the piece.

Then and Now - My Babies

2011-10-25T15:26:00.000-07:00

Just a look back to see where they where then in 1996 and where they are now, my beautiful children, best friends always, Zachary Aaron And Danielle Rose, I Love You With All My Heart, Forever...

Peacock Feather as Inspiration - Student Work

2011-10-21T13:41:00.000-07:00

Thinking about you Jaimee since you've been absent for the past 3 days. But your gorgeous piece hanging on the classroom wall is helping me to not miss you too much. :)

Senior Jaimee Chirico has been taking art classes with me since the 7th grade. She is in 4th level Drawing/Painting/Design this year as well as Ceramics I, plus she tried my Beginning 3-d class last year for a total of 6, yes 6 classes with me in her career here at Whitney High School. As you can see, she is extremely talented in the arts, and I'm hoping that one day she might come back to be the new art teacher here at Whitney when I retire in 7 more years. She abstracted this peacock feather in oil pastel, and then built a collage frame to mount it on. Beautiful job kiddo! Below is a close up of her color overlapping to achieve all the value changes.

7th Grade Linear Texture with Watercolor

2011-10-20T15:03:00.000-07:00

My talkative, energetic, and always sweet 7th graders have done a spectacular job with this colorful and fun assignment. Above we have Pearlina Boc, and below is Shreya Sheth.

And the adorable one above belongs to Melissa Ongko, and the beauty below is Annie Oh's. Great job young ones!

7th graders ONLY: for EXTRA CREDIT on a piece of multi-colored paper cut into the shape of a rainbow, put your name on the front, and on the back put the name of the person's linear pattern piece that you liked the most.

Participating

2011-10-19T13:12:00.000-07:00

This summer I discovered Jude Hill and her Spirit Cloth blog, and if you scroll down a bit (or click on Professional Fiber Artisit Jude Hill on the right) you can see the feature I did on her and her work. Currently she is offering up wonderful stitching workshops about how to create a variety of stitched feathers. Her goal is to collect 1000 from stitchers around the world and put them together into a piece that she will donate the proceeds from to charity. To date she has collected a little over 400 feathers, ours included from my students here at Whitney.

Here's how the process went:

I offered this up as an extra credit assignment and had 7 students participate. We started off with a bit of Eco Dyeing (ala India Flint) We prepped our fabrics as we would for Tye -Dyeing.

Then choose natural dye stuffs to work with. Many of the kids chose pomegranate seeds, Korean grapes and various tea leaves.

It was fun to open the cloths up to see the results. A rock that leached a bit of it's pigment into the cloth above...

fan folding and resisting with paper clips...

and laying down a few leaves and wrapping them around a stick as the stick was rolled into the cloth.

These were some of the results.

My two favorites were done by junior freshman Karisma Dev and junior Rita Labib.

Below are the finished stitched feathers along with their story cloths that we mailed off to Jude. Jude featured our pieces today on her blog with the stories. Once on her blog click on Gathering Feathers on the right.

Junior Joyce Lee (above)

Senior Aparna Vancheswaran

Senior Ingrid Huang

Senior Johanna Paz

Senior Pauline Yang

Freshman Karisma Dev

and Junior Nida Fatima

Ever since I started this project I'm seeing feathers everywhere. Here on my arm with a bit of shaving creme that came up off my leg LOL

So anyways the feathers flew off last Monday to Jude and she posted them today, so make sure you check it out. One of my best art students this year, senior David Hyun, decorated the mailing package that we sent them in. Beautiful!

For EXTRA CREDIT: cut a piece of brown paper into the shape of a feather and on the front side put your name and period. On the back side tell me whose feather you liked the most, and hand your feather to me tomorrow when you walk in my door.

Doggie Update

2011-10-18T13:49:00.000-07:00

Sophie had her cousins over again this weekend for a sleep over, so of course I had to snap a few pix. Here's my new son-in-law Mike with Miesha. Too cute! And ladies, Mike's not so bad either LOL

Alumni Julia Meng - Class of 2010

2011-10-17T11:22:00.000-07:00

A shout out to you Julia. I saw this amazing little watercolor in Mr. Z's room the other day when I was visiting with him and immediately gravitated to it. I asked him who made it for him and he said Julia Meng. I don't remember seeing this piece when you were in my class, but I fell in love with it and asked Mr. Z if I could enjoy it in my room for a day. The watercolor technique in it is brilliant, and of course it make me think about you and wonder how you are doing. Drop me a line when you can.

My First Gallery Show that Counts

2011-10-12T14:47:00.000-07:00

Ok, here it goes, I tried this once before when I was 21 years old and it wasn't such a great experience. So I never got on that horse again till now, some 34 years later. All because my new husband believes in me and my art work, and he pushed me to try again. So I truly hope it's well received this time around, but I gotta tell you, I'm soooo scared.

With that said, I'd love for you to join me for the artist reception on Opening Night this Saturday, Oct 15 from 7 till 9 p.m. If not, the show is up till December 3.

The gallery, The Drawing Board, is brand new in Yorba Linda and this is the owner Jamie's first show to put on to the public. The address is above but basically it's on the corner of Yorba Linda Blvd. and Yorba Ranch Road, in a nice little center. Other artists will be featured as well, one with baked goods :)

So here is a sneak peek of a few of the 60 pieces I have in the show. Many are for sale and a few are just to show.

My art quilts...

my needle punch and embroidery...

my polymer clay buttons...

a few clay pieces...

my hand dyed, hand spun, hand knit baby garments (some of the hand dyed rovings and yarns came from my friend Lori Lawson at Capistrano Fiber Arts)

Crochet and felted pieces..

and above, one of my new favorites, inspired by the works of Morna Crites Moore, my Journeys series...

and my all time favorite, most exhausting piece I ever made, my garden sphere.

So please come join me this Saturday nite as I celebrate my art and the art of the other artists in the show with my family, friends and students. See ya there!

Boys will be Boys

2011-10-11T20:11:00.000-07:00

How could these seniors, Brady Son, Shawn Pak, and Sagar Shah, resist the temptation to wedge up the biggest ball of clay they could and instead of working on their assignment, build this spaceship instead? As you can see they couldn't LOL Then they told me it was a present for me. When I saw it I just started cracking up, and I thought this is gonna be a really fun year!

Thanks guys :) I'm thinking extra credit right? Nah.

Vegas in July 2011

2011-10-10T15:11:00.000-07:00

This last summer Jimmy's band was playing at 2 venues in Vegas, so in between gigs, off we went to our favorite place, the site of "Pawn Stars", hoping for a glimpse of Chumley. But the closest we got to him was seeing all his "I Love Chumley" stuff for sale.

It was so hot outside and the line very long, but we persevered and made it inside, hoping for a peek at anyone connected with the show.

The closest we got was this guy behind the counter whom I've seen in a couple of the episodes. The coolest thing we did see was the old man's Caddy in the back fenced in area. Somebody forgot to lock the gate so we might have slipped inside to take a pix of the old man's 57 Chevy that Rick had restored for his dad's birthday, an episode that we watched on T.V. right before we left for Vegas. Pretty cool man!

Between the 2 gigs we had band practice, and as you can see Jim likes to ham it up a bit.

The first venue was at McMullan's, an Irish pub across the street from the Orleans Casino and Hotel. It was really awesome that they put the bands name on the marquee.

Here are The Rockits above with the Hi Lites below.

When the band wasn't playing mostly we hung out at the pool at our hotel. We stayed at the Hilton off the Strip, a pretty ok hotel, it used to be Elvis' home base when he performed there.

The second venue was more dressy, the Italian American Club with all these old gangster wannabees LOL. But it was a lot of fun, I got to dress up and hang out...

my very handsome...

incredible man. :)

7th Grade Graphite Spheres

2011-10-07T15:09:00.000-07:00

I want to show you what my new 7th graders are up to. I have so many wonderful kids in this new group. Their assignment was to use graphite to shade in a sphere, including cast shadow, horizon and perhaps a border treatment. The bowling ball was done by Brandon David...

and this one with the decorative border was made by Ayesha Durrani...

and this last one was done by Melissa Ongko. Great job 7th graders!

Drop Spindles & Hand Dyed Rovings

2011-10-05T13:57:00.000-07:00

After reading the article in Spin-Off Magazine this summer on building your own drop spindles, I knew I just had to try this as an assignment for my 3rd level 3-d kids.

But first I knew I had to build one myself...

Oh boy. But I was so busy getting ready to get back to school and get my classroom set up that I asked my husband Jim to give one a try first (below)

He looked like he was having so much fun with all the sawing, cutting and sanding that I just had to make the time to try one too (below)

I purchased 3 different hardwoods for the kids to choose from, oak, poplar and I forget the name of the other one, it will come to me LOL, and about seven different stain and wax choices. You can see I'm already spinning yarn on my spindle. It actually works well :)

So anyways, here are the results which I'm so thrilled about, including their hand dyed roving's they will be spinning both on their drop spindles as well as my spinning wheels. Senior Kelsey Lee designed a lovely floral pattern, ...

and even put in some wood etched designs. You can also see her different wood choices below. And aren't her color ways in the roving's beautiful?

Senior Nandi Best also used 3 different woods and stains, wood burned all 3 pieces and then inlaid beads. Wow!!! I'm so excited by the results and can't wait to do this project again next year. Maybe even make a couple more for sale.

Happy Spinning Girls!

For EXTRA CREDIT tonight, on a piece of brown paper, cut out the shape of a drop spindle, and on the whorl section (the large part at the end) put your name and period on one side and on the other side put the name of the person's drop spindle that you admired the most from the ones shown above.

Monoprint Surprise - My Classroom

2011-10-04T12:51:00.000-07:00

How could I resist making a piece of art from the gorgeous color in my classroom sink the other day? I couldn't. The paint came from the leftover tempera the kids were using to make their color wheels as they were cleaning out their pans.

So before I cleaned the sink and rinsed it out, I laid a large piece of construction paper over top the leftovers and rubbed. And this is the fabulous monoprint I pulled below.

And it's ghost below, a second pull with another piece of paper.

And then what to do with the monoprints? Well, have my students cut leaves and feathers for me to mount my Polymer clay buttons on top of that will be for sale at my up and coming gallery show on Saturday, October 15 from 7 to 9 p.m. at The Drawing Board Gallery in Yorba Linda. :) Oh yeah! Thanks you guys for the help. Especially to alumni John Balagtas and senior Jaimee Chirico for sewing on all those buttons.

Puck... the Creeper....

2011-10-03T13:31:00.000-07:00

Jim's daughter Julie sent this to us the other day and it had me laughing out loud in my classroom, the kids must have thought I'd lost it.

Party Tonight with Me!

2011-09-30T12:13:00.000-07:00

Come join me tonight to listen and dance to my husband's band The Rockits and The Highlites, as they sing songs from the 50's, 60's and 70's. They are playing at Main Street Restaurant in downtown Yorba Linda from 7-10. Look forward to seeing you there. Let's Dance!!!

Finally Finished! - My Work

2011-09-29T13:35:00.000-07:00

It only took me a little over 3 years to finish this sweet little piece. I started it, then lost interest, then rediscovered it, lost interest (I think this is normal artistic behavior) but I finally finished it this past summer on my trip to Florida, and it feels so good to actually finish something that's been hanging over my r head for so long. Plus, I like it! An added bonus. Now for even bigger things, I plan to use it as a focal point in a cloth strip woven piece ala Jude Hill, Spirit Cloth woman. Wish me luck, that will probably take another 5 years :)

Meet My New 7th Graders - Value Scales

2011-09-27T14:56:00.000-07:00

My new babies are starting off the year really strong as you can see. Many of them are coming in with some art skills which is always a plus. They were required to shade in 5 values of gray plus stick in an area for black and white. These were the two most outstanding pieces turned in. The piece above belongs to Melissa Ongko, and below we have Annie Oh. Annie has drawn 4 sets of value scales. Can you find them?

Clay Day at my Studio

2011-09-26T13:33:00.000-07:00

My daughter Dani is taking her first ceramics class and was so excited to get a head start, so she asked me to teach her a few things before the other kids started working in the clay. Of course she had to drag her poor boyfriend Tyler along with her. He's such a good sport, he totally didn't mind. So here they are working away on first pinch and then coil techniques.

The pinch pieces above from left to right belong to me (my demo), Dan, then Tyler, and the coil pots below are Tyler's and Dan's. All in all I think they did pretty good, and I know they really enjoyed themselves, they were there for 4 full hours, and didn't want to stop.

2011 Senior Tribute

2011-09-23T15:33:00.000-07:00

Thanks all of you for being so patient with me as I took forever to get this posted. I've been thinking about you guys all summer long, thinking about what I wanted to put in this tribute. So here it goes, hold on tight! :)

To my beautiful morning girls, I've known so many of you since you were crazy, wild, but very sweet little 7th graders. Olivia, Breeana, Angeline, Vivian, Abby, Florence and Jessica. And it seemed like I waited FOREVER for you all to come back to me as seniors. But come back to me you did, cuz we formed a very special connection that 7th grade year...

You, Olivia Hill, are like a breathe of fresh air, always so positive and energetic, confident and sure of yourself, always knowing which direction you wanted to go. I could count on you every morning to greet me with your warm smile, and be enthused about all our projects. But more importantly, you never let me down on an assignment, you always gave me your very best, and that says so much about you as a person. You have also given me so much original thought on all your pieces. You are a beautiful woman, genuine and so gifted. I've loved you since you were a little girl, and I will miss you very much.

Breeana Johng, superstar of Whitney High, terrific designer/artisan, self-motivator, Class of 2011 Valedictorian. From 7th grade onward, you have blown me out of the water with your tenacity, your design style, and the amount of extra time you are willing to spend on each of my assignments. You are an exceptional student! But even though you are a fierce competitor and a go-getter, you do it with with kindness, patience and grace. I can feel your inner beauty, it radiates from you 24/7. It has been an honor and a pleasure to be your teacher.

Hilary Chan and Alex Park, who would have ever thought to put the two of you together. I would! It makes perfect sense to me, the mischievous boy with the good girl LOL. Happens that way all the time. So Alex, even though you cut my class more then you were there, I enjoyed every second of getting to know you, you are a positive, fun-loving person. And so smart, teaching you was a breeze. Plus, you showed me some artistic talent, and you really improved your drawing skills. You have a good heart, and a conscious, and I so appreciated all the times you texted me to let me know where you were and why you weren't in my class. LOL

Hilary, what an incredible designer and craftswoman you are, you have so much talent and it comes so naturally to you. I loved being your teacher, and always looked forward to seeing your end results. And I will never forget our summer adventure with Brittaney Lee when we drove out to Capistrano to see Lori and her beautiful fiber pieces. I wish you and Alex the best, both of you are lucky to have found one another. Alex, you be damn good to her, she is a very special woman, to be treasured forever.

Jason Kwon, probably the most gifted and hard-working of all my drawing 2-D seniors. My heart soared for you when you told me you'd been accepted to Art Center, but then quickly broke when you told me you wouldn't be able to attend due to funding issues; especially after you had worked so hard to get there. But knowing you and your parents, you will find a way. I'm so excited to see where your art skills will take you in the field of car design. I look forward to hearing back from you as you travel along your journey. So keep in touch! :)

And speaking of Brittaney Lee, here you are, creating many of the most gorgeous fiber pieces to ever come out of Whitney High. You girl, are crazy talented, everything you touch and craft is so very unique and wondrous. I adored working with you, and even though you were pretty darn quiet and didn't say much, I could FEEL your passion for the arts. You speak thru your art work. You love it as much as I do. I felt a very close connection to you from the moment you turned in your first art pieces, you reminded me a lot of myself at your age, only you are much more of an angel then I ever was LOL.

Oh my God, Albert Choi and Vivian Vo, you two make my heart so happy. Let me start with you Albert. Your senior year was the first time I worked with you and it couldn't have been a more excellent adventure. Your great big smiles every morning, your willingness to please me cuz I let you into an Intermediate class without taking the beginning one cuz it was full. I knew you needed me to graduate. One of the best decisions I ever made was to let you do that. You were one of my favorite people from last year.

Vivian, I waited forever for you to com back to me, I adored you in 7th grade and I adore you today. I still remember every year, seeing you in the halls and bugging you about when you were going to take another class with me. You probably got so tried of me pestering you. So a little birdie told me that you and Angeline knitted all summer long. I love that!! I hope you continue to use the craft skills I taught you and I hope they bring you back wonderful memories. Love you two!

Tiffany Wang, you just came out of nowhere and bowled me over with your innate design skills and abilities in that first ceramics class your junior year. And then to come back your last year, take two more beginning classes in drawing and crafts, and again, excel in two completely different genres. I think I blogged more of your work then I did any of the other seniors last year. And by the way, if you ever decide to sell or give away your quilt or wood giraffes, see me first PLEASE! LOL

And Alex San Pablo, why did you wait till senior year to take an Art Class???? You are another with innate skills and design talent. I so enjoyed getting to know you and have you in my 3-d class. Thank you for working so hard for me and making such beautiful pieces for display.

Michael Clark, what a pain in my you know where you were, (yeah, you know you were, don't give me that look like you don't know what I'm talking about LOL). Getting you to finish and turn in an assignment was like pulling teeth, but then all you had to do was smile at me and it would melt my heart. What a sweet, wonderful person you are, and your 3-d creative thoughts and structures were brilliant. Keep in touch cuz I want to see what you are going to build with those engineering classes you will be taking in college. Good Luck!

Shalu Singh and Gabby Centeno, trying to keep you two from talking too much in class was one of my biggest challenges last year. LOL But you two were so cool to work with and get to know. It's funny how I managed to capture the two of you working so hard and looking like two angels. Ha! Ha! I will miss you both very much!

My sweet ceramics babies. Every year I don't think I can love a class more then I loved the year before, but man oh man, did I fall in love with you guys. Even you, junior Hanna Woo :)

Especially you Chareena Eleazar, you came back to me for a second year in clay and I'm so glad you did. You made many fabulous pieces last year and you were so easy to work with. Thank you for being so patient with me as the beginners took up most of my time. You are such a creative, gentle young woman, and I wish you the very best with that handsome young man of yours. Love you.

Raffaello Sampaga, I could never say your name correctly, thanks for not holding it against me :) You were so adorable and such a good sport as I would tease you constantly about your craftsmanship. And your sweet smile was the best!

Voted best looking guy by all the 7th grade girls, you were the school heartthrob in your red soccer shoes. Alfredo "Freddy" Perez, even my daughter had a big time crush on you :) I hope you get a chance to continue on in the arts cuz you have great design ideas. And it must run in the family cuz so does your little sis who I got to work with last year too.

Teachers aren't supposed to have favorites, but it was hard not to with you Robert Franklin. You captured my attention from day one. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know you. Loved your quirkiness & the fact that you danced for Subway on the street corner. Wish I could have done a drive by and seen you in action.

Look at you go in this pix Christine Castillo, this is how you were with every assignment. Totally focused, in the groove, making me so happy. I just wish all my students had your focus skills. I loved getting to know you, you are such a cool, sweet person, and so very cherished by all your classmates. You are also a gifted designer and craftswoman, and I so hope you make the time in college to take more art classes.

And what would I have done without you Harry Trieu when my blog went down for over 3 weeks. I was totally freaked out and couldn't post and you spent hours helping me to get it back up. Thank you so much for your time and effort. You are revered by all the teachers here. What would any of us have done without your computer know-how. Plus you've got some crazy craftsmanship skills too, it was a pleasure to be your teacher.

Andrea Acosta and Andy De Avila, what a great pair you were, such close-knit friends, it was a beautiful thing to see.

Andrea, you were one of the very best T.A.'s I ever worked with, so responsible and capable. Thank you for working so hard for me. You also came to me with great design skills and the clay loved you. I know you will be a fantastic teacher.

Andy, you were another one who challenged me daily. Trying to get you to stop talking and back working was no easy task. But when you did finally turn something in, wow, exceptional pieces! Know that because of you I added a new rule to my Beginning of the Year Rules Handout. It says something about me not accepting work more then two days late. Should of had that one in there a long time ago. :) Thanks for the push! LOL

Here are my boys! A couple more favs from the ceramic class, James Poupongtong and Kevin Pasquel. You both brought so much fun and good humor to the class, plus made many great pieces between the two of you. I sure hope you guys manage to get a couple clay classes in college.

Talk about fun students, that's you Jesus Calderon, Mr. Clay. The medium loves you. You put more wonderful details into your work then I thought was possible. You must take more art classes cuz design is in your blood. Your hugs everyday were the best, as is your sweet nature. Gosh, I'm gonna miss you.

Matthew Ramos, (above right) where were you all those years when you should have been taking art classes with me. You're another one who waited till senior year to fit me in. I would have loved at least one more year with you. You are so super artistic, it just flows out of you and into the clay. I adored everything you made! It was such a pleasure to work with you.

And who could forget Kevin Aquilo and Paul Kim in their junior year here dressed up for Halloween. What a crack up!

Kevin, you made me so crazy and frustrated cuz you had so much natural talent but very little focus skill to go with it. Doesn't mean I don't love you :), just means I can't wait to see what you are going to do with all that artistic talent once you mature a bit more. And you better do something wonderful with it or I'm going to kick your butt!!!!!!!! LOL

Paul, I first met you in your 8th grade year when I had to tell you every other day to quit riding your bike and skateboard on campus. You too, made me crazy, and you weren't even in my class. But when you finally enrolled in my class in your junior year, what a diamond in the rough you were, so much exceptional talent. The pieces you produced that first year for me were wonderful. What a shame then in your senior year you weren't able to continue here at Whitney. That was a hard blow for all of us. But hopefully you have found your path and it's leading you in the right direction now. Know that I love and believe in you!!

Photo above by Kyoung Lee

The walls of the art room filled with your gorgeous pieces at Open House.

The magical moment I walked into the gym on Graduation day and saw all of you waiting for the processional in your cap and gowns, I almost started crying then and there. What beauiful children you all are.

Me and my boys, Jesus and Freddy. Look at how good you guys clean up!

Michelle Guam, beautiful woman, sleepy woman. Keeping you awake was another of my challenges I faced each and every day. But I grew to respect your artistic talents. As I teased you often, can you only image what you could have made if you were more alert? You are a sweetheart!

I was so very proud of all of you as you marched onto the field for Graduation. I think I was clapping harder then anyone else. But one of the most heartfelt memories for me was when you all put your arms around each other for the Alma mater...

and joined hands during Ashley Morris' song with her friends. Ashley Morris, you had to know I would save you for last, cuz I feel I have known and loved you and your family the longest. You are so precious to me and I respect you so very much. I feel you are an amazing young woman who is destined to touch people's and animals life's in very special ways. You have dreamed of being a vet for so long, and you've got such a long, arduous journey, but you will excel and thrive, just like you did here with us. So don't be scared, cuz I know you are. It's very difficult to leave such a loving, safe environment. I don't know if I could have done it at your age, so are a much stronger individual then I ever was. So off you go... but don't stay away too long, cuz I will miss you sitting on my classroom floor at my feet telling me all your secrets, and me telling you mine. I love you so very much :)

You were a bright, strong, and loving group Class of 2011, I will never forget your smiling faces...

but it's time for all of you to fly away Eagles. But you know what they say about Eagles, if you keep them caged they will never be yours, but if you set them free and they come back, they will be yours forever (the wise words of my husband Jim). I hope you return one day because I feel as if all of you belong to me.

And with you go our beloved Principal, Patricia Hager whom we will all miss very much. Thank you Patti for always believing in me and my program, your support over the years will never be forgotten. You respected and trusted me to do my best, so you got my best. You totally got who I was and my relationship with my students. You were a great friend, a wonderful boss and a very funny lady. I know you don't like the mushy such, but I will miss you very much and so will the kids.

I wish all of you an exciting and SAFE adventure as you travel down this next road. Make me PROUD. May you find the job in life that makes you happy to go to work to everyday, and the person to share your life and love with. And know that you will live in my heart forever. So stay in touch and send me pix for my walls.

John Balagtagas, you are a funny guy, you made me smile every day, and it was great getting to know you. Your ceramic pieces were some of the best in the class. You my friend, are a superb craftsman and have exceptional skills and need to take more art classes. I'll see you every Friday this year as my newest Technical Assistant. I'm paying you the big money, so don't be late LOL

PEACE OUT 2011

Sophie Update

2011-09-20T11:20:00.000-07:00

Sophie had her cousins, Miesha and Puck, over for a sleepover recently, and I couldn't resist snapping this pix when they wouldn't budge from the car. They were ready to roll, and had to be pried out. We had 3 very disappointed dawgs.

Welcome Class of 2012

2011-09-19T13:16:00.000-07:00

To my seniors of 2011, still working on your end of year senior tribute, so hang in there a bit longer. Hilary Chan, so good to hear from you this morning! For 3 of you new seniors here is a little trip down memory lane. When you guys were in 7th grade and in my Beginning 3-d class, Alumni Warren Kang came by to visit and took several pix of you all and me, teaching you how to spin yarn on the drop spindle. This montage now hangs in my home studio, and was a gift that Warren brought to me after putting the pix into a collage format.

So let's see, who do we have here? Sandra Cruz (yeah I know you are going to be mad at me for showing this, too bad LOL) front and center, then Carolina Navor and Borah Lim in upper left corner. I hope you all get a kick out of this. Love you guys!

Melinda Cornish - Professional Fiber Artist

2011-09-15T13:53:00.000-07:00

These pix were supposed to be in yesterday's post but I couldn't find them in my files, so I re-shot them last night so I could post them today. So here is the third pro artist's work that I bought and showed my students parts of before and as we did the 5 Day Quilt Challenge.

I really liked how Melinda's vessel came together along the top edge, and I especially loved the button closure and ribbons she incorporated into the piece.

So many cool details to delight the eye.

Thank you Melinda for letting me purchase this from you and I hope you enjoy the end results of my students works in the post below.

For EXTRA CREDIT tonight, scroll down to the post below and follow the directions.

5 Day Quilt Challenge - Professional & Student Work

2011-09-14T15:15:00.000-07:00

After seeing Leilani Pierson's February/March 2010 article in Quilting Arts Magazine titled "A 5-Day Quilt Challenge, Creating Art on A Whim", I knew I wanted to try out this project with my Advanced 3-d students. I contacted Leilani and actually bought her piece (above & below) so that I could have an amazing example to share with my students. I also purchased another gorgeous piece by fiber artist Melissa Cornish which I will be showcasing tomorrow.

I also got in contact with a fiber artist who participated in the challenge and had her piece published alongside Leilani's, Wanda Stivison (above and below). I adore both Wanda and Leilani's work, the attention to detail is truly amazing.

On more challenging projects such as this I always like to try them out first, either myself over the summer or one of my 4th year very advanced students. So I gave this challenge to senior Ashley Morris 2 years ago to see what she could do with it and off she went.

Above and below are Day 1 and Day 2, first applying color to the fabric piece, then quilting the colored fabric to felt or batting. Unfortunately this is as far as Ashley got because she accidentally lost her work.

So skip to this last year where I presented the assignment to my 3rd year Advanced 3-D girls. The photo above represents day 3 where you cut your quilt piece into at least 6 separate pieces. Above we have senior Angeline Tran's work and below is senior Olivia Hill. You can see how Angeline made mostly diagonal cuts whereas Olivia cut curves and diagonals. And then Olivia shows Day 4 where you sew the cut pieces back up again is a different configuration, and then begin adding lots of hand and machine embellishments.

This is Day 5 and Angeline's finished work. On Day 5 you fold, bend, tuck, and mold the piece into a 3-d vessel. The coolest part was that I never showed the girls the entire finished pieces, only little parts of them at a time, so they really didn't know where I was taking them till day 5. What a fun adventure it was. Definitely worth repeating this year.

Here is Olivia's finished piece, check out all her fine details.

And lastly we have senior Breeana Johng's vessel. So delicate and beautiful, just like Breeana.

EXTRA CREDIT: on a multi colored piece of paper (yes you can make the paper multi colored by using crayons, markers, collage and such) cut out an asymmetrical geometric or organic shape. Yes, it must be asymmetrical! Then fold, tuck, wrap, bend and mold the piece of paper into a 3-d vessel like the girls did above. When you have a pleasing form glue, or stitch (or however you can think of) to hold the vessel's form. The most creative, interesting solution will win 5 extra credit points. For participating you will earn 2 extra credit points. You have until Monday at the beginning of class to turn this in. Have fun!

The Home Depot Chickens

2011-09-13T12:22:00.000-07:00

Home Depot is one of my very favorite stores, and I'm there at least twice a week buying cool stuff for my students. It is also the favorite place for these birds. They live in the tree limbs at my Home Depot in Yorba Linda, so I always look for them when I'm there. They don't seem afraid of people, they make a lot of noise, and are often found cruising the parking lot. But the other day, they were nesting on the metal racks between the plants. I love all the colors in their feathers and find them incredibly beautiful so I thought I'd start taking pix of them. So from now I will be including in my blog random Home Depot chicken sitings :)

My Boy and His New Abode

2011-09-12T13:36:00.000-07:00

Now that my son has a full time job and girlfriend, he's decided to move out and rent a little bungalow in Pasadena with girlfriend Bree. So instead of a two hour commute each way from Yorba Linda to Westlake Village out by Thousand Oaks, he now only has to drive between 30-45 mins. each way. Yeah!

So 2 weekends ago all us parents helped the young ones move into their new pad. It's a cute back house in a quint neighborhood right behind the historic Gamble House. And it turns out that Bree's Aunt Wendy is our Patty Hager's new boss, the Superintendent of the La Canada Flintridge School District, and the one that hired Patty away from us. Talk about a small world.

It's been so much fun helping them set up house and find furniture. But the best part of the day was that my ex and new hubby worked side by side to help the kids. Life is Good!

To The Seniors of 2011...

2011-09-09T13:41:00.000-07:00

I'm thinking about you younguns as you leave for college and start the next phase in your lives. I'm busy working on your Senior Tribute, the one I've done for the past 2 years, so don't think I've forgotten you guys. So stay tuned, look for your special moment coming here soon, keep dropping by for a hug and let me know how you are doing. Miss you all sooooo much!!!

(above) Opening Day of the 2011-2012 school year with alum Vivian Vo and Angeline Tran, who dropped by to say hi. A special shout out to Shirley Sun. I think of you often even though you bailed on me last year LOL. I wish you well in St. Louis and I hope you do something wonderful with your design skills. Love you girl!

Abstract Figure Sculptures in Plaster - Student Work

2011-09-08T15:08:00.000-07:00

Last school year's junior Nandi Best took this slab of Plaster of Paris (above) ,that she had mixed and poured into a milk carton with a little added green and marbleized blue acrylic paint, and turned it into this sensitive and lovely figure sculpture below.

I asked the kids to work with abstracted figures (male or female) in an asymmetrical design, to carve them, smooth and sand them and to finally mount them with something that visually flowed without over-powering the pieces.

Brilliant Work Nandi, I adore your piece.

She even did something special on the bottom of the mounting with a wood burning tool.

I loved this one too. Where Nandi's piece was very curvy, senior Brittaney Lee's was very angular and also stunning. She, like Nandi, swirled a bit of paint in her plaster before it set up, and it actually resembles marble stone.

Junior Carolina Navor is just getting hers started. It looks like a lot of the paint will be showing in the after piece, but it's a bit deceiving, not that much showed in the finished work. So the lesson learned, what you see on the outside isn't necessarily what you get on the inside.

Sorry the shots are a bit blurry, I guess I wasn't holding very still. The one on the left side belongs to junior Kelsea Lee. I actually lost my paper work on these so I'm guessing here that the one on the right was made by junior Dana Urcia. Lovely pieces ladies. A close-up below.

I think this one above was done by either Vivian Vo, or Miya Clark, both seniors. If any of you are reading this blog, email me and let me know so I can correct this. Thanks. What I loved about this piece was that it was mounted asymmetrically, and the glass shards were glued onto the other side to balance the sculpture. What a great idea!

And lastly, I'm guessing again, I believe this last one was done by senior Jessica Jay. HELP!!! Let me know! Whoever made it, it's sensitive and lovely, with just enough glass shards to balance it.

For EXTRA CREDIT, on a piece of green paper, cut out the shape of an abstract figure. Put your name and period on one side of the paper figure and on the other side, write and tell me which of these pieces you liked the best and why. Hand this green paper to me when you walk in my door tomorrow.

Slab Shrine - Student Work

2011-09-06T20:21:00.000-07:00

Senior Chareena Eleazar in Ceramics II was required to come up with an abstract figure sculpture in a slab technique that had a small opening that she could enshrine something special in. What I really liked about this piece was the embossed text that she stamped into her slab, and the nail hardware that is piercing the red clay heart. A very striking, thought provoking piece kiddo. Great Job. Also noteworthy are the mixtures of oxides and glazes techniques in her finish.

Florida Honeymoon - Part III

2011-09-05T22:11:00.000-07:00

So even though the weather was wet, the kids still wanted to try one more day at the beach...

but as you can see it was pretty overcast.

And then it started to rain, then pour, then lightening and thunder. A full-on crazy storm. It was so bad we couldn't even get to our car. So we sat it out for about an hour under an awning we found.

Jim embraced the storm and let himself get completely drenched. He's so much fun, ya just never know what he's gonna do next.

When we got back to Bette and Vinny's, the weather let up so after dinner we climbed aboard The Sposa's golf cart and played a couple of holes...

with Bette and pup Rocco cheering us on. Rocco's favorite part about golfing is riding in the cart and picking up balls along the way.

But then it started to rain again, big huge drops.

Dani, Bette, Rocco and me stayed in the cart, cuz you know us girls don't like to get our hair wet, but Zach and Jim just kept on playing, and boy oh boy, did they have a ball!

After 5 days it was time for Zach and Dan to fly back home early, Zach had to be at work the next day. And man oh man, was it hard for me to let them fly by themselves. Of course they were excited but I was a nervous wreak. I watched them walk down that corridor and Dani got stopped by security and they did one of those full body searches on her. I was freaking out but she was fine with it. They flew out of Fort Lauderdale in one of the worse thunder storms that we had seen all week. But they had no trouble and arrived at L.A.X. on time.

Jim and I had 3 more days to ourselves so of course what do we do, I drag him all over the state trying to find fiber shops. My favorite was the one above called Great Balls of Yarn in a town above Hobe Sound called Stewart. And he dragged me to every thrift store in the state cuz that's his thing. We actually found a couple of pretty cool things to bring home.

But the best part of the trip was getting to relax and spend time with Bette and Vinny.

And to play and feed Rocco his favorite treat...

ice cream!

Thank you Bette and Vinny for another wonderful time in your lovely home, for all the delicious foods you treated us to, and for being so generous with my children and treating them like your own grand babies. We miss you so much already and can't wait to get back there next year.

We Love You so much!

The flight home was a beautiful site because we flew into the setting sun, and then when we got home we had the most gorgeous skyline on our hill.

Florida Honeymoon - Part II

2011-09-04T19:45:00.000-07:00

Because of all the thunderstorms we had to find other things to do besides beach stuff. So we went on line to find other amusements we could visit. Zach found Lion Country Safari about an hour from where we were staying. We were able to stay in our car and get very close to the animals which was way cool.

It was the hottest part of the day so many of the animals were relaxing and not moving around too much. I'm going to try my best to identify the animals from the brochure they gave us. The park was divided into separate sections cuz some of the animals don't mix well with each other. In the Ruaha National Park we saw the Greater Kudu, an antelope. These babies above don't have their horns yet, and below we have the big daddy watching over his charges.

In the Serengeti Plains we saw a grouping of Ostrich, and in the Kalahari Bushveldt, the Gensbok below. This guy was missing one of his horns.

I loved this shot of the Wildebeest (or he might have been a Water Buffalo) with his bird buddy on his back. We also saw quite a few camels.

The Impalas above were so graceful, and below the Wildebeest below had such beautiful markings on their sides.

Loved the striped horns on the Waterblicks, and their behinds made for a great shot!

The Southern White Rhino was impressive, but the Zebras where our favorites.

They were right next to our car, and so playful...

as were the Chimpanzee's in the Hwange National Park.

And our ride ended with the elegant giraffes. The whole car sight seeing tour took about an hour and a half, and was a great way to spend our day, inside the air-conditioning of our rental car.

Our Florida Honeymoon - Part 1

2011-09-03T21:17:00.000-07:00

Even though Jim and I were married on April 27th, we didn't get to go on our honeymoon till I was out of school. Hobe Sound, Florida was our destination to celebrate our marriage with our children and Jim's dad and stepmother. We wanted all our children with us, but Jim's two couldn't get away. So off we flew with my two to meet their new grandparents, Bette and Vinny.

Zach conked out immediately, Dani stopped napping when she was 18 months old.

Jimmy can fall asleep anytime, anywhere...

and I vacillate between the two with my crochet hook in hand, but not getting much done.

We arrived in Fort Lauderdale, rented our car and drove as the sun was setting, an hour and a half north to Hobe Sound.

The next day it was off to the beach. Vinny and Bette live in a beautiful resort community less than a mile from the beach and Jupiter Island. It was one of our only days of sun. The weather most of the rest of the week was thunderstorms.

Because of the rainy weather, Day 2 we drove to West Palm Beach and walked Worth Avenue, it's like Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, very expensive shopping. We just walked and peeked in the windows.

We found an amazing courtyard amongst the shops along with a sculpture garden, and glorious orchids growing in the tree limbs.

Jim also drove us by Donald Trump's Mar-A-Lago home. Above is the back side where he docks his boat. The grounds are huge with several out buildings along with the main house.

The next day off we went to a Botanical Garden right outside Palm Beach. We were able to see so many different kinds of vegetation. It was right up mine and Zach's alley, so many tropical flowers in bloom, except it was hotter than all get out, in the 90's with almost 100% humidity.

What was so cool were all the butterflies around us. They weren't scared so we were able to take their pix.

There were several ponds with blooming waterlilies...

stag horn ferns growing from trees, and lots of wild mushrooms.

Here Jim and Dan are looking as if they might wilt and melt away, it's soooo hot!

The trees are really cool in Florida, sending down roots from above, then attaching themselves to the main tree trunk

And then of course here is my silly new husband getting his arm stuck in one of the tree truck openings. We had so much fun as you can see, stay tuned for part two tomorrow.

Preliminary Water Based Pastels - Student Work

2011-09-02T21:24:00.000-07:00

The creative, beautiful solutions that my students come up with always astound me and makes me so glad I teach where I do. In 4th Quarter, my beginning 2-d kids explore lots of color media along with shading and shadows. These pieces here are done with the chalky water based pastels (I posted the oil pastels a couple days ago if you want to scroll down), and it was my students first time giving them a try.

The gorgeous piece above was done by extremely talented junior Michelle Lee. In all her pieces she manages to convey a sense of movement thru lots of visual texture. Look at all those layers of different colors she puts down, dang she's good!

I feel so bad, for some reason I didn't write down the name of the student who did the piece above, but if I had to guess I'd say it was either done by senior Karen Pan, or juniors Crislyn Ogawa or Janice Min. If any of you are following this blog let me know if I'm on the right track here. Anyways, I love the composition above.

Below we have senior Jennifer Park with this fun beach ball. I had the students work on top of black construction paper, cuz it seems to make the colors pop.

Senior Rachel Kim did the very clever design above, and below senior Tiffany Wang drew this lovely bird/cherry compostion.

And lastly we have another very talented junior who I hope returns to me this year for 2nd year 2-d, Gary Fong.

Fused Wire Wrapped Glass & Silver Solder - Student Work

2011-09-01T21:21:00.000-07:00

My 2nd year 3-d class loved working with glass and they had so much fun designing these pieces. Most of them had learned to cut glass in the first year class when we did mosaics, but it's still always a challenge cutting the exact shape you want. I fired the pieces in my clay kiln but at a much lower temp. The kids made 4 different pieces. A full fused pendant, a partial fused wire wrapped pendant, and they also had to silver solder around their full fused piece. Lastly they learned to solder around two small panes of glass with something special encased between the panes, and to solder jump rings.

These top works belong to junior Nandi Best (sorry Nandi, I know I photoed that one upside down)

This next very unusual piece was created by 9th grader Aman Patel. I love it because it's so different then everybody else. Below we also have 2 more of Aman's works.

I love how senior Jessica Jay wire wrapped her pendents with all the spirals, and below we see the very cool work of senior Hillary Chan.

Junior Carolina Navor made the two stunning pieces above, and below we have four beauties done by junior Kelsea Lee.

I'm thinking senior Albert Choi had love on his mind when he made the two pieces above :), and lastly we have these pretties below by senior Florence Buendia. So seniors, I hope when you come back to visit this next school year you will be wearing one of your lovely pendants around your necks. I know alumni Rikaya Obilio still wears hers on a chain around her neck everyday.