2010 Senior Farewell - It's finally done!

I want to start off with something witty and inspirational, but you guys know that's not me so much. What you do know is that I will always be your biggest fan, and that I'll always love you unconditionally no matter how badly you screw up, right Ekta? LOL This is Ekta above on the potter's wheel where she created some of the most beautiful pots and sculptures that have ever come out of Whitney High. I'm gonna miss so many things about you guys. Your grumpiness in the mornings as you are trying to wake up along with your many tardies as you race thru Cerritos trying to get to my 2nd period on time. I did appreciate the hustle as you guys came running thru my door to try to beat me as I started taking roll, or as you tried to sneak by me hoping I wouldn't notice you coming in late, right Heidi :)

I will especially miss the crazy creativity of you two girls (Anne Guu above and Ashlee Chang below). On every single assignment you two always gave me way more then I asked for, coming up with clever ideas that I will steal from you and incorporate into the assignments next year. Thanks you two for your constant inspiration, your positive and loving attitudes, your respect and attentiveness, your kindness, and all the extra effort both of you gave me all year long. I will think of you often so stay in touch!

And Hannah Park, I'm so looking forward to you figuring out what you want to do with your life. I just pray that it's something connected with art and that you transfer to a wonderful art school where you will be appreciated for your creative sensitivity, your sweet heart and gentle smile. Wayne Chen and Steven Ebalobor, you two were my gift from God, always so pleasant and helpful, as seen below as you help me to unload numerous kilns. Both of you are such gentlemen, I hope your girlfriends appreciate and know what a good deal they have with you. I hope you both continue with the arts cuz both of you are crazy talented designers and craftsmen.

And then there is Trisha Shah, above, who I could always count on to finish and nail every assignment. You made so many exceptional pieces this year. And you always got what I was after with each assignment. You have been such a pleasure to work with. And Marisela Herrarte, below, I have known and worked with you since the 7th grade and still can't pronounce your name correctly and you've never held it against me. Thank you for your understanding, but even more what I especially loved about you was your critical thinking skills. You have always thought outside the box, you continually question and come up with new, fresh ways to interpret my assignments. I so appreciate and envy the way your mind works. I can't wait to see where it takes you. Please keep me posted!

Jenny Dai and Sherri Singh, where have you two been all these years? You should have been with me in the art room cuz you two are such creative thinkers and impeccable craftswomen. I adored getting to know and work with you both this year. I especially appreciated how attentive and encouraging you both were every time I presented a new unit. I always knew I could look to either of you as I was talking and being goofy and get a smile.

Mary Lou Bunn, whatever would I have done without you as my 5th period T.A. You assisted and helped me in so many ways, it was so nice knowing you were there for me and with such a positive attitude. And I loved watching you enjoy working on your art pieces in 2nd period. It's so nice to see a student who enjoys the whole process as much as you did especially that early in the morning :) You have worked hard for me in both classes and I'm so grateful for all your help. Brandon Liao, you come from a family of artists, you and your 2 sisters have been some of the strongest students in both 2 and 3-d art that I've had here at Whitney. I'm so proud of you for working so hard on your own, taking all those extra art courses and getting accepted into Art Center in Pasadena. I know you will do great things there. Good Luck to you.

Sweet, gentle Esther Lee, you work so slowly and carefully, and produce such beautiful, sensitive pieces. I was so glad to see you push yourself in your self portrait. It was by far the most important work you produced this year. I feel you will go on to produce many powerful pieces in your art career. Just believe in yourself, I do!

Audrey Pulido, wow, three years together and look at the body of work you have produced, and also the numerous pieces that you do on your own time. You are a fabulous designer and a hard worker, and I know you will go far in your fashion career. Hopefully you will be able to use much of what you learned in the 3-d classes to help you on your journey. And Kate Lee, how I enjoyed having you back with me after 5 long years. I remember you as a determined and hard working 7th grader, and you continued to impress me this year with your goodness, your sense of right and wrong, your respect and attentiveness, your strong sense of responsibility, your kindness and wonderful heart. And what impresses me the most about you is your mental strength, you are such a strong minded woman who knows how to go after things that matter to you and others. You will go far in your lifetime to do great things. And you have contributed greatly at Whitney High. Thank you!

Quiet, gentle and shy but with a determination to achieve and do your best, that's how I see you Sam Chon. It was so interesting to me to watch your working style which is so different from my own, you work a little, daze off into the distance a little, take a bathroom break or two, work a little, daze a little more. But you always come through on each assignment, don't know how you do it but your work always gets done, and it's usually pretty damn good too :) Thanks for hanging in there with me till the bitter end! And Shabnaz Klondoker, I think one of the youngest seniors we've ever had, you are such a gifted artist and have produced so many beautiful works for me over the last 2 years at such a young age, WOW, you are really something. Your works were oftentimes late but always worth the wait. I can't even imagine what you will create as you get older. I so hope you will be continuing on in the arts.

And one of the sweetest, most respectful and kindhearted young men, Robert Dohring, how I will miss seeing whether you make it to my class everyday. I totally get how that was out of your control, in your heart, I knew you wanted to be there and on time :) I will so miss your charming smile, and the way you would always tell me "Yeah, yeah, yeah, don't worry Ms. Agrums, I'll get it done" when I was bugging you to finish your work on time. You are such a smart young man, I can't wait to see what happens with your life when you finally decide to apply yourself. Go for it for me, will ya?

And just look at my boys in 5th period ceramics working so hard to get their glazing done so they can sit around the rest of the period and play on their phones and cameras, or just sit around and use some of the foulest language I've ever heard with their pants hanging halfway down to their knees. Seriously, I enjoyed you guys so very much, you constantly made me laugh, and you really did bust your butts for me on most all the assignments. I know it was hard at the end to not just throw those bird feeders together as fast as you could, who the hell would care anyways, certainly not the birds! Justin Currlin, starting on the far left, you are crazy amazing, and have been featured so many times on my blog for your exceptional designs. Kyoung Lee, photographer extraordinaire, who am I gonna embarrass and bug once you are gone? I know you know you were one of my favorites this year, and I know you didn't want to be, too bad. You are in my heart forever and I hope you keep in touch, cuz I will miss you. Brian Jin, wannabe gangster, you are smart and witty, go make some nicer friends and turn your life around would ya? You have so many important things to do in your lifetime, so much to give back, plus you are a damn good designer too! Maybe go do something with that! It's a start and certainly better then what you are currently doing with your free time. And Chris Shishido, you are one of our brightest young mind's this year, plus a hell of a nice person too. I see for you a bright political future. Please remember the arts as you pass new legislation in Washington, we need funding desperately.

Julliann Kho, one of the most gifted designers I've ever worked with, I'm sure goona miss your sweet smile in the mornings. I'll always have that letter you wrote to me as a young 7th grader, telling me how much you loved my class. I hope you continued to love my class as a senior. I know you went through a lot of changes and challenges this year, and I also realize how hard you worked the last couple of months trying your best to do what you needed to. I love that you came thru on that last asssignment, so proud of you for finishing up on a positive note. Life is so hard sometimes, there are going to be a few set backs Julliann, but what defines you is how you handle them, learn from them and then grow stronger. And what I saw from you at the end is that you can be a very strong woman when you need to be. You will be in my heart forever. I love you so much, good luck to you. I will think of you often. And here you are again Kyoung Lee, almost getting a smile out of you :) Damn, I'm gonna really miss you in the mornings, trying to get a hello or a good morning out of you. Trying to push you harder then you want to be pushed so you can grow as an artist. You are one stubborn customer, but I enjoyed every minute of it. Thank you for sharing your photography with me. I'm dying to know what you are going to do with your life, so I really hope you keep in touch, cuz know that I will be thinking of you.

And you Christopher Lee, hating all that girly stuff in the 3-d class, like sewing and weaving. Hey, at least you will know how to sew on a button when you get to college, right? Getting you to stay on task in both the classes you took with me was one of my greatest challenges this year. Man, do you love to talk! But it was so hard for me to stay mad at you cuz you have such a sweet disposition, plus you had some good design skills when you really tried. It was really wonderful watching you turn your life around this year, choosing the right path and pulling yourself off the wrong one. I'm so proud of you Chris, and so happy to see how much happier you are. Let me know how it goes in college, I sincerely hope that you will start applying yourself, cuz you are a smart young man and that will take you far in life. Good Luck! Alma Gudino, I thought I had a pix of you and I guess I didn't get one. Leader of the mushroom girls, it was such a pleasure working with you. I think you are wonderful, talented, creative, smart, responsible, hard working, you get the idea. Loved having your energy in my classes. I'm gonna miss you a lot, but I know you will be back :)

And Christie Conners, I just bet I didn't spell your first name right, again! I had to save you till the end cuz I think I was the closest to you this year. I loved how you called me Mama Agrums, I loved watching you grow up from the 7th thru the 12th grade. (Let me tell you it was a bit of a rocky road woman) You are such a beautiful young woman, but I don't think you even get that yet. You have personality plus and you always made class so much fun. You have such crazy, wonderful energy, and you are such a sneaky little thing, you remind me so much of me. LOL Damn, I'm gonna miss you like crazy, you had better keep in touch, and don't go too wild up there at Santa Barbara. I expect you to do some homework, you know? And like actually go to the classes you don't like LOL. I expect great things from you, and I love you like my own daughter. Behave yourself, and keep in touch woman.

Ceramics II Glazed Wheel Thrown Pots

These beauties are the culmination of a semesters work on the potters wheel by my 2nd year clay students. The first 1/2 of the year was spent handbuilding at an intermediate level, and then this 2nd semester they learned how to throw on the potter's wheel and do more speciality type glazing techniques. They experimented with wax inlay and wax scratch, sponging with wax, oxides and glazes, ceramic pencil, and watercolors for clay. They also used porcelain clay for the first time which was a real treat. They were made to alter a few of their thrown forms, thus the ripped, squished and scalloped edges. The gorgeous pieces above belong to senior Ekta Doshi, and below we have senior Wayne Chen's lovingly crafted pieces.

And above senior Steven Ebalobor shows off his expertise with the glazes. A lot of thought goes into each and every piece Steven makes. You three have been a joy to work with, so easy to teach, such sweet children. Thank you for the tremendous amount of respect that you have shown me everyday. I will miss you greatly.

7th Grade Soap Scrubs

Look at these beautiful fibers that my 7th graders felted over soap to make a wonderful exfoliatent for the skin. We have been studying color theory and I feel they did a really good job of selecting their fiber colorways. Plus the added sculpture elements on top are really interesting to the eye as well. These 6 were my favorites: (on top from left to right are) Abigail Kim, Pete Thiengtrong, and Jeremy Simbol. Below we have Raj Budda, Jadelyn Upramai, and Calvin Sun.

Great job you guys! Only 3 more days of school left :)

Coil Pots - Student Art

I thought the coil pots this year from my Beginning Ceramics students were stunning. Well designed and with a lot of care and patience in the glazing, they were real show pieces. This top one created by senior Anthony Nguyen was one of the most unique coil pots I've ever seen made here at Whitney. I was so excited when I saw how it came out of the glaze firing. Anthony used cobalt carbonate oxide to stain with and then painted his ribbon with glaze. What a beautiful contrast and what an unusual form.

The piece above was made by junior Tryphena Liu. Her craftsmanship is exceptional in both execution and glazing. I'm hoping she can fit me into her schedule next year, she is definitely one of my up and coming super stars. Below is senior Julie Chong's piece, another real beauty. Such lovely movement flowing around the pot as well as an unusual ending at the top. Love it Julie!

And lastly we have senior Eugene Kim who always pushes himself to be as creative as possible. He is the only one who worked as large as he did and who pushed his form out into space as far as he did to create this elegant s-shaped curve. Spectacular Eugene! If you'd like to see more click on Coil Pots and see the ones from last school year.

Java Joes - Saturday Night

Suzanne and Mary, Jimmy and his band will be playing this Saturday night at Java Joes in Yorba Linda. Bring the guys and come sing and dance with me. Hope to see you there. Starts at 8:00.

Negative Space Plants - Student Art

These pieces belong to my Beginning 2-D art students and were done during their right brain drawing unit about 3 months ago. Yeah, I know I'm a bit tardy posting them. Oh well! The kids really enjoy this exercise and the pieces are quite striking when done. They select and draw a silhouette then draw a plant right thru it. They use india ink to paint in all the negative space areas that they want to highlight. Click on Negative Space Drawings if you want to see more from last year. The top piece belongs to 8th grader Heather Warner who has done a phenomenal job this year in the art class, and who is also becoming quite a decent watercolor artist. The one below belongs to senior Sonya Liu, who is a gifted artist as well. We have seen quite a few of her pieces this year.

These next 3 pieces are close ups of a few of the cool new ideas some of the kids came up with this year to further distinguish their work. Above senior art student Pankti Patel cuts up a deck of cards to enhance her work and below on the left, senior Edna Wong uses pen and ink to echo lines and fill with text in her positive spaces. Then on the right, one of my newest art super stars, junior Micheal Jo rolled a potato (yes, a potato) in blue tempera paint then rolled that potato across his piece. Wow! What a concept! Next years beginners, take note.

Mixed Media Wood Boxes - Student Art

One of my favorite assignments to do with my Intermediate 3-D kids are these wood boxes that we embellish with a mixed media approach. I'm teaching out of Laurie Mika's book "Mixed Media Mosaics", a local So. Cal artist, who I was turned onto last school year. In fact, if you are interested in seeing the work from last years group click on Mixed Media Mosaic Tiles. Anyways the kids had to jump thru a lot of hoops in the designing and execution of these boxes. Fused glass, soldering, staining with acrylics, glass shards, text with theme, and of course the mixed media tiles. The box above belongs to senior Christi Connors who I have been teaching since she was just a bratty, 7th grade pup. I loved her then, and I'm crazy about you now woman. Behave yourself up at UCSB :) I'll miss you soooooooooooooo.

These next 2 boxes above were done by senior art scholar winners last week, Trisha Shah and Alma Gudino. They received two of my top awards for most outstanding artists this school year. Congrats you two. It has been an absolute pleasure working with the both of you.

And these boxes above were done by two of my up and coming super stars for next year, juniors Angeline Tran and Olivia Hill. Both of these girls are terrific designers and I look forward to teaching you two next year. Look out Breeana! :)

Nude Coil Torso - Student Art

Been really excited to share these coil built nude torsos from my 2nd year clay students. All three turned out exceptional (but then I only work with exceptional students :), cuz I'm a very luck woman). They are the largest pieces the kids have done this year and they were required to not only glaze them but to embellish them as well with other media. Senior Wayne Chen created the piece above, and I feel that the glaze turned out beautifully and really showcases his coil work. His embellishment is inside the neck and couldn't be viewed from this angle.

In the piece above and below senior Ekta Doshi goes wild with glass shards and text, and look at those gorgeous colors she's managing to get with just the rubbing and wiping of the oxides (powdered pigments stained and fired onto the clay surface) I can always count on Ekta to do something highly creative and to really push an assignment into someplace I never thought to take it. Thank you Ekta for your inspiration.

And below is senior Steven Ebalobor's piece. Look at the graceful and gentle contours he was able to coax from his coils, and the cool combo. between the oxides and the glazed areas. A very effective, subtle contrast. I especially love how he has wired in is heart. Great job you guys, it has been such a pleasure to work with you three this year. And Ekta, thanks for getting to class on time this morning! Gotcha! :)

Colored Embossments

Ok Beginning 2-D art, these examples are for you. The one below that I promised of Ivy Hu's done 2 years ago that we saw the plate for in class today, and above, one that I found from many years ago belonging to our own counselor Ms. Park. She, like Edward Humes, who wrote the book about us "School of Dreams" both attended my class and learned how to draw and design. Ms. Park was obviously inspired by Van Vogh's Starry Night and I'm pretty sure she used water based pastels to color with over top her embossment. It also looks as if she may have chosen the back side to do this on.

Ivy also used water pastels for her lovely piece. Sorry it's not in better focus. So Beginning 2-D students, if you took the time to look at this, put your name on a small piece of paper and do a quick, rough sketch of your design idea for the assignment for EXTRA CREDIT POINTS. OH YEAH!!

Slab Boxes - Student Art

Beginning Ceramics made and glazed some beautiful boxes this year that I want to show off. This was their second slab assignment and a pretty difficult one. Most of the kids stayed with the standard square shape but a few others pushed themselves into unfamiliar terrain as you will see. This top one was done by junior Tryphena Liu, and what makes her piece so noteworthy was the way she glazed it. What a striking piece she ended up with.

These next 3 belong to seniors Anthony Nguyen, Jessica Lee, and Nicholas Fernando. Many of the students carved out their lids so they could melt glass in the top. They were required to decorate the box with at least 2 different surface treatments during the building process, thus the carving, the incised lines, the applied decoration, and the stamping.

In the piece above, senior Esther Lee inlaid a light bodied clay into a dark bodied clay as she was rolling out the slab, so that when she glazed it you can see a cool design emerge on the top of her lid. She also stamped along her sides as well as inserted steel nails into the side. This one I felt was the most creative of the bunch. Way to push yourself Esther :)

7th Grade Collage Boxes

So here are the 4th quarter 7th grade wheel class's sweet little collaged boxes. Once again they amaze me with their sense of color and design. They were collaging with scrap tissue and other paper pieces and text, and were told to stay within a color scheme. The beauty on top belongs to Zoe Lin.

Above we have some very colorful and wonderful pieces done by Alice Hong, Dong Lee, and Diego Gonzalez.

And then we have these subtle and striking ones above created by Ben Espejo, Josh Bautista, and Zoe. And the lovely box below was done by Jessica Chuang which she gave me as a gift recently. What a beautiful example it will be to teach with next school year. Thank you Jessica