Aged Metal Booklets - Student Art

Almost done posting the artwork from last years students, just got a couple more to go before we start seeing what this year's crop is up to. These pieces were done last year in a jewelry unit on metal aging by my Intermediate 3-d class, and man oh man were they cool. The kids worked with a variety of aging techniques on copper sheeting like liver of sulfur, torching, hammering, ammonia, vinegar and sawdust, and etching to name a few. They also learned how to emboss the copper, pierce it and so much more. Then they took their favorite techniques and built a miniature booklet which included bringing in embellishments like beads, charms and metal brads. The top piece was made by senior Alma Gudino, and the piece below done by junior Olivia Hill.

As always, what I love is that all of them are so unique. The 2 above were created by senior Trisha Shah and junior Angeline Tran. You can view the ones made 2 years ago by clicking on Metal Aged Books. It's definitely worth a look see.

Extra Credit Winner

Congrats to 7th grade Art Wheel student Jason Yoon for not only doing the extra credit that was offered up on the blog Monday nite but for also having the cutest pup ever, little Butter.

The Rockits & Highlites at St. Martins Oktoberfest

Had way too much fun this last Friday night dancing and singing along to all my favorite songs with the boys and girls in the band. St. Martins was packed with both old and young with lots to do from the carnival rides and games to the food booths, silent auction and of course the reason I was there, Jimmy's band The Rockits. Above Jim and Dan (best friends and in this band together for the past 30 years) are clowning around, leaning all over each other, cuz they had to play 4 full sets from 7 till 11, and they were getting tired and it was a hot, humid evening!

I love the shot above cuz I was able to catch Jimmy blowing me a kiss. :)

And here is a rare shot of Jim actually singing (he doesn't usually sing only cuz he can never remember the words LOL) with 2 of the Highlites, Richie and his wife Donna, a Doo Wop group that drives in from Vegas to sing with the Rockits. Not sure when their next show is, but I'll keep you posted in case you want to join me next time.

Our New Arrival

Wanted to show off the 2 girls in my life, little Princess Sophia Agrums Sposa and my daughter Danielle. Sophie arrived 2 Saturdays ago after we got her from a rescue at Pet Co in Anaheim Hills (she brought with her the name Princess) Here she is above on her first day with us. She is a soft coat Wheaten Terrier mix, about 7 months old or so the vet tells us. She is affectionate and so happy and loving. She follows us all over the house and we can take her outside without a leash and she comes right back after she does her business. Jim has taught her to sit and she will go up the stairs for me if I ask her to so she doesn't get out when I pull the car out in the morning. A very smart young one. Danielle and I had a photo shoot with her Saturday night after she went to the groomers to get a bath and trim.

She loves to play fetch with her new favorite chew rope and will bring it right back after you throw it and she releases so you can throw it again. Did I already tell you how smart she is. LOL

So welcome to your new home Sophie. For EXTRA CREDIT bring me a pix of your pup to share. Put your name and period on the back side.

And The Band Plays On

Come join Jimmy and I, and his band The Rockits with The Highlites play this Friday nite, Sept. 24, at St. Martins Catholic Church's Annual Carnival/Oktoberfest in Yorba Linda from 7 till 11 (cross streets are Fairmont and Yorba Linda Blvd). It's gonna get wild. Lots of dancing and singing to the music from the 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's with a lot of Doo Wop from the Highlites. The food is great there with lots of beer and wine going on for us older folk. So look for me and let's dance! Extra Credit: If I see you there you will get a whooping 5 extra credit points. :) Note to Harry: I'll be watching for you LOL. Note to Carol in Essex, OMG! Your landscape is gorgeous, saw it today, you've got to finish it so I can see the whole thing, and look at you go with the machine embrodiery and the fused organza. Hurry up and finish them will ya???!!!

Realistic Head Rattles - Student Work

My last years Ceramics I students outdid themselves with these realistic heads, that when shaken are also rattles. Making them highly expressive and realistic as possible were their goals. And then the finishing off was critical to their success as well. This top one was done by junior Tryphena Liu, and the 3 bottom ones were made by seniors Justin Currlin, Brian Jin and junior Chareena Eleazar.

These last 3 were done by seniors Julie Chong, Bryant Min and Erin Unson. Before the kids started on these I went thru the placement of the facial features to better acquaint them with the human head, both profile as well as frontal. The students were fairly intimidated by the assignment but ended up having a lot of fun with it once they got going.

Solar Printed Cards - Student Work

These sweet little cards were made by my Beginning 3-d class as their end of the year final last school year. I gave them each a piece of photo sensitive fabric that they laid out their design onto and then exposed the fabric to the sun. Wherever their design touched stayed white but the rest that was exposed turned a lovely shade of blue. Then I asked them to cut the fabric into strips and use it as weft to weave onto a thick piece of white board that they had warped with multi-colored sewing string. Then they mounted that into a card format. They results were all very unique and the kids really enjoyed the assignment. The shots above and below were the work of senior Ashley Chang. She also brought in some very cool embellishing with pearle cottons and some stamping with pencil eraser heads. I also like what she did with the inside.

Another piece that was really fun belonged to senior Kevin Ni (below). He also embellished with some stamping, and with a few of his polymer clay beads that he had made earlier in the year. It was my first time to use solar fabric in this card assignment, usually we sew it into pillows, so it was a nice change for me.

Color Embosssments - Student Art

This grouping is the work of last school years Beginning 2-d class, and part of a printmaking unit I do with them at the end of the year. They start with a dense piece of cardboard (above left) that they glue shapes, lines and textures to. They are able to choose their own subject matter and may work realistically, abstract or non-objectively. I give them a nice piece of printmaking paper and off they go to the printing press after the glue has dryed on their printing plate. Because it's the end of the year they are familiar with many types of color media so they are able to choose whichever one they want to use to color the piece in with when it comes off the press. The plate and the finished piece above belongs to senior Sarah Lee. Sarah used watercolor, jute and shells to embellish her piece with.

One of my favorite students from last year, junior Shirley Sun, did the impressive Elvis' above. I'm pretty sure she used oil pastels to color her pieces with. What's really amazing is that she was able to do 4 of them in the time it took the others to just get one done. Way to go woman!! And look at senior Sonya Liu's beauty below. She watercolored hers in as well as added the wire. Great touch Sonya!

And junior Michael Jo made this beautiful thank you piece which he collaged and pasteled, added the yarn bow, and then mounted on top of some painted paper. What a sweet piece Michael, and thank you for making it for me. :) What a lovely gift. Below, senior Alan Tsim did the Asian inspired work. I'm pretty sure he colored it with pastels.

And we end with a very strong design by junior Paul Kim. I believe he used oil pastels in his work. Great job to all of you!

Lidded Containers - Student Work

These containers were handbuilt by my 2nd year Ceramics students last school year using a slab/pinch/paddle technique that's really fun to build with. They were supposed to also incorporate texture and have a tight fitting lid, with knobs and handles so it could be really functional. The results were wonderful. The fabulous piece above was built by senior Steven Ebalobar.

Senior Ekta Doshi's piece was so varied I had to take 3 different shots so you could truly appreciate all that she did with this assignment. What a creative designer she is! Both kids used a staining technique to finish off their pieces. Steven stained with red iron oxide and Ekta dipped her whole piece in our black glaze, left it alone on the inside , but wiped it off on the outside, so that her piece has a slight sheen to it, plus the glaze remained in all the crevices to highlight her details.

Burnished Whistles - Student Work

These closed pinch forms were so challenging because the kids had to make their pieces whistle. I think all of them were able to do it after much coaching from me as well as each other. But sadly there are always a few who can't make it happen. There are so many new techniques learned in this assignment, it's about working in a non-objective subject matter, putting 2 pinch bowls together and then paddling out a pleasing form, as well as getting it to whistle. As the clay become leather hard and bone dry, the kids rub the forms with a stone or spoon until they have a high gloss finish which is the burnishing process. Then they are bisqued and put into a sawdust firing where the carbon gets into the clay surface and leaves cool markings. After coming out of this firing they wash off the ashes and rub the surface with metallic compounds, creating highly interesting surfaces. See the close-up below that was made by senior Esther Lee. The 3 above were made by seniors Vanessa Mansilla, Nicholas Fernando and Eugene Kim, all graduates of 2010.

Watercolor/Charcoal from Students in 2010

Look at my Beginning 2-d Art kids go last year. They had just completed a watercolor and a charcoal/shading unit and in these sweet little pieces I asked them to combine the 2 media in whatever order they wanted. In other of words, do they watercolor first and then add the charcoal when the water was dry or visa versa. I think many of them watercolored first. They were able to choose whatever subject they wanted. The really wonderful piece above was made by junior Paul Kim and below him was senior Alan Tsim in an equally sensitive work.

The gorgeous landscape above was done by senior Jeremy Chung and the woman below was created by senior Brain Choi.

And I love the timely message that senior Heather Shim is trying to convey in her piece above, and then look at the spontaneous, lovely and sensitive stylings of junior Kevin Aquilo below.

Eighth grader Heather Warner liked the unit so much that she did hers at home cuz she didn't want to wait for the next day to get going on it. I think Heather's dad may have said something to the effect that he wished she put this kind of energy into her other homework LOL. Then we end with junior Michael Jo's work which I felt was sooo cool. Love the text he brought into his negative space background. I am so proud of all of you!

Slab Shrines - Student Work

I haven't shown any ceramics in a while so my new Period 5 clay class, these are for YOU, especially you Chareena :). These were made last school year by my Ceramics II students. The project was used as a slab review assignment with a bit of sculpture thrown in. I saw something similar in a gallery on Maui and thought they would be a pretty cool assignment. The kids got really creative and did some of their best work ever. This one belongs to senior Steven Ebalobor and it's so expressive and beautifully glazed. The close up shows off the heart he placed inside his shrine area.

The piece above was built by senior Ekta Doshi, who happened to stop by and say hello the other day. Such a talented designer. This photo doesn't do the piece justice, because it doesn't show off the glaze detail, but fortunately you can see some of it in the close up below. You can also see what she put inside her shrine. Fantastic work both of you!

Self-Portraits - Student Work

Before I let my 2nd year 2-d class begin their self-portraits, I give them a warm-up exercise first. I have them tape a piece of newsprint onto the damp-room glass doors, look at their reflection and quickly draw themselves in charcoal. Since they only have less than an hour to get this done, the finished piece is usually spontaneous and sometimes quirky, and they don't feel so intimidated anymore. They know drawing themselves is doable. The top one belongs to senior Anne Guu, and the 2 below were done by seniors Sam Chon and Esther Lee.

Now here are the finished products. These pieces were done as the end of the year final by my Intermediate 2-d class.They were to do themselves in whatever 2-d media they felt most comfortable in. They could work from a mirror or a recent pix. The results were incredibly varied and I was extremely pleased. Especially with this first one done by senior Esther Lee. She brought in a piece of plywood and if I remember correctly, she wood burned on it, collaged it, painted it, plus probably more. It was definitely her strongest work of the year and I was so thrilled for her. You can really see all the various media in the close-up.

This next piece was done by senior Ashley Chang. She chose pointillism over top watercolor. She worked on a large piece of mat board that she then ripped the edges as well as pierced holes in. I'm not sure but I think she may also have brought in some stitching around the edges of the holes. Below is a close-up so you can see her attention to detail and range of value within the pointillism.

Senior Brandon Liao (above) came up with a highly unique idea that I've never seen used for self-portrait here, and that was to cut he and his sisters (Andrea & Cynthia) out of paper. Loved how it turned out, and what a beautiful gift for his parents to frame.

Senior Kate Lee used one of her Prom pix to work from and captured both she and her boyfriend in pastel. I love how expressive this piece comes across.

And above senior Marisela Herrarte used both her 2 and 3-d skills in creating this piece. She drew herself in pencil, then pierced her mounting board and warped it with string, and cut up her portrait into strips and wove them across. So clever. I love that!

In the portrait above senior Robert Dohring drew himself in pencil and then watercolored his piece. Love his use of colors. And below, senior Sam Chon, who had just done a remarkable scratchboard piece on the previous assignment, decided he liked this technique, and used it for his self-portrait. He wasn't sure if it was gonna work or not, looks like it came out great to me! Fantastic job seniors.