Artrageous - Annual ABC District Art Show

Here are a few highlights from our annual district art show. The high schools that participated were Whitney, Cerritos, Gahr, and Artesia.

Several of our pieces below.

Some of my favorite works in the show were done by the Cerritos High School clay students. I always admire their coil pots.

I also really liked this abstract figure sculpture from Cerritos, as well as this wire sculpture . Unfortunately, I can't remember which school it's from. My guess is Artesia or Gahr.

The deadline for my art students to turn in their EXTRA CREDIT based on visiting the show is this Friday June 3.

The Boys Are Back in Town

Come join the Rockets and possibly the Highlites (if they decide to drive in from Vegas) at Main Street Restaurant TONITE from 7-10 in Yorba Linda, on the corner of Main street and Imperial Hwy in downtown Yorba Linda. Good eats, great music, and singing and dancing to tunes from the 50's, 60's and 70's. So hope to see you all there!

Sighting-Corner of Room - Student Work

Every year as I'm teaching from Dr. Betty Edward's "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" book, I have the kids draw a corner of my room using with their new sighting skills. Betty teaches threw sighting angles and distances rather then doing it mathmatically thru 1 & 2 point perspective. In my beginning drawing class I like to start with Betty's method, then in 2nd year drawing I teach perspective. So the kids learn both. I also encourage the students to alter reality in their corner drawings and these were my 2 favorites this year. The top one belongs to junior Crislyn Ogawa and the one below was done by sophomore Ashley Tang

Really fun pieces girls!

Puck & Mischa - The New Kids on the Block

Meet Puck, he's the sweetest Bulldog ever, and he flew in from New York with Jim's daughter Julie at the beginning of May. He is one of the coolest dogs I've ever met who makes the funniest grunting noises. He makes me smile and fills me with joy every time I see him.

Mischa and Puck are constant companions and are so good with each other, oftentimes sharing the same crate.

And here's adorable, gentle Mischa, the Pug that Jim sent to Julie in New York to keep her from getting homesick when she moved from California to the Big Apple with her husband Mike five years ago. We are so excited because Mike flies in on Memorial Day to join Julie and their dogs. Now all of them will be home with us. Life is good!

Sculptural Slab Vase - Student Art

This sweet little slab vase form was made during 1st semester by 2nd year clay student, senior Chareena Eleazar. Her assignment was to make a slab vase using only two sides rather then four. She was also supposed to alter the form so that it was asymmetrical. And then for surface design she was to incorporate both the new mishima and sgraffito techniques she had just learned from a previous assignment. I say a very sophisticated piece for one so young. :)

Negative Space Ink Drawings - Student Work

The kids from my beginning drawing class did some gorgeous pieces recently in the negative space technique. They picked an image and drew it in silhouette first, then drew a plant from real life over top the silhouette. Then they had a choice between inking in the positive or negative space areas. The results were terrific. Above we have junior Crislyn Ogawa, and below hers is senior Rachel Kim.

Junior Janice Min did this cool piece above, and junior Michelle Lee created the work below.

Here is a close-up of Michelle's intricate work. Amazing children!!

Meet My New 7th Graders

Sorry 1st, 2nd and 3rd quarter 7th grade Art Wheel groups, but I'm really loving this 4th quarter bunch. But that doesn't mean I've forgotten the rest of you :), it just means that I'm very lucky to be ending the year with this group of students. And just like the last 3 quarters many kids are showing me they have crazy good art skills. The first 3 that really stood out were Eric Lee above...

Derrick Nghiem...

and Tina Zuo. So stay tuned to see what other great pieces I will be showcasing from my sweet 7th graders.

Testing-Testing

Oh yeah, I'm back in business! Thanks again Harry for all your help getting this blog functioning again. Melissa from Orange High School right outside of Cleveland, Ohio, these are for you and your students. Melissa's ceramic student found my blog when researching coil pots, and Melissa wanted to know more about how I start the assignment and about our glazes. So I thought I'd show off my itsy bitsy coil pots that I make when I demo the coiling technique to my kids.
The one on the left is only about an inch and a half tall and wide while the one on the right is about 2 1/2" by 2 1/2". Tiny little things that I can whip together in less then an hour. I try to go for spontaneity as I coil with a lot of overlapping areas as well as a bit of stamping, since I don't want the students work to look to rigid. Then I like both oxide finishes like the one on the left as well as glazing on the right. Always a tough choice. Hope your students stay tuned in Melissa for more clay pieces. And Melissa, I finally mailed out the ceramics outline for all levels yesterday. Hope they are of some help.

SO HAPPY TO BE BACK!!!!!!!!

Oh boy, that was scary. I was locked out of my blog for over a week. But thanks to senior Harry Triu (sorry if the spelling is off Harry, I'm at home without my attendance sheet) who I'm sure is responsible for figuring it all out, I'm now able to post again. So look for me to be back by Thursday with some Mother's Day photos. Would blog sooner but I'm away from the computer for the next 2 days.

Thanks again Harry!!!!

7th Grade Collage Boxes

I haven't quite finished showing off my 3rd quarter art wheel kids even though we are in 4th quarter now. These were their collaged boxes with their stamped tissue paper. They had to work to a color scheme and include some text in their lid area. They also had to choose from 7 different patterns they learned to stamp their tissue with. Tomorrow I'll show you what was inside the boxes, so stay tuned. The colorful box above was done by Jane Juan.

Frances Lee and Sneha Krish did the 2 beauties above and Jason Ooi made the cool red and black one below.

Happy Birthday Julie

Meet my new step daughter, Julie Sposa Leeb. Isn't she a beauty?!! We think so :) She and her husband Mike have just moved back here with two pups in tow, from New York City where they have lived and worked for the past 5 years. They will be staying with us in my condo until they find a place. They are interested in the West Hollywood area near the studios where Mike will probably work with his friends until he finds a more permanent job. We are so happy you both are back home, out of N.Y.C. and safe and sound with us. Have a wonderful Birthday, Julie. Love you big time!

Lidded Container - Student Art

Just wanted to show off the work again of senior clay artist Chareena Eleazar. She was required to build a contoured coil pot with a tight fitting lid, added handles and knob. What a sweet piece this is. Senior Andrea Acosta is now the proud owner after Chareena gifted it to her after our Open House display came down. Lucky girl!