4th Quarter Final -Student Work

Check out these pieces from my 2 top 3-D kids.  They had to research new cold connection techniques in copper and brass from several books I brought in, and then pick 2 techniques to put together in one original work. 

This first piece is by senior Kelsea Lee.  She has actually put together more then 2 techniques, she is hammering the metal, weaving with wire and thin copper strips, embossing, and putting a patina on the metal.  Below is a close up of the tiny seed beads she strung before she started to weave.

The other student, senior Nandi Best, so loved this assignment that she came in every snack and lunch period, so that she could make several pieces.  She started off with these gorgeous pair of earrings for her grandmother.  The patina she is putting on the metal is from an ammonia dip.  And the balls she got at the end of the wire came from using a propane torch and melting the wire until it formed a bead at the end.

In this next work, a too dye for piece, she built a book with etched and patina-ed copper sheets.

I really like how she used many different kinds of paper and deckled the edges.  She also put on a layer of both gloss and matt medium to seal the patina on the metal.

And in her last piece she wove paper with copper strips, did some embellishment on top and around the edges, used several fun papers, and turned this into another book.

Really like the feather she put on top, you wouldn't expect it in a work like this, but it really softens the piece.

Nature Planters - Student Work

These are the ceramics planters that belong to my Ceramics I students.  They completed them for their 4th Quarter Final. On the day of the final they were able to pick either a shade or sun plant, and then learned how to pot their plant, and care for it.  Here's hoping they are still alive!

I'm crazy about this first one and the glaze application that sophomore Aman Patel used on his planter.  So cool!

And below we have this lovely, delicate looking planter by sophomore Ann Munoz.  I really like the thin edges and how she pulled them inward to create a lot of movement around the rim.  And when that sweet little dianthus grows larger, it's going look so good.

One of my favorites was this one above by senior Lorena Morales.  She used a combination of rutile oxide stain with turquoise glaze for a fabulous look.  And boy oh boy is that petunia going to love it's new home.

Below junior Stella Park also used both oxide and glaze to finish hers off with.  And the stain really shows off all her fun textural details.

And in this last one senior Andy Hwang picked the perfect plant with it's foliage to go with the leaf prints in his clay work  Nice job all of you!

Mosaic Tile Boxes - Student Work

I'm so excited to share these remarkable boxes.  They were made by my Intermediate 3-D students, and these poor kids had to jump thru lots of hoops on the design requirements.  But I think after they were done they appreciated all the hard work, because their results were spectacular.  

I was inspired by Laurie Mika's work and book "Mixed Media Mosaics".  She's a local So. Cal. mixed media artist.  I buy the little wooden boxes in several shapes and then the students go to town embellishing the tops with glass shards, beads, soldered pieces they make, text, fused glass they've made, and the Laurie Mika tiles they make from polymer clay.  I also ask them to limit their color palette and work to a theme.  These are the astounding results.

This first one I fell in love with as senior Ingrid Huang was making it.  Extremely eye-catching design with a lot of movement and rhythm,

and then when you open the lid, more wonderful visuals.

This stunning star box was created by senior Borah Lim,

and this striking triangular footed box was made by junior Rita Labib.  Yes, we saw her sawdust fired coil pot yesterday because Rita had 2 classes with me this last year.

This next one was another favorite by junior Joyce Le.  She has done so many creative details on this work , and she's found so many unusual beads, hardware findings and charms to incorporate into her design.  A brilliant piece Joyce!  Take a close look.

The side view is just as exciting as the top.

This next very creative piece belongs to9th grader Karisma Dev.  Love how she formed the wire pieces over top her soldered drawing.  Highly unique. 

The inside below.

And then there is this heavenly piece by junior Kevin Tang.  Kevin used his faith as inspiration, with several lovely design details on the inside.   

My students look forward to this project every year since we started doing it about 3 or 4 years ago.  It was a pleasure to show off their designs and hard work.

Coil Pots- Native American Style

I haven't done this assignment since the late 80's with my Ceramics I kids, but I brought it back this year, and  so glad I did.  The kids enjoyed the project and we had many really nice results.  Years ago I made a full class set (over 35) of these fairly small clay pinch pot bowls in various sizes called pokies (not sure of the spelling anymore).  So each child picks one that looks the most interesting to them and builds their coil pot inside it.   They use the pokie as a support, and as they build upward they use it as a wheel head to turn their work as they go.  It's like a potter's wheel head or a banding wheel.  When I made these pokies, I bisqued then sawdust fired them so that the clay will pop out when they are done with their pot.

This top pot was one of my favorites and was made by sophomore Ann Munoz.  I love the metallic compounds that she rubbed over the sawdust fired finish, and of course the stitching along the top edge.  

As the students were building their pots I asked them to be thinking about what they wanted to embellish with at a later date.  So, did they need to poke holes in the walls to dangle things from, or to weave fibers thru?

These next 2 above were done by seniors Alice Cho and Priya Shah.  See how Priya punctured holes around her rim but then she didn't use them to dangle anything from, instead they work as surface design.  She definitely took the easy way out, but guess what, it works  :)

Below senior Michael Marin alternated buttons and beads for a really good look along the side of his pot.  And look also at the beautiful sawdust markings on the pot.  Lovely.  You never know what you are going to get when you sawdust, but usually it's always a nice surprise.

Once again, this assignment was done during the end of the school year so they had to scavenge thru the trinkets left in the classroom, or bring in their own.  I feel the kids came up with some very creative solutions.

I bisque and sawdust fired their pots then they had a choice as to their finish.  They could brush on watered down glue to seal them and give them a slight sheen, or they could rub them with metallic finishes.  But they all had to embellish.

Above we have seniors Andy Hwang and Sagar Shah.  I was really impressed with the shape Andy was able to achieve in this coil technique.  And I like how Sagar finished his piece off with metallics, stitching and buttons.

Below senior Shavonna Walker did some really cool embellishing with waxed linen, braiding and beads.

Junior Fernando Jacinto went all out on his bowl above.  Great use of color, and other findings from my goodie boxes.  I also really like the uneven edge treatment.  It makes the piece look more organic.  Great job Fernie!  

Another favorite of mine was completed by sophomore Tahnee Thantrong below.   Tahnee is a fabulous designer and I'm really looking forward to working with her again next year.  Notice how she necked the shoulder area in and squared it off?  And then added those sweet handles?  With the perfect embellishment? Brilliant!!!

And look at this beauty by senior Lorena Morales.  Love the incised decoration inside, and then how cool the sawdust finish looks as well.

Senior Michelle Lee is next with this fun feather piece, a bit of wire, waxed linen and beads.

And lastly, this very contemporary looking sculpture by junior Rita Labib.  Rita chose the largest pokie, and instead of doing a typical ending, used some ripping, and manipulating of her rim to get a really gorgeous looking piece.  Rita choose to put her embellishment in before the firings.  She pushed nails right into the clay when it was still plastic for a great look.  

Rita has also inspired me for next school year.   I think I'm going to require the kids to come up with an asymmetrical ending, so that no one ends up with a traditional looking piece.  And look at how lucky she got with the sawdust finish, fabulous markings.

The Annual District Art Show

Every year art teacher Ron Parks from Cerritos High School tryes to get all the high school art teachers in the ABC Unified School District to participate in the Annual Student Art Exhibit.  It used to be a competition between all the high schools, but 2 years ago all the art teachers decided they just wanted it to be just a showcase.

It's housed in the hallways of the District Office every May and runs for usually about a week.  What I love about it is for my students to see what the other high schools are doing in their art departments.   

I especailly loved these super large close up drawings by students at Cerritos High.  The faces were larger then life and very striking and emotive.

It's been a while, but I'm pretty sure these next 2 pieces were also from Cerritos High.  Again monumental scale works of the face, only this time with some surrealistic twists.

This was probably my favorite in the whole show, this abstract portrait above from Artesia High School.  I just adore it. 

These next 2 gorgeous paintings came from the Adult School art students.  What fabulous work they are doing there.

And these last works are from Gahr High School's 3-D students.  I'm so impressed that the teacher has the students soldering recycled materials together into this fun animal sculpture.

She also has them using clear plastic tape to make these body sculptures.

And then recycled cardboard for this ball, wonderful!

And man oh man, I haven't seen yarn coiled baskets since the 80's, but because our budgets are almost non-existent, what a great project to bring on back into the curriculum.  And these are terrific looking.

And a last favorite of mine were these ceramic pots from Cerritos High.  What great looking glaze designs!

Thank you Ron for another year of volunteering to put on this show.  It wouldn't happen without you.