My Newest Find - Colors Yarn Shop

Colors is by far one of my favorite yarn shops to date.  Alumni Breeana Johng turned me onto it because it's right down the street from her college (Scripp's) in downtown Claremont.  It's only been there a little over a year, and it is bright and fun with lots of great yarns and fiber related gifts.  It's magical!

And I highly recommend it if you haven't had a chance to check it out yet.  Not only do they offer knitting classes but they also teach hand spinning and dyeing, with lots of special events on the weekends.

What I especially loved was this yarn painting that someone made for the store.  I used to teach yarn painting in the 80's, looks like it might be coming back.  Only instead of using the nasty acrylic yarns this one was full of hand dyed and hand-spuns, lovely!

Sooooooooo, crafty 3-D students of mine, for 10 whopping points of EXTRA CREDIT, find someone who drives to take you up, and visit Breeana while you are there.  And enjoy the sights in the Claremont Village, so many great places to eat and shop while you are there.  Also, an incredible Chinese antique store kaddy-corner across the street from Colors.   It has amazing pieces of handmade furniture to die for.

Look for Part II under Part I of the Metal Jewely Unit :)

Metal Jewelry Unit - Part I

Every year I do a unit with my Intermediate 3-D kids to introduce them to metal jewelry and what you can do with copper, brass and a small bit of silver.  Techniques that are covered are stamping/embossing, cutting, acid etching, various patinas, setting eyelets, drilling holes, annealing, and a few other cool things.  Then I have the kids make 6 pieces in which they show me they've tried them all.

Above and below are the pieces that were done by senior Noel Kim.  You can see all the creative ways...

she thought up to design her pieces with.

These next six above are the work of senior Ingrid Huang, and as you can see in the two pix below she also came up with some really cool ideas.

This next one above was done by senior Andrea De Leon.  Love how she heated up the ends of the copper wires until they melted and formed balls on the ends.

This next group of six was the hard work of junior Nida Fatima.  Just look at her go with all these crazy, wonderful designs!  And i really like how she turned many of them into key chains.

A few close-ups.

And the ones in this last series are the incredible work that is senior Elsie Aguilar.  She went all out on her samples, dedicating her metal book to her older sister Heide.

And her stamped mica pieces to her mom and dad.

And my favorite, her feather below.

Metal Jewelry - Part Two

Senior Johanna Paz made her six into clever dangle earrings.

And junior Rita Labib created this gorgeous ring above and below. 

Also by Rita, yes good old Rita  LOL, this fabulous neckpiece.  She can't help it, she's just a super star  :)

Close-ups

And now we have junior Kevin Tang, no slouch either in the design department, with this cool necklace. 

Rings by Kevin too.

And more, yes, more.  Earrings by Kevin as well!  Ya think he enjoyed this unit or what??  :)

This incredible leaf is the work of one of my favorite students, junior Joyce Le.  The patina that she was able to achieve with the torch is exquisite.  

And below another extremely wonderful design by senior Erica Roderos.  She used a sawdust/vinegar patina on this work.  Pretty cool, huh?  :)

Baby Uggs - My Work

Just had to share the little booties I made for the newest baby in my life.  My step-daughter Julie's best friend, Oana, had her first little one 2 months ago, so I wanted to make her something special.  I bought the leather ugg forms at my local Michael's, then I used some of my hand spun yarn to knit the cuffs and sewed them in.  I can't wait to see them on Alesia, just wish the weather would cool down so she can wear them before she outgrows them.  LOL

Happy Birthday Dad!!!

Sorry I'm a day late Vinny, had to get back to school to my computer to get to my file of pix.  But there is no excuse for your number #1 son not calling yesterday.  He remembered as we were headed to bed and of course, in Florida time, you guys were fast asleep.  Hope your day was wonderful, and that you, Bette and Rocco are doing well.  With much love, your favorite :)  Deb 

Seniors of 2012...

I heard you guys are anxiously awaiting my Senior Tribute.  It's coming, it's coming, be patient.  :)  Give me another week or so.  I'm working on it.  I'm also missing you all, but it sure has been fun this summer following you on FB.  I'll always feel connected.  Thank you mama Priya for forcing me to make a FB page, I will forever be in your debt  LOL

Just look at these 3 beauties, can't wait till you come visit so I can give youall a great big hug! 

Lorena Morales, Leticia Alvarez and Shavonna Walker

My Second Gallery Showing

I'm very proud to share with all of you that my work was accepted into the National Art/Media Teacher Appreciation Show this last April 2012 at the Art Institute of California at Los Angeles.  There were 13 teachers whose work was put on display and I was so honored to be a part of the show.  Thank you Mr. Z for turning me onto this exhibit in the first place.

I entered my mosaic ball that I call "The Long and Winding Road", and the Art Institiute build the most gorgeous display case for it to sit in.  This is what you saw when you walked thru the front doors, my ball  :) which took me a year to design and create.

I was absoletly thrilled with the display, and Jim got some really great pix.

Finishing Touches...

on the 2011-2012 school year.  

Don't know why this missed getting posted in June with the other Solar Printed Pillows, but  it really needs to be shared.  I'm pretty darn sure it belongs to junior Niki Shah, who always creates incredible pieces.  We've seen a lot of her art work over this past year , and she's back again this year for more.  :)

One Last Coil Pot - Worth the Wait

Just look at this big beauty by senior Michael Marin.  I believe this was his extra credit coil pot, and it was magnificent!  About 3 feet tall and a good foot wide, it was by far the largest ever produced in my Ceramic I classes.  And love how he finished it off, the stain technique on the outside with glaze dip/splatter, and our gorgeous turquoise glaze on the rim and inside as well.  

Bravo Michael!!

Gone Antiquing

My newest addition to my studio is this wonderful old hardware store nail holder chest.  Jim and I where antiquing in Costa Mesa right off the 55 Freeway and found so many great stores to go thru.  But I hit the lotto with this piece. 

There were no drawer pulls on it, but inside one of the drawers were a couple of old pulls that we used to restore it with, but mostly I just searched around my studio and came up with some crocheted fruits and veggies, polymer beads and buttons, and embroidered felted balls. The flower drawer pull above came off my daughters book case when she was a small girl, I saved it cuz I couldn't bear to part with it, and now it has a new home.

It's funny how one of the drawers is yellow, I'll have to put something special inside that drawer.  I really like the cracked patina of the old paint.  So how much did I pay for it, you wonder?  It was $128 but the owner of the shop let me have it for $99.  A sweet deal  :)

Stitch Paper Quilts - Student Work

Stitch Paper Quilting is a technique brought to my attention by textile artist Kelli Nina Perkins in her book Stitch Alchemy.  This is the 3rd year that my Advanced 3-D students have used her cool techniques.  Kelli's technique involves a bit of time and hard work but the payoff is huge as you can see here.

Senior Nandi Best created this outstanding piece using a warm and cool color scheme.

Look closely at all her detail from stitching to stamping.  I taught the kids how to Free Motion quilt for this assignment so they could incorporate it into the design.  

Another spectacular piece was this one by senior Kelsea Lee.  When my daughter visited at Open House she feel in love with it, so I bought it for her and it hangs now in our home.  But I'm pretty sure it will be leaving next week for Cal Poly Pomona to hang in Danielle's dorm room.  :)  Enjoy sweetheart.

What I loved about Kelsea's piece was all the different kinds of paper she incorporated into her collage colorways, as well as the cheesecloth she laid in the foreground.  Terrific work ladies.  I will miss you and your artwork this year.