Wheel Thrown Clay Mugs - Student Work

In 2nd Semester Ceramics II, the kids are required to learn how to throw on the potter's wheel.  I start then off with cylinder froms then we move on to "S" curves in mugs and vases.  In the mug assignment they are required to throw 2 mugs, each a different form with a handbuilt handle, and the other a pulled handle.

These 2 mugs belong to senior Rita Labib.  She wasn't very happy with them because they ended up out of round, but because of the playful handles she has attached, I feel like they work in a whimsical sort of way.  She was going to throw away the top one and I said hey, wait a sec, let me take it home and plant it for you. when I brought it back she feel in love with it  :).  

This next mug below was made by senior Eddie Ponce.  He was really happy with the outcome of this piece, and so was I.

A Sweet Grouping!

Peacock in Town

For the past couple of months at our home we have been hearing the most bazaar bird call.  Well, this weekend we were able to get a pix of the culprit.  It's a full grown peacock living caddy-corner from our complex.  It showed itself while we where out walking Sunday morning.  Luckily my son-in-law Mike had his phone with him so he was able to get it's picture.  Too bad the bird wasn't spreading is tail feathers.  I wonder where this bird came from and who's feeding it.  I've got to find out so maybe I can recycle some of it's feathers.

Another New Feature

Senior Rachel Rilloraza back in the day, 2009

Oh boy, I'm on a roll.  Junior Josh Berger is a dang good teacher, and today I added another portion to my header called EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITIES.  So Whitney art students, check it out and pick up some much needed extra credit points before the year ends.

Felted Balls - Student Work

These sweet hand felted, hand stitched and embellished balls were made by my Beginning 3-D kids in the early spring.  And every year they just keep getting better and better in terms of creativity.  All the students started off with white wool roving and used recycled bits of colored roving for interest.  Then they had to manipulate the felt while it was wet into any other form except a ball.  After it's dry they bring in their stitching and embellishments.  It's always so much fun to see what the kids come up with.

One of my favorites this year was the delicate one above done by senior Celine Phong.  What a beauty it is!

Next we have this super sweet heart below by senior Priyanka Shah.  Notice the twisted wire that she's brought into the work.

Love the colors above that senior Ruthwick Pathireddy has put together, and the one below by senior Leah Huang is adorable.

Another favorite is this bull by junior Beah Tolentino, and the lovely dice below is the clever work of sophomore Reis Misaka.

The adorable dog was done by senior Alison Lee.  Love, love, love how she wrapped wire around his sweet face to form the ears.  And 8th grader Lauren Kennedy came up with the colorful piece below.

Senior Fernando Jacinto created this clever house form, and the sweet little alien below was done by 8th grader Jacqueline Yu.

And last but never least is superstar sophomore Laarnie Barcelon.  She turned her felt ball into a mouse, and strung it with it's cheese.  Oh yeah!   Like i said, they just keep getting better!

So the fiber arts are alive and well here at Whitney High School!

A New Feature - ARTIST OF THE MONTH

As I continue to tweak my blog and update the look of it, I'm going to be slowly adding some new features.  I want to start with a teaching tool for my students called 'Featured Artist of the Month'.  As a teacher I'm always on the lookout for new inspiration whether it be from workshops I take, artists I meet, blogs I find, and I really enjoy sharing these new finds with my art students.  So I've decided to put in this new page for all to enjoy.

Currently I'm enrolled in the most wonderful online stitching class with Jude Hill that includes talented fiber artists from around the globe.  Many of the artists in the class have blogs, so I've been doing a lot of exploring within their sites.  As a result, I've found many artist's works that I want to share with my 3-D art classes.

I've taught my 3-D kids to work in most all the fiber arts; stitching, felting, dyeing, spinning, weaving, and quilting, and to really appreciate the time involved in their creation.  We just recently finished units in quiltmaking, both liberated and folk art, so I thought the perfect artist to start with is Kristin Shields from Oregon.

So click above on 'Featured Artist of the Month' and enjoy.

It Grows!

In my post from May 4th I blogged about my birthday with my son Zach and showed you the little plot of land we worked.  What I didn't show you were the strange bulbs I planted for Zach that have now grown to at least 2 feet in height.  I think I planted 3 of them but this is the one that's come up.  So unusual, like nothing I've ever seen.  Can't wait to see it's flower.  

On 5/4, I also mentioned that Zach has a mini greenhouse where he grows orchids.  Well look at what just flowered the other day!  My son has a green thumb like his grandma.  :)

Who knew you'd grow up to be a plant scientist.  I'm so proud of you Zach. xoxoxox

Slab Wraps - Student Work

It's always so much fun to see what the kids can come up with in one class period when they are told it's a quiz.  These are functional, thump and dragged vase forms, highly textural and organic.  And the best part is you don't know what you will end up with.  Very hard to control the outcome.

This is the front and side view of senior Kevin Luong.  Love the patterned tabs he put over top the seam.

Here is the construction method.  The students start with a very thick slab of clay.  They take all kinds of stamps and tools and make marks all over the top of slab.  then they take the thick slabs outside to the concrete and use the thump and drag technique to stretch them out like seniors Binny Singh and David Awada are doing above.

Then they fold them over top a rolling pin and walk them inside the classroom to blow dry so they will hold the folded shape as senior Philip Hwang is doing below.  And yes, for those of you who grew up in the 70's, that is the original Maxi blow dryer from my youth, the first blow dryer on the market.  In the late 60's my mom used to make me put my head/hair on the ironing board and she would iron it straight.  Thank God for the invention of the blow dryer.  Probably should take it to Pawn Stars in Vegas and get $50  for it.   LOL  Since we do this assignment in one class period with 32 kids, I have about 5 blow dryers going the whole period.

Below are senior Nikki Shah and junors Aditi Ramesh and Shamara Mustafa waiting in line for a blow dryer.

Love the look of senior David Awada's piece, it reminds me so much of an ancient tree trunk.  Also really like how he finished it off with oxide staining and glazes. 

This is Binny's finished piece.  Notice the front of each piece has a seam where the kids overlapped the edges.  Also notice that both Binny and David used the same xox stamp to embellish with.  Both boys put glaze inside their vases so they will hold water.

This next one is Philip's finished in rutile oxide stain with no glaze in the inside.  So this piece is purely for sculpture.  

This next work was done by senior Lilith Huang.  Both hers and the piece below by senior Sandra Osuji have wonderful stamped clay balls along the seam edge to add interest to the pieces.  Also, Sandra's piece  was first stained with red iron oxide then dipped into our turquoise glaze for a really lovely finish.

Enjoying My Dye Garden at Home - My Work

Even though the Eco-Dye unit is over with my students, I still find myself completely enthralled with the possibilities and continue to collect flowers and leaves, much to my husband's dismay (since they are every surface drying out  LOL)

Anyways, my most recent experiment was with geranium petals and birch leaves and twigs.  I also threw in some sunflower petals I'd been saving.  Oh, and a few weeds I pulled from my garden (they had reddish roots which had a promise of color) 

So I bundled it all together and put it in a copper pot with a bit of vinegar water and let it sit out in the elements for about a month (yes, it was really hard to wait that long :)

The front side.

I was super pleased with the results when I opened it up, but now I'm so scared to wash it.  Don't know if the great color will hold.  Any suggestions?  

The red geraniums turned a wonderful purple, and the birch a rich earthy green.  The sunflowers petals and weeds didn't do a heck of a lot, but there is evidence here and there.

The back side.

My favorite part is on the back left shoulder where the birch mingles with the geraniums for a great elongated pattern. 

  Wish me luck on the laundering! 

My Daughter Knits

For the past two years my daughter Danielle has gotten back into knitting.  I taught her and her best friend to knit when they were 8ish, but it never really stuck.  But two years ago when Dan got out her wisdom teeth and had to lay low for a couple days, she expressed and interest to start up again.  Oh yeah!!  :)

So off we went to the yarn store, and she has been knitting her brains out ever since.  so much so that she has sold a few of her hats and scarfs at a local gallery in Yorba Linda called the Drawing Board.

As you can imagine I'm over the moon with happiness that she has gotten bitten by the fiber bug.  Now she enjoys going with me to knit stores.  LOL

The hat above was knit by Dani recently for her boyfriend's mother's baby shower.  You can believe it was a big hit at the party!

Joshua Berger - Computer Whiz Kid

Many thanks go out to junior Josh Berger, one of my talented Intermediate 3-D Art students.  Because of his patience and knowledge, he is helping me to give my blog a much needed new look.  So bare with us as we keep making a few more adjustments.

And Josh, you are the best!  You are teaching your old teacher many new tricks.  Thank You!!!

xoxoxox

33rd Annual Open House Art Show 2013

Been so excited to share my art room with all of you.  We had close to a thousand pieces of student art up in the room.  And know that this is a juried show.  Only the best work was saved to put on display.  So it was quite an event!  Here is senior Eddie Ponce' from my Ceramics II class showing off his nude figure sculpture he made from clay coils.

For those of you who have never seen my room in it's entirety,  it's fairly large.  I'm pretty sure I have the largest classroom in the school.  :)

So I tried to take a couple of shots to show it all.

In the pix below I have a large refrigeration unit where we store all the clay as well as student clay projects.   

Putting up the walls is an assignment for my Intermediate and Advanced 2-D students.  I lottery off the walls and then lay out all the work I've saved for the show, and the kids pick pieces they think will work visually on their wall.  Junior Megan Yeu from the Intermediate class has painted her backdrop and now is in the process of hanging her wall.

As is junior Michaela Platt below.

Here are their finished walls.  Spectacular!!

Next we have senior Kevin Tang who has taken 5 different art classes with me since the 7th grade, and who is one of my all time favorite people, with a heart of gold.  He put up both corner walls as a favor to me since I didn't have enough students this year to get this accomplished.

The two walls below were hung by seniors Halah Elsahhar on the left and Belinda Wu on the right.  Everyone started off with a black wall and were free to paint a backdrop or not.  Belinda's really looked like wood grain.

Another senior, Laura Kadi, my only Advanced 2-D Art student this year, had the hardest corner to deal with because of the cabinet.  But she did an amazing job with it.

Then over the sinks, senior Julia Faith Chanco's very first machine stitched quilt was displayed for all to enjoy.  

What a wonderful Open House thanks to all my students whose beautiful pieces graced the walls and tabletops, but an even bigger thanks to my students who hung the walls and made the room flow together so well.  BRAVO!!

I also want to send a shout out with huge thanks to my art assistant, Alyssa Olea who comes to help out for several hours two days a week.  I could do none of this without her help.

Love you big time Alyssa!!