Happy Thanksgiving

Just snuggling and chillin' for a bit up on the mountain...

and watching the leaves drop

I'll be back on Monday Dec. 2

Halloween at Whitney

So junior Nick Tudor walked into my room on Halloween Day and I asked him why he had on a suit with a horse head on his shoulder.  He said it was an ass's head and that he was supposed to be a politician.

I guess these kids know a bit more about our government then we give them credit for!  LOL 

7th Grade Soap Scrubs - 1st Quarter

Too cute, right??

That's Sami's sweet little piggy, just like her pet pig at home.  This one was everyone's favorite.

Lindsey, Leanna, and Derek all chose this sensory turquoise wool to design with...

and Bryan and Jimena had fun with the multi-colored wool roving.

Here's a couple of pix of the little ones making a soapy mess as they felt their soap scrubs.  By the time they are done the concrete is nice and clean  :)

Java Joe's This Last Saturday Nite

Jim and his band "The Rockits" played last night at Java Joe's in Yorba Linda.  The High Lites from Vegas weren't able to join them, but it was still a great time.

We've got a couple new band members so the song list has changed up with many great new tunes from the 70's like "Groovin" and "Tracks of my Tears".  

Deke from "Deke and The Blazers" is our new lead singer, and he rocked the house.  He also plays Vegas for the duo, Dick and Dee Dee.   And of course Dan was superb on his sax, and Pat played his piano like there was no tomorrow.  Gary is our new drummer, and  is responsible for many of the new song choices the boys are playing.  He comes to us from his own band, Acoustic Conversation.

I'll try to keep you all posted when their next gig is so you can join us.  

Annual Artistic License Art Faire with Michelle Hoffee

This is an art show that I haven't missed since I was in my early 20's.  It's such a great show that I take off the day from work to attend.  My dear friend and fellow fiber artist Lori Lawson of Capistrano Fiber Arts was not there this year, much to my disappointment, but my other favorite was, fiber artist extraordinaire Michelle Hoffee of Living And Dyeing.  I bought several beautiful eco-dyed pieces from her to teach with.  And check out her incredible top she made and is wearing, she won 2nd Place Best in Show at the Annual Wool Festival in Santa Fe, New Mexico this year.  

Congrats Michelle!  

Senior Josh Berger and His Succulent Gardent

On the left side of my Art Room was an awful patch of hard dirt where nothing would grow due to no sprinkler system.  So for years I've eye-balled that area thinking about what to do with it. I asked our principal, Dr. Bus if I do create a succulent garden there and she was thrilled I was doing to do something with that barren patch of earth.  

So I turned the project over to my trusty aid Josh, and gave him a shovel.  He worked that ground and turned the earth over, then I bought bags of mulch and soil correctors that he added in and mixed with existing dirt. 

Now he's created a rich patch to plant in, along with a couple of aesthetically pleasing mounds...

with a lovely recycled bird bath I found.

I brought down several pieces of granite and wood from the forest around our cabin and Josh arranged those in a really pleasing design around and thru the mounds.

Now the planting has begun, again, Josh is handling it all, this has become his baby.

He guards over it like a hawk when our little 7th and 8th graders want to cut thru and step in it.  We tried putting up caution tape for a while to retrain them.  So far it's working fairly well, but there is always an occasional noob sauce who dares to venture thru.  Little do they know that Josh is lurking in the shadows ready to pounce.  :)

This garden is really starting to thrive and flourish under Josh's loving care.  He's even put in a few bulbs that are up and blooming.  Cant' wait to see what it looks like in the springtime.  I'll keep you updated.

Check Out Our New Ride...

with Sophie Jean at the helm  LOL

This our our new and greatly used 1991 Jeep Wrangler with 4 wheel drive for the snow.  Jim hasn't taught me yet how to 4 wheel, but I'm looking forward to it.  Not so happy about having to learn how to put chains on :(  No heater or air, no radio or music system, only plastic zip up windows, lots of rust and wear, but we are loving it.   Sophie too :) 

Two Point Simplified Cities - Student Work

And now you can see these same two gals working out the same problem but in 2 pt.

Jasmine above and Anne below.

One Point Simplified Cities - Student Work

Just a quick look at an exercise in our 1 Pt. Perspective unit.  After senior Anne Allan drew hers in pencil, she went over her lines in felt tip for a really graphic look. 

And senior Jasmine Zhao takes us thru a fun stroll down her city walk.

Not too shabby for a quick one day assignment  :)

Oh Boy!

After taking a good portion of my artwork from my home/studio (above) up to... 

The Trinket Trader in Crestline for display and sale (below), I'm so thrilled to report that my work is selling.  In my first month there I made almost $300, so my fingers are crossed as we head into the Holidays and the buying season.  So now it looks like I have a new challenge, keeping my shelves stocked.  Whoohoo

Can I do it???  We'll see.  In the meantime, I've got some beautiful new things going up this weekend, so drop in.

Meet My Beginning 2-D Students

Yeap, beginners.  Incredible right??  I have been blessed again this year with 28 impressive Beginning 2-D kids.  So many of them are coming to me with skills they've developed on their own, a few thru outside art classes.  And several are doing this for the first time and just soaring  :)

This assignment is called Color Theory, and the kids draw a design to accommodate the Color Wheel, Monochromatic, Analogous, Value and Complimentary  Scales.  Then they learn how to mix their colors with Tempera, and paint everything in.  After paint has dried they go black in with a Sharpie and outline all shapes and also bring in textual marks.  As you will see I'm working with kids that have amazing critical thinking skills to come up with these designs.

The top most piece is the work of junior Zoe Lin, one of my most talented new-comers this year.  And below is senior Jackie Manipon, another gifted student.

Then there is super-star sophomore Elias Rodriguez, who took 3 papers to build his incredible design.  Here are close-ups of each section.  Enjoy!

 Elias had to put in 3 times the amount of effort the other kids did, and boy, oh boy , did it pay off.  Elias is known for his dark subject matters and for his attention to details.  I'm hoping by the time he's a senior he will get a full ride scholarship to an art school of his choosing.   He is definitely on his way. 

Another newcomer is senior Erin Sun.  I think she is surprising herself by how well she is doing.  She is one of our school leaders in our Student Council and she has a ton on her plate.  So thank you Erin for pushing yourself and giving me this kind of effort!

Next we have another newbie, junior Michael Cantu with a beautiful piece.  So well developed and thought out.  I sure hope he decides to come back to me next year with these kind of skills going on!

And then there is junior Nathan Chong, who shared with me that he has been doodling and drawing since about 3 years old.  His parents have encouraged him to draw, so that his design and drawing skills are highly developed.  Can't wait to take him through my drawing unit!

And this gorgeous piece belongs to junior Smruthi Maganti who I worked with briefly 5 years ago in the wheel class.  So glad you are back sweet girl!

And lastly I want to show off the work of senior Catherine Chiou.  I love that she has brought a sense of fantasy into her design, along the lines of famous master artist Marc Chagall.  

What gets me every year is where have these talented kids been, how come they haven't taken more art till their junior or senior year.  What a shame!   Oh well, at least maybe the juniors will be back.

1st Quarter 7th Grader's Graphite S[pheres

One of my favorite things about 7th graders is the joy and exuberance they bring to their art work, like Andrew Son above.  One can tell just by looking at his piece that here is one happy camper.  Not afraid to draw all his favorite interests, filling the paper up, and bringing in lots of color.  He hasn't lost his childhood innocence.  What a fun piece Andrew!

Next we have Maneesh Budda (who has had some previous art lessons) showing a bit more sophistication and knowledge of perspective, yet he manages to toss in his interest of tennis down below.  The hardest thing to do for the 7th graders in this assignment is to blend out the transition areas between each value.

And lastly we have Lindsey Chong giving us a really cool border around her drawing, showing off her love of stars.

So sweet!

Eco-Bundled Scarf - My Work

My new favorite eco-printed piece on wool...

with rose petals and leaves, and a few stray chrysanthemum petals.

Dyeing with Rust

For over a year now I've made it my mission to collect anything rusty so that I could share rust dyeing with my 3-d students.  This was our first attempt and I think the fabrics came out wonderfully.

Rusty nails, bottle caps, railroad ties, you name it, anything I can find on my walks and at garage sales.  Got these results with Rit Dyes, safe to use with young ones.

Rebecca Tjahja and Kaili Hamada (above)

Vinisha Kothari and Jasmine Lim (below)

Rebecca Tjahja

Cassidy Chansirik and Annie Lin