HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW?

NATURE PLANTERS

CERAMICS I

clay, glazes, oxides & plants

With silver bells and cockle shells all in a row.

I think that's how that nursery rhythm used to go.  :)

Well,

 we've got rows of planters,

 that's for sure.

In fact,

 the row was so long it had to wrap around the corner.

The young ones worked to a nature theme,

thumping and dragging their clay slabs for added interest and organic purposes.

This project was their 4th Quarter Final,

and on the day we met I brought in soil and plants for them to choose from

after their planters had come out of the glaze firing.

The results were noteworthy as you will see.

This first one belongs to senior Laarnie Barcelon,

and I believe she brought in ceramic watercolors pigments

 as well as nail polish to give it a sparkly appearance.

I'm going to have to take a guess at this one.

I have three.

They are either seniors Ankita Batra or Eduardo Jacinto,

or possibly junior Jamie Kim.

Let me know you guys!!

Senior Payal Morari created this amazing work of art above,

combining all the glaze applications she learned this year.

And seniors Nikita Govind and Poonam Bhakta made these two lovelies,

giving them a red iron oxide stained finish.

This very pretty planter above was done by junior Eryn Burnett,

and below we have the work of super star 8th grader Claire Chung. 

All my 8th graders were delightful this year,

working their hardest to create pleasing pieces like Julia Ruiz and Chloe Chang.

And this last one was a traffic stopper by junior Christina Hur.

Way to end the year Ceramics I,

it was such a pleasure to teach you the art & craft of clay.

SUPER BUSY WEEKEND

I'll be unplugged all weekend,

but should be back by Monday!

WHAT A COOL IDEA!!

A COIL POT SILHOUETTE GUIDE

Is this genius or what?  

I've never seen this tool used before,

but I'm definitely going to try it with my beginners this year.

Thanks Kaili for sharing this with me as you build your first coil pot in Hawaii.

And by the by,

I can't believe your instructor is having you build this large for your first one.

Wow!!!!

Amazing Effort, 

so proud of you!

WHAT'S COOKIN?

A Kaili Hamada update:

PIT FIRING PINCH POTS AT U.H.

After making 14 pinch pots and being allowed to keep 8 of them,

alumni Kaili is participating in her first pit firing with her instructor and clay class.

.

The metal drum is loaded up with combustibles, 

and the pots are buried alive.

Here's Kaili's little cutie she's going to put into the abyss.

More wood is added and

BOOM,

the match is thrown in.

I'm guessing this is Kaili's instructor?

And look at it go!

I let mine burn down for 24 hours.

Actually it burns for about 5 minutes them smolders overnight.

It's usually cool enough to unload mid morning the next day.

I sure wish mine was as big and cool looking as this one!

MY FIRST ARTISTS STUDIO TOUR

This last spring I joined the Lake Arrowhead Mountain Arts Network 

in the San Bernardino Mountains,

and was juried into their Annual Artists Studio Tour :)  :)  :)

I thought I'd share with you the info that goes with this honor.

It's this Saturday and Sunday the 26th & 27th,

from 11:00 a.m. till 5:00 p.m.

I have over 600 works of art on display,

almost all of them for sale.

I'm also selling vintage linens & antiques that I've collected 

over the past two years up on the mountain.

And I'm letting go of unique,

one of a kind pieces 

that I've made over the last 35 years of teaching as demo. pieces for my students.

I'm also offering many works of student and professional art that I've bought to teach with

that I no longer use.

So there are some real deals to be had here.

I've been asked to demonstrate 

so I will also be spinning yarn on my spinning wheel

 for my current piece I'm working on.

I hope you will be able to join me.

MEET THE MASTERS

SELF PORTRAITS

INTERMEDIATE 2-D ART

mixed media

As we reach the end of the school year,

I require my 2nd year kids to end with a Self Portrait.

The medium is up to them,

I recommend the one they are the most comfortable in

(this is not the time to try something new).

They are also allowed to mix their mediums if they want to.

So let's start with the junior Master,

Elias Rodriquez.

He began this very important piece in watercolor

 and bought in an ink wash that created a great border treatment,

for an eerie atmospheric quality.

And my eye is caught on his expression and trying to figure out what it all means.

Really thought provoking piece!

Next is senior Master Nathan Chong.

I feel he's really managed to project attitude in his portrait 

through the use of both watercolor and graphite,

for a very dramatic piece.

And lastly we end with senior Master Michael Cantu.

Michael is known for his landscapes that he tries to incorporate into all his works.

He has perhaps given us his best yet here in this portrait.

And he has so nailed his face.

Super realistic,

something very difficult to do in watercolor.

All these boys are Masters in my eyes,

and I can't wait to see where their skills will take them.

It has been a pleasure to share them and their work with all of you this year!

STILL LIFE

Dried summer flowers in a Nicholas Tudor mug next to my favorite stuffed bear

PERFECT TIMING

Be inspired my crafts kiddos!!

Hey Beginning 3-Ders.

Check out what alumni Kaili Hamada is working on this week.

Same thing as you are.

ALTERED GARMENT CONSTRUCTION

ADVANCED 3-D ART

thrift store finds

Senior Laarnie Barcelon  is at it again,

creating something wonderful with old cast offs.

Her thrift store finds include:

multi-layered short white cotton skirt,

polyester blouse,

my favorite,

this vintage white cotton slip with hand and machine embroidery.

an old cotton night dress,

and a wonderful pair of black leather heels.

The assignment was to deconstruct the old clothes,

 and reassemble them with each other to make a pleasing garment that actually fit.

And to dye, embellish by hand and machine, 

and to make accessory pieces to compliment the outfit.

I wish Laarnie was here to write up what exactly she did.

She was also able to dig around in my donation bin

 and add additional fabrics to the mix.

Her accessories where earrings that she made from different pieces of found jewelry.

I find it very cool that the earrings are completely different 

yet both work together as a set with the outfit.

Congrats Laarnie on a job well done.

BURGER ANYONE?

1 inch by 1 inch

student artist unknown

but made on the 2nd day of Ceramics class 2014,

then glazed in 2015

HERE COMES THE SUN

SOLAR PRINTED PILLOWS

BEGINNING 3-D ART

photo sensitive cloth, perle cottons, beads

This assignment is a class favorite and wraps up the year for my 3-D beginners.

They were a terrific group with positive attitudes and hard work ethics.

They bought joy and happiness everyday when they came in.

Each child got an 8" by 8" square of photo sensitive fabric.

We used my kiln room as a dark room and 

they laid out a variety of goodies on top of their fabrics.

Anything that might block the sun.

Then outside we went to try and get as much sun as we could.

Sadly,

it was overcast that whole week,

so we just stayed outside an additional 5 mins.

The results were extremely pleasing to the eye,

especially if the student planned out their design ahead of time

(which most of them did)

like this lovely one by junior Antoniette Jabat.

She used several resists:

jewelry, washers,buttons,paper cut outs and lace.

And then her backside is as wonderful as her front.

Next up we have sophomore Shreya Seth.

I liked many things about this one

 but mostly that it was so different in design from everyone else.

I especially love the pop of red against that wonderful indigo blue.

Shreya used photographs on clear plastic to get her resists.

Windfall works really well in this assignment.

The movement junior Liana Chie has created with diagonals is very pleasing.

and I adore all those little french knots she sprinkled around with the perle cotton.

Senior Sunny Kim went all out on her pillow,

even making her own tassels!

And junior Sara Chea got a really cool effect

 with her paper snowflake resist cut from card stock.

I'm pretty sure she lifted the paper off 

while she was standing in line waiting to rinse the photographic solution off.

This caused a bit of light to go where her resist was for a few minutes,

causing a very atmospheric effect.

A very pretty piece.

And anything that is solid and heavy work great as resists

like these items from the hardware store for a very masculine design by

junior Chirag Bisht.

I'm loving the added seed beads which give a splash of color,

and I also think it's clever how sophomore Amy Wang

 whip stitched on additional pieces of printed fabric, 

And last but never least,

is junior William Kim.

I get a real outer space feel from his design.

He told me he used lace pieces for his resists in either corner.

Great work all of you!

This was their 4th quarter final.