2014-2015 SENIOR FAREWELL - Part II

Every year when I go to put the pictures together for this tribute,

I'm always disappointed that I didn't capture more photos of all of you.

And it happened again this year.

There are so many of you that I wanted pix of but I don't have them.

Know that it wasn't intentional. 

We had an exceptional year together in both my Beginning and Intermediate Ceramics classes.

Above are a few of my favorite students from Ceramics I.

 From left to right are 

Poonam Bhakta, Asha Bhakta, Payal Morari, Ernest Olivar and Andrew Perley.

Poonam, 

you were an amazing craftswoman,

your work stunningly beautiful.

Asha,

crazy creative,

I adored everything you made!

Payal,

you are one of my all time favorites.

Worked with you the longest and you created so many unique and extraordinary works for me. 

I will miss you a lot!

Ernest,

you and the clay struggled,

but you never gave up the fight.

You worked with it till the bitter end and I admire you a lot for that.

Andrew,

on the other hand,

the clay loved you, and visa versa.

It was a pleasure getting to know two of our finest young men here at Whitney.

And now on to my Ceramics II noobs.

Man oh man,

did we have fun.

I loved every minute of the school year with all 6 of you.

Sameera Ahmad,

you are a hard working,

 brilliant young woman,

and a superior surface designer.

I cannot wait to see where life takes you,

and looking forward to working with those twin brothers of yours  :)

Erin Hsiao,

what a sweet gal you are.

A quiet perfectionist.

A superb craftswoman,

a brilliant designer,

and man, oh man,

did you get the hang of throwing on the wheel.

A very difficult global skill to master.

I appreciated all the hard work and hours you gave me.

This is Cindy Ryoo with Erin,

and one of my all time favorite photos in the art room.

I remember that day.  

The room was super crowed and you two came in to spend extra time glazing your torsos.

The only place to work was in the back corner,

 partially under the table.

This will forever be your spot.

Look at those magnificent smiles on your faces.

Doesn't get any better then this.

Cindy Ryoo,

you are the epitome of a fine artist.

You have a critical eye with impeccable craftsmanship and innate design skills.

You also have a heart of gold.

You are beautiful on the inside and out.

No wonder you always had all those boys coming round to check out your ceramic work  LOL

Ha ha,

I know you hate this, 

you know how I love to tease...

I don't know who was more devastated for you,

me, Tim or you over all that happened this summer with your clay pieces.

Know that you will always be able to revisit them here on the blog...

to infinity and beyond

:)

Love you girl,

ohh,ohh.

by the by,

I loved the clay rolling cylinders you found for me as a good-bye gift. 

I adore them and have already used them in several demos this year.

Thank you

xoxoxoxox

Yasmeen Pardo,

I love your spunky energy,

 and your fiestiness.

I admire and respect that you take a stand against injustice,

and that you are not afraid to go up against the establishment.

Hum....lawyer, judge, senator,...President,

or you could just continue on as a tremendously gifted Ceramic artist  :)

And a huge thank you Yasmeen for being my T.A. for the beginners.

Your knowledge of glazes was a tremendous help and perk for those newbies. 

The kids,

like me,

 had much respect and admiration for you and your work.

Come see me, 

I miss you!

And Nicolas Tudor,

you are the man!

Wasn't as easy as you thought it was going to be on that potter's wheel, 

was it????

But the clay loves you too,

 always has since you first put your hands on it.

And you tamed that beast!

Speaking of hands... LOL

Never were able to resist a good looking woman, huh?

Ha ha

I've had so much fun with you over the years.

It has been a joy watching you grow up,

and I'm so very proud of the man you have become.

It's been great having you stop by for a visit this year,

and catching me up on your love life,

it's hard to keep up,

you know?

LOL

Pals for life!!

I want to end Part Two with you Tushara Govind,

 who I felt a special closeness/connection to from day one.

You were my T.A. this last year for the Intermediate and Advanced classes,

never once having had an art class with me.

Yet you jumped in with both feet,

never afraid to take on the most daunting of tasks,

and for that reason, 

I saved them all for you.  :)

Even though I never worked with you as an art student,

your attentiveness to detail,

your astute listening skills,

and your ease with which you performed any given task have impressed me to no end. 

I firmly believe that if you ever did take an art class 

we would find that you are a very Fine Artist indeed.

YOU are one of the most trustworthy,

intelligent,

responsible,

kind and gracious people I have ever know in my lifetime.

And I feel very blessed that you have touched my life and my heart.

I know you will go on to do great things for society

because that's who you are.

Thank you for everything.

I admire you greatly. 

Your parents must be so very proud!