TESTING THE WATERS

Mimi and Sydney's Big Adventure

Hummm...

Do you think Mimi will let me try to climb this palm tree?

Maybe I'll just give it a small try and see what she does...

ooh boy,

she's not stopping me,

hurry, hurry before she changes her mind.

Tah duh!!

I did it.

Now I'm gonna do it lots more,

until I wear her out.

SEW BASICS

PRELIMINARY FELT EMBROIDERY

BEGINNING 3-D ART

wool felt pieces, perle cottons, embroidery & crewel needles w/ button & bead embellishments

My young ones are sewing & embroidering!!!

Another global skill,

conquered! 

The kids learned 10 decorative stitches to put together these sweet little pieces,

along with sewing on a button and a few beads.

Of course they practiced learning on another felt piece,

then they worked out a design that would incorporate all 10 of these stitches.

Running

Back Stitch

French Knot

Blanket/Buttonhole

Chain

Detached Chain/Lazy Daisy

Stem

Fly

Whip

Satin

Can you find them all?

We all agreed that junior Lynette Lee had made the class favorite.

With junior Margaret Yiu close behind.

We also loved the delicate stylings of senior Sarah Woo.

And we adored junior Jillian Morris's clever bicycle.

I was particularly fond of junior Rachel Kannampuzha's booklet

that opened up to reveal her "Under the Sea" theme.

Way to conquer just one more global skill.

Whoa!!

TRASH TO TREASUES

PLASTER SCULPTURE

INTERMEDIATE 3-D ART

plaster, empty milk carton, pigment if desired

Meet Helen Park,

one of my top art students this year.

She is bravely taking two classes with me in her senior year,

Beginning 2-D and Intermediate 3-D.

She is a joy to teach because she is a quick study;

she takes to everything like a duck to water,

just like I mentioned in the learning to knit a scarf sampler post a week or so ago.

Mixing plaster is like cooking to me,

I never measure anything.

I eyeball how much I need,

how it looks and what it feels like.

But with plaster I refrain from tasting it.

hee hee

The poor kids are flying by the set of their pants after my demo.

wondering how much they should use.

ha ha

So I have them do a tester first in a tiny milk carton.

And that's what Helen is sculpting here over the trash can,

cuz it's really messy.

Her prelim was a success,

just the right amount of plaster to water,

because like I told you,

she is an attentive audience.

And this beauty below is her final piece.

She wanted to capture a swimmer doing the backstroke.

What do you think?

Notice the slight change in the camera angle?

 It really makes it look like the figure is guiding thru the water.

Her wood mounting is wonderful as well.

I really get a sense of peace and solitude as I look at her sculpture.

Makes me actually want to get in the water and give it a try.

It's been awhile.

Just lovely Helen.

And your piece is being put on display tomorrow for the Accreditation team to see

 when they get here in a couple of days.

I'm so proud to be able to show it off!

DRAW ME A RIVER

GRAPHITE SPHERE

7TH GRADE ART WHEEL - 1ST QUARTER - 2016-2017

pencil on paper w/ colored pencil accents

Or is that cry me a river?

We are back to those crazy kids,

my 7th graders.

This 1st Quarter was a challenging group,

such chatty Cathys.

Right Neil & Andrew S.!!

Who remembers that doll?

But they were an artist bunch.

Let's check out their spheres.

Whoa,

is this a sophisticated design or what?

I was super impressed with young Willmer Lizardo here.

And then check out the colored pencil work of Katherine Chen.

I offer up colored pencil for Extra Credit with this assignment 

and several of the kids took advantage of it.

Here is another incredible pencil,

looks like it belongs to a high school student instead of 7th grader Jason Park.

And how much fun is this piece by Andrew A. 

Clever boy!

And we end with this really lovely work by Sophia Oporto .

Again,

these chatty kids really surprised me.

BURIED ALIVE

My neighbor up on the mountain sent me a pix today of our snowy cabin.

We thought the last snowfall was big,

but this last one was ginormous!

Where are we supposed to park?

LOL

Where's the road?

Oh my!

He also sent a pix of the brook that runs alongside our side yard.

I just can't get over all the snow.

Sophie Dog is gonna love this!

TAKING THE PLUNGE

EXTRA CREDIT

CERAMICS I

potter's wheel & clay

These brave young pups are giving the potter's wheel a try for their very first time.

Here are junior Simi Doshi and sophomore Olivia Krueger centering their clay.

For my Ceramics I kids, 

the potter's wheel is not a requirement,

it's an extra credit op. if they can make a pot,

but they had to have finished their current assignment required assignment first.

However,

in Ceramics II it is a requirement to learn how to throw.

Senior Sarah Chang starts next Monday.

I demonstrate the wheel for my beginners about 3 weeks into the First Quarter,

and then the brave ones usually give it a try.

But it's a really hard global skill to learn,

and sadly they have not tried again.

So it looks like it's time for me to demo. again to get their interest back up.

Here are the proud creators of the two beauties on the bat.

Seniors Marjorie Balaoro and Brian Aguirre-Hernandez actually were able to get something resembling a pot for their first time.

STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN

I feel like our very serious drought is almost over.

We have had lots and lots of snow.  

A couple of days ago,

 2 feet in 24 hours.

That's a lot for us.

This was our view 2 weekends ago as we drove up to the cabin on the 15 Fwy.

To our left here were the San Gabriel Mts and Wrightwood Ski Resort then onto Las Vegas.

These to our right were the San Bernadino Mts and Big Bear Ski Resort.

And then in the middle between the two was our little mountain

which takes you to Crestline then onto Lake Arrowhead.

Sadly our snow was all melted.

But I just talked to our neighbor up there 

and he says he's never seen so much snow from this last weekend's storm.

Oh boy!!

Gonna need chains.

Can't wait to see what this lil' mt. will look like this next weekend.

THE VISITOR

My ex sent me a great shot of the daffodils I planted 16 years ago 

at our home in Yorba Linda along the side of the house.

I think maybe I planted 12-16 bulbs in about four different spaces.

And man oh man have they multiplied!

When my ex and I divorced he chose to stay in the home

and keep the yard up.

And I have to say for one who never gardened before or even pulled a weed,

he is doing a great job.

Anyways,

there is this bird that returns every year about this time 

and hangs out in the neighborhood.

Looks like he has a new favorite place to chill.

With my daffs.

:)

CHRISTMAS BLOOMS AT WHITNEY

Alumni Josh Berger's Succulent Garden has gone thru another transformation

due to all the rain we've had these last two months.

So does that mean our drought has ended?

They say not yet.

One of the tiny succulents I stuck in the ground

at the end of last school year grew to 6 feet high over this last summer

(in that back right corner below).

Then right before Xmas it fell over and started its blooming cycle during our winter break.

And it was amazing when we came back last week.

All the other succulents have doubled and tripled in size so that I had to trim a few of them.

They say we have one more big storm coming in tonite or tomorrow 

and then sunny skies for the rest of the week.

Woo Hoo!!

ALUMNI ADVENTURES/FIRSTS

2016 Alumni Hapshiba Kwon,

moved this summer with her entire family from Cerritos, Ca. to Old Lyme, Connecticut

while she attends prestigious Amherst in Massachusetts.

This winter she has joined the Outing Club 

and went on her first Mountaineering trip to the White Mountain Range in New Hampshire.

Hapshiba tells me that this year she is going to push herself to try new experiences,

and this one sounded a bit out of her comfort zone,

so perfect! 

In her own words 

" It was absolutely breathtaking (pictures attached), and I wanted to give up often (!!!) but had so much fun and even met a few new friends along the way. 

I'm thrilled to travel with you on these adventures thru your pictures Hapshiba,

and to be able to share them with your Whitney buds.

More please!

THE CLOTH RESULTS

TYE DYE CLOTHS FOR APPLIQUILT JOURNALS

BEGINNING 3-D ART

100% cotton pieces & Rit dye

OK,

on to the "real thing".

Once the practice pieces on paper towels have been turned in,

I give each student 2 pieces of cotton cloth.  

A tip:

 I get all my 100% cotton fabric from garage and estate sales in bedding,

and rip the pieces to the size I need.  Saves me hundreds of dollars a year.

Their assignment:

to use their favorite Tye Dye techniques they've discovered in the prelims.,

and use them to create two pieces of cloth that are visually pleasing together.

These will later to used for the outside & inside covers of their Applique Journals.

Let's see how they did.

We start with senior Samantha Tan  & 8th grader Leanne Alcoy.

Both girls have created pieces that will flow together beautifully for their journals.

Next are 8th graders Dana Ahmad & Yusra Azmi.

These girls have chosen the exact same  colors for both pieces but different design techniques 

which also make them look great together.

Junior Jillian Morris & senior Alexis Bilas-Imperial both picked one or two colors from their first one to help  tie together their second one for terrific visual flow.

Here are the pieces that junior Connie Wu & 8th grader Palmer Patel created.

These are so cool,

they remind me of the newest technique on Pinterest,

Ice Dyeing.

These very dramatic & stunning works above were made by senior Sarah Woo & junior Lynette Lee.

And we end with 8th grader Andres Lara,

whose two pieces were so eye-catching I had to show them both in their entirety. 

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT ON PAPER

TYE DYE PRELIMS.

BEGINNING 3-D ART

paper towels, Rit dye, rubber bands, string, staples, clamps

This assignment is such a fun way to reinforce Color Theory for my 3-D kiddos.

They first learned their color wheel & mixtures for secondaries

 plus tinting & shading with the Polymer Clay Unit we saw a couple weeks ago.

In this Tye Dye practice unit they are also learning about Color Schemes.

The students were required to turn in 3 paper samplers,

each with a different design.

Their first one was to be dipped only in one color (Monochromatic)

the second one into 2 colors (Analogous) 

with a partial overlapping in one area to see how the two colors mixed.

The third one (Primary with Secondary Overlaps plus Neutrals) had to be dipped into 3 colors

 with partial overlaps as well.

The results were terrific.

Enjoy!

What I did was look at all three in each student's packet

 to find their most beautiful one to photograph.

Above are 8th graders Daisy Camacho & Dana Ahmad.

So yummy!

Next we have senior Julie Ahn & 8th grader Loren Kim.

Stunning :)

And here are 8th grader Leanne Alcoy & Senior Alexis Bilas-Imperial.

Very cool!

These next 3 were done by Senior Hannah Park,

& 8th graders Karen Hung &  James Lara.

James made an especially tricky one that turned out like snowflakes.

We end with seniors Crystal Lai-Ton-Nu & Rachel Kannampuzha

 as well as 8th grader Christina Ortiz.

Brilliant job all of you!!!!

GARDEN DEVA

Mixed Media Fiber Artist Grace Forrest, 

who keeps up with my students here at Artisun,

graciously sent us Garden Deva to enjoy at the Holidays.

And she is a beauty!

Love the elongated format that you worked to Grace, 

and how you let Deva go off the edge.

And the expressive quality you captured in her delicate face seems to really pull me into the piece.

 How brave you are to draw directly onto the fabric,

I've never had the courage to try.

The glorious color you extract from your dye plants is fabulous

And do I detect some Deborah Lacativa dyed fabric as well?.

The frayed edges here and there are so perfectly placed,

yet I know how spontaneously you work.

Are your design skills innate or have you studied design?

And of course your Kantha stitching (running stitch) around the edges pulls it all together.

We loved and enjoyed it so much Grace.

Thank you for sharing yourself and your work with all of us here at Whitney.

STUDIES

PIN/STRING ART

SPECIAL STUDIES - 3-D ART

straight pins, form core, tacky glue & sewing string

Honestly,

I'm not sure what to call these pieces by senior Shreya Sheth.

What I do know is they are really cool and different.

I think Shreya saw something similar on Pinterest this summer and was inspired by it,

so asked if she could give it a try.

Go for it girl!

Shreya joins me this year for 3 art classes, 

only done once before by Alumni Caroline Ma in 2011.

Sheya is in the Advanced 3-D art class with senior Jacqueline Yu in which we saw their Earth Loom,

but she also has two other periods a day with me for Special Studies 3-D Art.

These are independant study 4th level classes.

This is where we saw her weaving the bracelets earlier this year.

So now she is focused on this new technique that she discovered.

The top most piece was her first tiny practice,

then she attempted a more challenging practice,

the London Bridge I believe?

Or is that the Golden Gate?

Anyways, 

here is a close up of the bigger one.

Sometimes she goes around a pin head once,

sometimes twice,

depending on the value of the line she wants to achieve.

I love that she is letting the strings hang down.

That addes so much interest for the eye.

Shreya is currently finishing her "real" one.

Wait till you see it!

It''s GINORMOUS,

and has taken her hours and hours to complete.

I will be sure to post it very soon.

LISTEN TO THE MUSIC

RAINSTICKS

CERAMICS II

clay, oxides, glazes, metallic rubbing compounds & nail polish

Let me introduce you to senior Sarah Chang,

my top most Ceramics student this year.

She recently finished one of her first projects of the year,

this delicate take on a rainstick.

Sarah was required to build her rainstick to at least 18 inches,

one of the tallest pieces she has made to this point.

Slab built with hundreds of tiny clay balls inside to provide the sound when you tip the stick.

As you will start to notice,

whenever I post one of Sarah's pieces this year,

she brings great sensitivity to whatever she produces.

She is developing a unique style and we all love it.

To finish off this piece she was required to bring other color to it 

in addition to the glazes and oxides.

She chose to rub her sweet little birds with metallics,

and she painted their beaks with nail polish.

She was also required to embellish it with at least two different media.

I adore her choices.  

They are so perfect.

Blue jay feathers from our cabin and recycled packing paper for the nest.

I'm so pleased to be able to share this for you Sarah.