BEST EXPLAINED BY SARAH OH

Hi, Ms. Sposa!
I just recently finished my second term at art center with a 3.85 GPA!!! (Only one B plus, but all A's other than that!!!! YAY!) 
It was a really tough term and I had a lot of tough projects that I've never done before, but I'm really excited to present to you the one final that was the most challenging for me.
The final was to create a piece that was LARGER than you on a material that you've never used before.
So for this assignment, I decided to do a lifesize portrait of myself on acrylic glass.
The front side will be realistic and it was all done in oil paint!
The back side is supposed to be like my "insides" with a lot of small little dog creatures running around inside my body. And for my brain, it's just a large toad!
I wanted to utilize the glass aspect of the piece and to do that, I made small windows in my body so that the viewer could look through the glass!
It was really a challenge to get that 5.5 feet tall piece of acrylic glass to stand upright, so I had to make these large wooden stands to keep it upright.
I've included some process pictures of the piece to help showcase just how much brainstorming I had to do for the piece HAHA

After seeing these pix that Sarah sent,

I couldn't even imagine coming up with something this critically thought out at such a young age.

And then to actually pull it off.

My hat is off to you my dear.

Your talent and gift assound me!

Thank you for sharing with all of us.

REMEMBERING MOM ON THIS MOTHER'S DAY

My beautiful mother,

Rose Patricia,

who cooked for her family every nite except on Sundays

(broasted chicken nite while watching 60 minutes and The Wonderful World of Disney).

This year I'm kicking myself in the butt for not learning her crazy wonderful 

Italian recipes that her mother passed down to her.

I remember her asking "Debra Ann, do you want to watch me make raviolis?"

"Nope" was always my answer.

Always!

As I look back today I'm sure I was a bit of a disappointment to her for many reasons.

We were so very different in so many ways.

The list is pretty long,

I'll save that for a therapist one day.

HA!

But it really helps me with my own daughter as she is so very different than myself

which can sometimes be frustrating.  

For me though, 

she is no disappointment.  

We live in a different time,

and I'm incredibly proud of her. 

I admire and respect her strength of character, 

her strong work ethic,

 her passion to go after what she wants. 

 She has a fiery spirit 

and is so very smart and savvy. 

She is only 24 years old and already owns her own home!

My mother said I was stubborn,

I say my daughter is strong willed.

Same thing I believe.

LOL

Rose Patricia "Patti" in 1968

at her oldest sister's home making ravioli for Easter Sunday

But as much as I annoyed my mother

(and I know I did),

and as much as my daughter won't listen to my reasoning,

my mother was always there for me,

supporting me, loving me,

giving of herself no matter how mad I made her.

She taught me so much about love and giving.

And now I do the same for both of my adult children,

my son who has always been the easy one,

and my daughter who has always been my biggest challenge.

I was my mother's biggest challenge too.

Mom and Myself  1980,

the year I began teaching at Whitney High School

Patti never looked her age.  

She was 64 years old here.

A year older than I am now.

She would have been 103 today.

We were 40 years apart.

She tried for 8 years to get pregnant with me and had 2 miscarriages in the process.

I was her only child,

and I miss her dearly.

We talked everyday on the phone until she developed Alzheimer's at age 82.

She passed away 10 years later in a coma.

Not only had she forgotten us five years earlier,

but she had forgotten how to eat, swallow and finally breathe.

My daughter and I were with her the last night of her life playing her favorite music,

singing and dancing around her to her favorite songs 

by Tony Bennett,

Dean Martin, Andy Williams and Frank Sinatra.

We witnessed her last smile as she listened to her music.

I hope to one day be surrounded by my two babies and my grandchildren 

when I take my last breathe as well.

I'm hoping they will play for me all my favorites and sing and dance too.

Neil Young, Linda Ronstadt, The Eagles, Willie Nelson, Elton John, Joni Mitchell, Rod Stewart,

 Al Greene, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Marvin Gaye,

and most importantly

 Tony Bennett, Dean Martin, Andy Williams, Frank Sinatra,

and of course The Rockits,

my sweet husband's band.

I guess we were similar in our taste in music after all.

I love you Mommy.

Happy Mother's Day!

LITTLEST GUY UPDATE

Anthony at 5 months,

rolling over and almost sitting up by himself.

He's a happy baby with so much personality already,

and he can't wait to crawl so he can mix it up with his big brother Syd.

A GIFT

Ten years ago former Ceramics student Bill Sevedge,

Class of 1984,

built this blog for me and taught me how to use it.

Before then I rarely used the computer.

I was scared of it,

not having grown up using it.

He dropped by for a visit recently and we talked about how much I've learned

since he gifted me this blog site,

and I wanted to give back to him in appreciation.

I asked him to pick one of my current demo. pieces.

He chose one of my favorites,

this black beauty.

It was thrown last school year for the Intermediate Ceramics students 

to show them an Altered Vase Form.

After completely turning back the lip of the pot on itself,

I stamped the shoulder with the head of a large acorn from the cabin.

To finish the piece I stained it with Red Iron Oxide 

and then poured our Black glaze into the inside

then partially dipped the piece for outside coverage.

I was really pleased with how it turned out,

and was so happy to gift it to Bill.

I frequently think of Bill and how grateful I am to him.

He was one of a handful of students to reach the Ceramics IV level back in the 80's.

He enabled me to connect to so many artists around the world thru my blog,

and to be able to share my students with them.

Thank you Bill. 

I hope you occasionally check my blog

and are proud of your student.

:)

DRIVING ABOVE THE CLOUDS...

at 6000 feet up our mountain

Looking  towards Big Bear Mountain, Ca.

Close-up of Big Bear.

Opposite Direction.

Seeing the very peek of Catalina Island, Ca. in the Pacific Ocean.