MISSING...

my students and my classroom.

Here are a bunch of adorable 8th graders working away on their 

Sun Motif Portfolios.

I believe this was from the school year 2017-2018.

I'm guessing these sweet little ones are seniors this year 

and will be graduating in June.

Damn,

the time goes by so very quickly.

I wonder if I'd recognize them anymore?

STILL ENJOYING...

a favorite gift,

a black and white shot of our cabin,

 from my son and his wife.

We haven't been up lately but we hear from our neighbor it is covered in snow.

I think we are offically out of our drought.

It's been raining a lot this season already.

Yippy!!!!!!

WISHING...

everyone health, happiness, love, joy and peace.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Tree in memory of my mother,

Patti,

 with many of her favorite ornaments she made and loved.

MAGICAL

Our first winter's snow up at the cabin.

 

MORE THANKS GOING TO...

to all my ex-students who continue to check on me, 

visit me

 and be in my life.

Because of technology it makes it so easy to keep in touch.

I'm so thankful for that.

Here is Alumni Nicholas Tudor,

 who I believe graduated in 2013ish, 

who came to visit with his his lovely girlfriend.

Nick had taken Ceramics I & II with me 

and hadn't thrown on the potters wheel since he graduated.

He was curious if he remembered how to do it.

Learning to throw a pot is an incredibly difficult global skill to learn,

thus it's the same as riding a bike.

Once you learn,

 your muscles remember the steps and feeling.

So as you can see Nick took to it like a duck to water as they say.

Just look at that smile on his face.

Doesn't get any better!

Here I am with art alum as well as Art Instructor,

 Jordan Joyce.

I believe he graduated Whitney in 2011 0r 2012.

He went on to study art at Cal State Long Beach with famed Fiber Artist

Carol Shaw-Sutton.

I ran into Jordan at the retirement party of our beloved Drama Teacher,

Jodi Improta.

He participated in several of Jodi's productions

and he is the grandson of one of our favorite retired teachers and administrators,

Gary McHatton 

It was wonderful to catch up with him.

I was so hoping he would be the one to take over for me when I retired.

He really wanted to come back to Whitney to teach

 since her practically grew up there,

hanging out as a youngster with his Grandpa.

But it was not to be,

our Principal had other ideas.

Happily,

 Jordan was hired to teach art at a High School in Azusa, Ca.

which is a town right below the San Gabriel Mountains (near Pasadena)

So I'm thrilled for him and he's on his way. 

Gosh, 

I've known Jordan since he was in Elementary School,

 and taught him art from 7th grade until he graduated Whitney,

6 years.

Happy Thanksgiving and much love to my thousands of art students around the whirled.

You will always be in my heart.

TODAY MORE THANKS...

for these two goofballs,

Granger and Tatum.

They give me unconditional love and oodles of licks.

I've never known two dogs that have their capacity for companionship and joy.

My babies,

my grand dogs.

I feel my heart swell with so much love every time I see them.

I'm guessing it's the kind of love your feel for your own grandchildren.

I'm still patiently waiting.

Hint, hint!!!!

SO MUCH TO BE THANKFUL FOR

Especially for this little guy,

Anthony,

known now as Ant,

 who just recently turned 3.

What a doll he is!

FINDING HAPPINESS WITH GRACE KIM

Every so often I like to do an update on some of my all-time favorite students.

Recently I had a request from Liz to do another.

So let me introduce you to Whitney High School 2007 Alumni Grace Kim.

Sadly,

 Grace's art work was never featured on my blog since she graduated before I built the blog in 2009.

But I want you to know her as I do,

a remarkable young woman back then and now.

She took both my Beginning and Intermediate Crafts Classes and excelled in both,

with many of her pieces being displayed at our annual Open House.

And before my blogging days,

 I took several photo/slides of her work and taught with those for years.

In High School,

 Grace crushed so many arenas;

Academics, Languages (she speaks at least 3 that I know of), and Athletics.

She was one of our strongest competitors in Cross Country and Track and Field.

After Grace graduated I really missed her vivacious energy and laughter.

We had grown close and formed a bond after teaching her throughout her 6 years at Whitney.

And what made her even more special to me was that from 2007 to now,

she has shown up on my radar about every 2 years.

When I was still teaching she would run from her home in Cerritos to the school, 

and surprise visit me.

She'd be in a complete sweat but I didn't care because just to be able to hug her

 and be around her has always brought me great joy.

Grace went to college and did her Major in International Business 

with a concentration in Spanish Language Communications,

and now works for a Public Accounting Firm.

She has also met the love of her life, 

Soul,

 and I've never seen her so happy and content.

Recently she caught up with me again and brought Soul to my Tues. Nite art class

so I could be introduced.

The both of them are like two peas in a pod,

perfect together.

They told me they love to travel, go car camping and explore the U.S.

Soul works for an Aerospace firm,

 but like Grace has a favorite creative outlet,

 sculpting in wood.

Grace has gotten herself back into knitting

and takes it everywhere she goes.

She just finished the pair of socks above.

And she really thrives on reading difficult knit patterns and figuring them out.

Isn't she just a doll???

Dang I love you Grace!

xoxoxox

Before I wrote this post I asked Grace if it was ok,

and she said yes,

but that I had to tell you all that my classes were her favorites in High School.

Ha ha!

That makes me so happy Grace,

thank you for that.

She also wants everyone to know that knitting has reminded her 

how important it is to create with your hands!!

A NEW LEARNING EXPERIENCE

World wide knitting super-star Stephan West is hosting his latest mystery KAL on Ravelry

and I ran into a gal who is participating.

I was stunned by the complexity and challenge of the design

as well as awed by this gal's color choices.

My pictures of it inside the knitting store Buku,

do not even begin to go the colors justice.

So did I sign up?

Of course I did just to learn all these fun techniques.

There is a video with each segment and it seems very doable.

Will I make one,

probably not since I don't wear shawls,

but I'll probably dabble with the techniques a bit.

She has completed Sections 1-5 I believe and still has more to go.  

Can't wait to see the finished piece posted in the Ravelry group shots.

SCIENCE VIBES IN MY OLD CLASSROOM

My beautiful classroom of 39 years.

I ran into these pictures today and it was so fun to look back and remember. 

I believe these pix were from Open House Nite 2018-2019 (the year I retired),

or maybe the previous school year 2017-2018.

Alyssa Olea, 

HELP!

The new art teacher

Dan Heck,

 got to enjoy this space for the past 2 years,

but sadly over this past summer our classroom was gutted.

Everything had to go including the refrigerated unit where we stored our clay,

separate kiln room with tons of storage,

a wonderful office space with art all over the walls, countertop, floors and cabinets

designed entirely by the art students over the years.

All the rolling cabinets in the classroom gone,

 everything.

What a waste!

And oh my,

 it felt like my heart was breaking when I heard about it...

The reason,

they turned our classroom into a science/lab room,

and also built a whole new set of science classrooms 

for the rest of the science dept. across from my classroom door.

Dan has been housed in a much smaller space (one of the old science classrooms)

 and is still waiting on electricity for his kilns.

Let's see,

school has been in session for 9 weeks and still no electric for him.

A hard pill to swallow for me as well as Dan,

but a great new deal for all my dear friends and buddies in the science dept.

After all,

we are a STEM based school for gifted children.

Ok,

I let it all out!

Ha, ha!!

For me,

the only saving grace is who they gave my newly made-over room to,

Dr. Julie Keck Centeno.

She is a fabulous science teacher and mother.

Two of her 3 incredibly gifted daughters,

Emma and Alexa,

 took art classes with me and were featured several times on my blog.

Julie,

I wish you many happy years in that space.

Hoping you feel the GOOD VIBRATIONS and the LOVE that this room holds.

Can't wait to come visit and see what it looks like!

TRYING TO COVER UP SOME STAINS

I thrifted this adorable child's top that had been stained in a few places.

So first I tried to Eco-dye it with leaves and flowers from garden.

It was a big fail.

Next I stitched a few Shibori designs into it that I had seen on Glennis Dolce's site,

and dipped into my indigo vat.

Better but still not perfect.

Not sure where I'll go next with this,

but I'm thinking to embroider around the designs to take one's eye off the stains.

Or just maybe put it aside for a couple of years.

I might be over it.

FALL IS FINALLY HERE IN THE SO.CAL.

In water starved California we finally got a wonderful downpour today,

all of 3 minutes.  

But we will take whatever we can get.

Everything got a good bath.

And the sky was amazing to look at as the sun went down from our hill.

Off to the right is Los Angeles in the distance.

The skyscrapers where just out of the viewfinder.

I was standing in line at the doctor's office and all the assistants, nurses and a few of the doctors 

ran to the main lobby to witness and enjoy.

It's just been so very long.

And the few parent s with small children got to show their kids what rain looks like.

It was the best!

This photo was sent to me by my neighbor who went on her sunset walk with her husband and pup.

I believe they both also had a whiskey in hand.  

LOL 

MORE SHIBORI SAMPLERS

    In the Tuesday Nite Fiber Arts class I've been teaching for about a year and a half now,

we tried out many samplers.

These are a few of mine I experimented with. 

A simple dandelion (note: I forgot to pull the string for the stem above),

thus the stem looks lighter in value then the leaves and flower after stitching was removed.

Also, 

that old thrifted sheeting must have had some oil spots that weren't removed in the cleaning.

I will probable stitch a few bugs over top them.

I believe I've mentioned several times that I love when things like that go wrong.

It forces me to think of more creative solutions.

In this next piece,

 I'm sorry I was too lazy to go back and rotate it to match the finish product below.

Here it is pulled tightly ready for the dip into the indigo bath.

And below after the stitches were removed.

Here is another that I didn't''t bother to rotate,

and it's pulled form below.

The result below.

For some reason I stopped taking photos at this point,

 but managed to get the end result which I really loved here.

It almost feels like a Native American Medicine Wheel.

I also want you to note that unlike the flag I posted the other day,

none of these pieces turned out as bright blue as the flag did.

That's because all of us were using the same vat with many experiments and it became a bit depleted.

So the blue is much more subdued in these samples.

The next time I use the indigo vat I will replenish it.

I was trying to remember the other day how long I've had this vat going

 so I actually went back and searched the blog.

I went back to June 30th, 2012 in a post titled "Shibori Workshop-Part I"

where Long Beach, Ca. artist Shibori Girl Glennis Dolce came to my home/studio

 to teach my students and I the art of Shibori and Indigo Dyeing.

Glennis is a wonderful teacher, 

a fountain of information, 

 and actually grew up in Japan speaking the language.

(I believe she was an army brat there)

Glennis is still teaching thru her website and also at the Japanese American Museum in Los Angeles.

She travels every year back to Japan,

usually leading a tour of Fiber Artists to shop and learn more.

If you ever get a chance I would at lest recommend a visit to her blog and shop.

(Address above)

 

A FEW E-MAILS LATER

A few of you e-mailed and asked for the directions to stitch the Shibori flag with. 

 I looked back thru my photos and found a picture of it.

To get two different value ranges on the front side of fabric,

I running stitched the star area on the front of piece,

 then I flipped piece over and stitched striped area from the back side.

And if you've never tried Shibori,

 you then pull as tightly as you can on each of the doubled threads and knot them along design edge.

It will look something like this below.

I then went into my indigo vat,

but you could go into any natural or commercial dye you have available.

I believe I dipped this at least 3 times into the indigo vat,

rinsed and ironed it,

 then ran it thru my washing machine with my darks and into the dryer.

Of course I used 100 % cotton from an old sheet (garage sale find).

The older sheets are easier to stitch thru.

And of course I wash them in my hottest water with a bit of bleach to get them sparkly clean first.

Don't want any cooties.

Ha ha

TO HONOR OUR FALLEN HEROS

A Shibori stitched flag dipped in my indigo vat.

 

LONG TIME NO SEE

Have I mentioned lately that I miss teaching?

That I miss my classroom, but especially that I miss the kids?

Well I still do.

Recently I sent a shout out and hugs to a former art student seen here,

Yusuf Karan,

through our Biology teacher (here) Aileen Perry.

I'm teaching the Fiber Arts to Aileen and sometimes her sister Suzanne every Tuesday nite

(been doing this for over a year now)

and it's really helped me transition into retirement.

She keeps me abreast of all the happenings at the school and updates on the students.

But back to Yusuf.

I taught him in the 7th and 8th grade (Art Wheel and Beginning 3-D Art),

and he left a lasting impression on me.

So much so that when Aileen told me she was working with him this year I exclaimed,

"OMG, I love Yusuf!"

Turns out she does too.

When she passed on my message to him this week,

 he told her he couldn't believe I remembered him. 

The kids are funny, 

they so don't get what a wonderful, lasting impression they leave on your heart.  

Even the talkative ones, right Yusuf!  

Ha ha

So Yusuf,

this post is for you!

I'm pretty sure you are starting your Junior year at Whitney

and I couldn't be prouder of you.

What I remember the most about you is your sweet, positive attitude

and your hard-working effort that you put into your art pieces.

And how you encouraged your classmates to do their best,

and freely gave them compliments when they did.

You encouraged and inspired,

can't wait to see where those characteristics will take you.  

Keep in touch young man!

Sending you a big virtual hug!

xoxoxo

 

WINNER, WINNER, CHICKEN DINNER

I'm so thrilled to share another award winner at Whitney High School,

junior Itzel Huerta.

Four years ago I taught Itzel art in her 7th and then 8th grade year.

She was an incredible talent from the get go,

and back then I posted most everything she created all over my blog.

So if you are interested in seeing how her art has matured and her techniques advanced,

insert her name in my search engine and scroll thru.

It almost killed me to leave her behind

(as well as Madison from the previous post)

when I retired.

Both girls were a joy to teach.

So I'm really excited to see that both of them are taking it upon themselves 

to continue working and pushing themselves forward in the arts.

And it especially makes my heart soar to have them keep in touch after I left.

This glorious piece by Itzel earned her 1st place and a $1000 in the 

Northgate Art Competition.

Congratulations Itzel,

can't wait to see where your talents will take you!

CONGRESSIONAL AWARD WINNER MADISON PLOTKIN

When I was teaching the arts at Whitney 

there was a Congressional Art Competition every year usually around mid-May

that we would sometimes participate in.

It was sponsored by our State Representative Linda Sanchez of the 38th Congressional District 

which represents the city of Norwalk, Ca. and surrounding areas like us in Cerritos. 

The last several years at Whitney we didn't participate because the show was moved up a month

 to mid-April and all the best pieces of art were displayed on the walls of my room for Open House

 and then off I'd send them to the walls of our District Office

 for the Annual District Art Show and Competition.

So a big conflict.

And most often the students weren't interested in making an additional piece just for the competition

(they were kept too busy with their academics, sports, SAT classes and music lessons).

But over the 39  years I was there we did participate many times and won several best of shows.

The best thing about winning is their art piece will hang on the walls of Congress for a year

plus there is a scholarship monetary prize.

And before Covid,

the student and one parental was flown to D.C. to meet with the Congressional Representative

for an awards ceremony which was super special. 

So a BIG CONGRATULATIONS to this years winner,

Whitney High School junior Madison Plotkin,

one of my all-time favorite students.

She came to me as a 7th grader who was naturally gifted in the arts

 and gave me her all on every assignment.

She showed original thought and creativity as well as excellent craftsmanship

(so very important).

A lot of kids have the art ability but never develop their craftsmanship skills till college,

so I encouraged her to come back to me in the 8th grade.

She did and turned out many of the best pieces in that Art I class.

She has a brilliant sense of design as you can see above,

as well a tremendous drive and work ethic.

Also her parents have been extremely supportive of her wanting to become an artist

so she has also had the opportunity to study in an after school Art Academy.

And this summer I'm hoping she will intern at a prestigious gallery in Tustin called Chemers.

Just being around the gallery owner Karen is a rare treat.

Watching Karen organize and put up a show is watching a dynamo in action.

To see more of Madison's work over the years,

put her name in my search engine and read thru all the blog posts she was featured in.

Even though I left Whitney two years ago,

Madison has continued to reach out to me and share her art studies. 

And hopefully next year,

 I will be one of her teachers writing her Letter of Recommendation,

always a huge honor.  

CONGRATS TO THE CLASS OF 2021!!!!!!

                         A few of my wild and crazy 2021 graduates as 7th graders in my Art Wheel class.

Since I couldn't be here at your graduation today or the past two years of my retirement, don't think I forgot about you .

So I wanted to do a little something special for you.

I hope you like it.

As I searched for these pictures it brought back so many fond memories of the time we spent together.

Almost had me in tears.

Hopefully no more virtual learning as you guys go away to all your colleges.

A little birdie told me many of you are off to Harvard, UCLA, UCSB, UCSD, USC, Brown, The United States Air Force Academy, Cornell, and Irvine (Jack, I hear you are majoring in Architecture there).

I couldn't be more proud of all of you and would love you to keep in touch.

My email address is dartisun@gmail.com

I borrowed this picture off of Mrs. Olson's FB post.

Renee,

I hope you don't mind :)

I barely recognize you all grown up and in masks.

But this is how I mostly remember you all.

Enjoy the trip down memory lane.

Felting your Soap Scrubs

So young, so cute!

Mossy, it was wonderful hearing from you the other day, and keep up with your knitted designs.

You were always very dear to my heart.

Palmer, I will never forget your sweet goodness and artist talent as well as your delightful parents,

please tell them hello for me.

And Jack,

you stole my heart from the minute you stepped into my classroom.

(Love the photo you took and gave Ms. Perry)

And Charles Chen,

so very sorry I retired and never got to work with you again.

I know you will work hard and have a fantastic career in the arts.

Being way cool with your Indigo dipped hands.

Stella is that you????

Love your expression here you silly girl!

You crack me up.

I'd love to know you now all grown up.

I bet you are still so much fun!

And there you are Rodrigo,

I will never forget you and the great hugs in the hallway you used to give me.

You were one of my biggest fans.

And my sweet boys and best friends,

Emmanuel and Jamesy.

Loved all the times you'd drop into the classroom to say hello after your 7th grade year ended.

You never forgot me.

I also never forgot that both of you possessed a lot of artistic talent!

And Aish,

can't spell it anymore but I still remember how to say your name. :)

And Aaron (aka Patrick) you will always be Patrick to me,

I was so bummed out when you came back to take another art class (think it was you 10th grade year)

but then bailed on me. 😕

I remember you having a lot of artistic flair.

And be careful ,

you seem to draw the girls like bees to honey. Ha ha

Alexa Centeno,

you and your sister were a delight to teach and work with.

Another little birdie told me your mother might be moving into my old art room.

Nothing would make me happier!

Julie,

take care of it and love it like I did.

Such an awesome family.

xoxox

Three of my outstanding kiddos dipping into the indigo bucket.

Alex Min right?

Super star artist and exceptional academic student!

I bet you are Harvard bound.

Let me know.

And Rawnie

you were always a dear to me, I remember how much you loved to do art.

And you continued thoughtfulness and kindness touched my heart deeply.

And there you are Laura.

Both you and your big sis made such an impact on me.

Especially as I was retiring and you came by to let me know you'd keep my garden watered.

That meant so much to me as it was killing me to leave so much of myself behind.

I wasn't sure which picture to end with,

this one or the one of Lucy and I below.

So I decided both.

I love that my hand is here with yours.

I will always be your greatest supporter and friend.

If any of you need anything in the future or just want to say hello,

hopefully I will be here for a long, long time.

And for those of you who reached out this and last year for a letter of recommendation.

It was an honor to do that for you.

I'm incredibly proud of all of you!

I wish you great love and happiness!

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Now Lucy Acuna,

the young woman who touched so many lives at Whitney,

your friends as well as your teachers and Administration.

You have been a super star from the very beginning in 7th grade,

and you never let us down your 6 years there.

I cannot wait to see what the future holds for you.

You are so many things,

a kind and good person, a volunteer, a leader, an academic, an artist, an actor, dancer and singer.

But best of all humble and grateful.

Enjoy your journey and let me know where it takes you next.

I love you always.

xoxo