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

SCRUB-A-DUB-DUB

FELTED SOAP SCRUBS

7TH GRADE ART WHEEL - 4TH QUARTER - 2015-2016

bar soap, hot water and dyed roving

28 cuties in a tub,

or I mean classroom  :)

Man oh man

 do these young ones love this assignment.

They get to go outside and play with hot soapy water,

and get their hands really clean.

And the lunch tables get really spotless too.

Helena Ebalobor & Shukthi Senthilraj both chose purple & blue wool rovings.

They had an option to decorate or not.

Shukthi chose to wrap hers with white wool yarn.

Both are really well felted.

Truman Fung & Alex Ross both chose to work with neutrals.

If you look closely you will see that Truman also has a bit of blue green underneath.

Great job guys!

IT'S ALL ABOUT CRITICAL THINKING...

COLLAGE BOXES WITH STAMPED TISSUE & WIRE WRAPPED PENDANT

7TH GRADE ART WHEEL - 4TH QUARTER - 2015-2016

old jewelry boxes, tissue paper, Modge Podge, stamp pads, eraser stamps

in finding the perfect papers /colors to collage together.

in finding the perfect something to wire wrap.

in figuring out the perfect patterns to stamp together.

There is just so much that goes into a design.

Sometimes it's innate,

sometimes learned.

In this first one by Samantha Yamaguchi, 

I adore her color choices on the box lid,

sensory & powerful,

as well as her glass blown turtle she brought in to wire wrap.

Beautifully done Sam!

Next we have this awesome tribal design that Taylor Kim has stamped on her gift wrap,

as well as the tiny beads & charm she thought to bring in to add to her shell wire wrap.

And in Shukthi Senthilraj's lid,

 it's the dimensional tissue she has put on top of her box,

and the gutsy move to limit her color scheme to neutrals.

BRAVO 

young ones!

PACKING A PUNCH!

SHIBORI

7TH GRADE ART WHEEL - 4TH QUARTER 2015-2016

indigo vat & cotton cloth

Wow!

These Shibori pieces are incredibly vibrant & stunningly beautiful,

and the kids had a blast working on them.

When Samantha Yamaguchi opened her's up 

everyone in the class gasped and oohed and awed at the results she achieved.

Bravo Sam!

  

And here's another brilliant design by Reese Guitche.

It's amazing what a bit of rust will do to these designs.

We loved Malena Santos' asymmetrical circular piece,

like something you'd find in nature.

And we end with Alex Ross.

Look closely and you will see how he folded this first,

a bit like a paper airplane with several areas that he bound over.

Gorgeous Alex.

WHAT'S YOUR POINT?

CHARCOAL CONES

7TH GRADE ART WHEEL - 2015-2016 - 4TH QUARTER

charcoal on paper

Just love the creative ways kids figure out how to compose a cone.

Let's see.

How about lots of them?

And by putting many of them on the diagonal,

Sachi Nandedkar has been able to bring a lot of movement into her work.

Most of the students,

even after being asked to look at the great examples on this blog for homework,

still only put one cone in the center.

Their critical thinking skills have just not clicked in yet.

I like that Kristiana Flores put in two with wonderful texture for the eye.

And love, 

love,

 love this creative piece by Shukthi Senthilraj.

Probably one of the most creative ones ever conceived here.

Plus she's picking up lots of extra credit for bringing in all that colored pencil work.

And again,

the powerful diagonal.

The eye really enjoys it.

Also check out Danielle Louie's fabulous fore & backgrounds.

What a beauty!

GET THE BALL ROLLING

GRAPHITE SPHERES

7TH GRADE ART WHEEL - 2015-2016 - 4RD QUARTER

graphite on paper

These little 7th graders always amaze me with the time and effort they put

 into their simple spheres.

They go above and beyond to impress me with everything they've got.

Let's take a look-see.

Really delighted with this first one by Danielle Louie.

It's obvious she's had some outside training in shading and transitioning her values

because it's an outstanding work.

And this sweet little Pac Man  was done by Alex Ross.

Very cool boarder treatments.

Elu Loquias came up with this clever design of a pool hall,

and Sachi Nandedkar with the bowling alley.

Also notice that almost all these kids brought in colored pencil for accents

which will give them some extra credit points for going above and beyond.

Lastly,

 we end with this critical thinker

 Reese Guitche.

Be sure to check out the little guy peeking around the wall.

Such a creative work!  

SCRUB-A-DUB-DUB

FELTED SOAP SCRUBS

7TH GRADE ART WHEEL - 2015-2016 - 3RD QUARTER

bar soap, dyed rovings, hot water

I'm seeing these soap scrubs all over the place now for sale.

But so far, 

none as pretty and varied as the ones my 7th graders are making.

Let's see.

Meagan Cheng & Ahaan Rajnekar

Eli Bertel & Lena Pattamadilok

Nathan Cho & Enedina Hu Loera

Great job young ones!

WHO'S GOT THE SAUCE?

COLLAGE BOXES WITH STAMPED TISSUE & WIRE PENDANTS

7TH GRADE ART WHEEL - 2015-2016 - 3RD QUARTER

recycled jewelry boxes & tissue paper, Modge Podge, reused hand cut rubber stamps,

craft wire & a special something for pendant

I have a tendency to call anything liquid sauce;

Suntan lotion, Modge Podge, Sawdust glue for clay, etc.

Hence,

"I'm going to sauce myself up for the pool", or

"You need more sauce under your tissue paper",

and so forth.

I buy Modge Podge "sauce" by the gallon,

and between all my classes we probably go thru at least $500 a year,

possibly more.

But it's the best product I've found for collage.

The trick is to use it under whatever you are collaging down, 

then over it.

So let's see what these kids sauced. 

This first one is so much fun 

and was made by Ayaan Ekram,

a very "creative" young man.

Leanne Alcoy used a really beautiful colorway plus touches of gold randomly placed

which brings a bit of movement into the design.

And super clever how she angled the sides of her white text paper.

Love it Leanne!

With Jack Manalo & Loren Kim we also see inside their boxes to their lovely pendants.

This assignment was 3 projects in one:

Collaged Boxes, Stamped Tissue and Wire Pendants.

They learned a lot plus they ended up with a great gift to give.

Enedina  Hu Loera used a Cool or Analogous color scheme.

She brings in a positive message,

and her tissue paper stamping is fabulous.

7th graders,

can you name the patterns she put together?

Alternating Stamps as well as Colors, 

Mirroring & Regular Repeat.

WOW!!!

SNEAK PEEK...

of what my 4th Quarter 7th graders are looking like.

Having way too much fun!

Ha ha

And how messy they are getting.

Sorry Mom!

CONE ME UP SCOTTY

CHARCOAL CONES

7TH GRADE ART WHEEL - 3RD QUARTER - 2015-2016

charcoal on paper

The creativity is flowing in this group as they compose their cones in charcoal.

Let's take a look see.

Starting with this very sophisticated backdrop designed by Loren Kim.

When she turned this in for grading and I uncovered it from it's protective covering,

I was like "Wow"!!

So very impressed.

And check out this soft and lovely cone above,

that has feelings too.  :)

And Palmer Patel comes up with a clever design as well.

I just love how much thought goes into each of these pieces.

Ending with Mmasiolu Gamero's fun interaction between the cone and butterflies.

Butterflies are a signature symbol I found Mmossy including in many of her pieces.

Lovely!

GOING FROM DARKNESS INTO THE LIGHT

VALUE SCALES

7TH GRADE ART WHEEL - 2015-2016 - 3RD QUARTER

graphite & colored pencil

Alrighty,

introducing my 3rd Quarter Art Wheel kids,

ready or not here they are with their clever value scales.

We are starting off with Reese Velez who impressed me from the get-go

because of her skills coming into the class.

Turns out she is good at everything!  ha ha

Next this lovely butterfly was done by Jovitha Prakash.

The kids had to only show me a 5 step value scale but Jovitha did an eleven step scale.

Plus she took the time to add the extra credit colored pencil.

Nice job young one!!

Quiet & shy Chloe Canete came out of the gate with this very large

and important piece.

Wow Chloe!  :)

And Ena Hu Loera made this very soft & pretty drawing.

I was really impressed with how she transitioned her value scale into a colored pencil scale.

And last but not least, a boy!

Yes indeed,

young Andy Ouyang created this magnificent art piece.

I was so impressed with his sophisticated design.

Great job all of you, 

looking forward to seeing more from you guys.