SHE'S BACK!!!

So it's only taken me 2 1/2 years to get here,

but I think I might be back

 to finishing up the hundreds of pictures 

that I still have left to post from my last 2 years of teaching,

2017-2018 & 2018-2019.

I know I've snuck in a few here and there (not many though),

but mostly I had some kind of mental block about doing it.

Maybe I couldn't admit it was finally over,

the job of a lifetime.

Or maybe I was just too bitter and disappointed 

 about how it all ended and went down to pick my new replacement.

Crushed actually.

My program of 39 years that I built up,

the supplies I accumulated with virtually no District support,

 only pennies a year for each student.

Damn,

 I could go on forever here (still not over it yet I guess, LOL).

That all went down the tubes because of inner school politics;

neopotism, favoritism and fear of the Administration.

The result is that I never existed there,

nothing left behind of me.

Plus I'm not welcome back by Admin which is the hardest pill to swallow.

The hurt is so very deep. 

 But this past week I feel a new energy,

some healing has taken place I believe,

and I have been posting nearly every night for the next day.

And it feels GREAT!

I'll be skipping around a lot between those last 2 years

 because I'm not as organized as I once was,

and also I might be forgetting a few names.

 But I'll try my best.

7th Grade Soap Scrubs

2nd Quarter 2018-2019

bar soap, dyed wool roving in multiple colors, wool yarns,

old nylons and plenty of hot water.

The last names cannot be found 

but I haven't given up yet!

Asmita and Jayden B.

I picked these 2 because I felt they really stood out visually in color and design from the others. 

And this one above by Cristine because I felt it was breathtaking.

I saw a mountainous area with clouds gathering 

and a waterfall sweeping over the landscape.

What is also remarkable about this one is that during the felting process 

a big chunk of the wool started falling away 

and Christine had to sew it back in place after it was dry.

I love how she was able to save it!

These next 4 were very pleasing crowd favorites 

with all the lovely combos. of  blues and greens.

From top to bottom were Sharanya, Hanna, Ayana and Alexander.

And of course the absolute favorite of the group 

was this one by Ellie Ta.

In her before and after,

 you can see how much the felt shrinks and moves from the oringinal design.

It's super hard to control once you hit it with hot warm and happy hands.

HA!

These were all done in a technique called wet felting.

LOTS AND LOTS OF SOAP SUDS

FELTED SOAP SCRUBS

7TH GRADE ART WHEEL - 3RD QUARTER - 2016-2017

bar soap, dyed wool roving & hot water

The little cuties love this messy and wet assignment.

So messy that we have to do it outside the classroom,

and sometimes with gloves.

Alexis Raquino,

from the 2nd Quarter Art Wheel group,

 cutting off excess wool that was being stubborn and not felting down correctly.

Know it came out just fine.

Now to the 3rd Quarter group.

Bianca Pagal did this adorable face above.

And Tiffany Cheng arranged a bunch of hearts that showed up so nicely 

because of the wonderful contrast between light and dark.

But my absolutely fav was this one by Viviana Cruz.

Reminded me of pictures I've seen of the Irish countryside.

On my bucket list.

So lovely and heathery.

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!

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!

SCRUB-A-DUB-DUB

FELTED SOAP SCRUBS

7TH GRADE ART WHEEL - 2ND QUARTER - 2015-2016

dyes wool roving, bar soap & hot water

This is such a fun experience for the little ones,

getting all wet & soapy at school  

LOL

Let's see whose is whose.

Need some help 7th graders for the one on the far left,

 but the beautifully shaped "L" was done by Lucy Acuna,

and Aaron Amaya belongs to the cool looking spider on the right.

We had several kids choose a neutral color palette to work in.

From left to right,

Clara Kim, Agatha Manzano, & Bada Bok.

And these colorful ones belong to Cameron Dang, Emmanuel Alvarez, & William Chung.

And to end we have Alyssa Samson & Alexa Centeno.

Great job 7th graders!!!!

Miss you guys

xoxoxo

Soap

FELTED SOAP SCRUBS

7TH GRADE ART WHEEL 2015-2016 1ST QUARTER

bar soap and dyed wool roving

Aren't these stunning??

My sweet little 7th graders created some dazzling soap scrubs.

From top to bottom, right to left are:

James Lara

Glenna Mabilangan

Rawnie Singh

Emma Phungraksakiat

Andrea Sanchez

Great work young ones!!!

HAPPINESS IS...

FELTED SOAP SCRUBS

7TH GRADE ART WHEEL 2014-2015 4TH QUARTER

hot water, bar soap & dyed wool rovings

I couldn't resist capturing the smiles as these young ones were felting their soap scrubs.

By the time they were done all table tops were filled with soap suds.

And they were such sweethearts, 

they cleaned it all up!

And below center is Malia Pulido who I'm always asking for help with who made what.

I taught art to both of her parents,

Gloria and Mark,

 back in the day.

And now her daddy is our Mayor of Cerritos.

Pretty dang cool!!

SOAPY GOODNESS

FELTED SOAP SCRUBS

7TH GRADE ART WHEEL

colored wool roving, soap bars & hot water

Oh Malia,

Malia Pulido,

I need your help again!!

My husband accidently threw away some of my notes for who created these pieces.

Do you know whose are whose???

Help!

I adore the rich colors both these students worked with.

The one on the left reminds me of a watercolor with a human on it's knees;

the one on the right marbleized papers wrapped up with twine which Malia tells me 

belongs to Gabby Roxas..

And how clever to use "Starry Night" as inspiration Adele Sarmiento!

And all three of these have such great color and pizazz.

Thinking the happy face was done by Min Kim.

But it was this subtle one that really moved me by Jessica Uyan.

Makes me think of a waterfall in the forest.

Very tranquil.

SCRUBBING BUBBLES

FELTED SOAP SCRUBS

7TH GRADE ART WHEEL 2014-2015  3RD QUARTER

bar soap, very hot water & dyed wool roving

The little 7th graders love this assignment cuz they get to make a soapy mess,

and we do the felting outside the room because it gets just a little too crazy wet.  :)

I want to start with their happy faces...

and then show you the cool results.

Above we have Elliana Lee and Rachel Tanala,

and below are Adriana Endow-Smith and Jazmin Salazar.

Each is unique and lovely.

Let the Felting Begin!

FELTED SOAP SCRUBS

7TH GRADE ART WHEEL - 2ND QUARTER

soap, hot water  & wool roving

The little ones had a blast making these felted scrubs, 

and they always turn out well.  

We had a lot of kids choosing neutral color schemes this quarter which was interesting to me.

Let's take a look.

Both pieces above really reminded me of landscapes.

The one on the left by Veronica Baek looks like the moon behind tree limbs,

and the one on right by Ashley Sunwoo reminds me of the big rock formation at Morro Bay.

Here are some of our neutrals.

Bottom left is Jeffrey Hwang, 

middle one was created by Solyana Chan,

and far right is Nikolas Lam.

Beautiful job!

And lastly we have Julie Franklin who made a smiley face on the top of hers,

but during felting it shifted to the side.

She was disappointed by I thought it was really sweet.

Getting Wet and Soapy

SOAP SCRUBS

4TH QUARTER 7TH GRADERS 2013-2014

wool, water and soap

Are these happy faces or what???

My 7th grade cuties are having way too much fun outside my room felting wool around bars of soap.

I partner them up so they have helpers to fetch water and clean up the big mess that goes with this project.

As you can see sometimes they have a little too much fun like Sajan below with his partial soap mustache.  :)

I average between 28 to 32 7th graders per quarter, and they all love this assignment! 

Even when they goof up and their soap scrub looks like a it has a rooster tail on top like Dion's below.

I just want them to come away enjoying the creative process and knowing that it's all good.

This first beauty was done by Ananya.

And the pretty pink one below by Lina.

T.J and Sahana did these next two below.

Love both their striking color combos.

While the kids were learning to do this project our Principal, Dr. Bus, stopped in to learn the process as well.

She really enjoyed watching the kids pick out their colors, so I asked her to pick out he favorites, and then after she left we made this one below for her.

My Intermediate 3-D student and Art Tech, Laarnie Barcelon, created a beautiful collaged box below to house Dr. Bus' soap scrub in, and presented it to her on one of the last days of school.

Thank you Dr. Bus for stopping by, the kids really enjoy having you learn with them.

So Long, Farewell...

2ND QUARTER 2014 7TH GRADERS

It's that time again to say good-bye to the old and to bring in a new crop of 7th graders. 

Look at those sweet faces, what a joy it has been getting to know these very special 2nd Quarter kids.  So many gifted artists in the bunch.   Ms. Improta is going to love you guys, be good to her, and come back to visit me.  

FELT SOAP SCRUBS

Probably the funnest assignment for these young ones, lots of soapy water to play in.  The scrubs , as always, turned out really well.  

This top one is so lovely and was created by sweet little Dustine Ansiboy.

These next two beauties were made by Stephany Arciga and Dinithi Senanayake. 

At the end of class, Phoebe Lao called me outside to see her very soapy creation.  Told you they love this assignment  :)

7th Grade Soap Scrubs - 1st Quarter

Too cute, right??

That's Sami's sweet little piggy, just like her pet pig at home.  This one was everyone's favorite.

Lindsey, Leanna, and Derek all chose this sensory turquoise wool to design with...

and Bryan and Jimena had fun with the multi-colored wool roving.

Here's a couple of pix of the little ones making a soapy mess as they felt their soap scrubs.  By the time they are done the concrete is nice and clean  :)