Mosaic Tile Boxes - Student Work

I'm so excited to share these remarkable boxes.  They were made by my Intermediate 3-D students, and these poor kids had to jump thru lots of hoops on the design requirements.  But I think after they were done they appreciated all the hard work, because their results were spectacular.  

I was inspired by Laurie Mika's work and book "Mixed Media Mosaics".  She's a local So. Cal. mixed media artist.  I buy the little wooden boxes in several shapes and then the students go to town embellishing the tops with glass shards, beads, soldered pieces they make, text, fused glass they've made, and the Laurie Mika tiles they make from polymer clay.  I also ask them to limit their color palette and work to a theme.  These are the astounding results.

This first one I fell in love with as senior Ingrid Huang was making it.  Extremely eye-catching design with a lot of movement and rhythm,

and then when you open the lid, more wonderful visuals.

This stunning star box was created by senior Borah Lim,

and this striking triangular footed box was made by junior Rita Labib.  Yes, we saw her sawdust fired coil pot yesterday because Rita had 2 classes with me this last year.

This next one was another favorite by junior Joyce Le.  She has done so many creative details on this work , and she's found so many unusual beads, hardware findings and charms to incorporate into her design.  A brilliant piece Joyce!  Take a close look.

The side view is just as exciting as the top.

This next very creative piece belongs to9th grader Karisma Dev.  Love how she formed the wire pieces over top her soldered drawing.  Highly unique. 

The inside below.

And then there is this heavenly piece by junior Kevin Tang.  Kevin used his faith as inspiration, with several lovely design details on the inside.   

My students look forward to this project every year since we started doing it about 3 or 4 years ago.  It was a pleasure to show off their designs and hard work.

Coil Pots- Native American Style

I haven't done this assignment since the late 80's with my Ceramics I kids, but I brought it back this year, and  so glad I did.  The kids enjoyed the project and we had many really nice results.  Years ago I made a full class set (over 35) of these fairly small clay pinch pot bowls in various sizes called pokies (not sure of the spelling anymore).  So each child picks one that looks the most interesting to them and builds their coil pot inside it.   They use the pokie as a support, and as they build upward they use it as a wheel head to turn their work as they go.  It's like a potter's wheel head or a banding wheel.  When I made these pokies, I bisqued then sawdust fired them so that the clay will pop out when they are done with their pot.

This top pot was one of my favorites and was made by sophomore Ann Munoz.  I love the metallic compounds that she rubbed over the sawdust fired finish, and of course the stitching along the top edge.  

As the students were building their pots I asked them to be thinking about what they wanted to embellish with at a later date.  So, did they need to poke holes in the walls to dangle things from, or to weave fibers thru?

These next 2 above were done by seniors Alice Cho and Priya Shah.  See how Priya punctured holes around her rim but then she didn't use them to dangle anything from, instead they work as surface design.  She definitely took the easy way out, but guess what, it works  :)

Below senior Michael Marin alternated buttons and beads for a really good look along the side of his pot.  And look also at the beautiful sawdust markings on the pot.  Lovely.  You never know what you are going to get when you sawdust, but usually it's always a nice surprise.

Once again, this assignment was done during the end of the school year so they had to scavenge thru the trinkets left in the classroom, or bring in their own.  I feel the kids came up with some very creative solutions.

I bisque and sawdust fired their pots then they had a choice as to their finish.  They could brush on watered down glue to seal them and give them a slight sheen, or they could rub them with metallic finishes.  But they all had to embellish.

Above we have seniors Andy Hwang and Sagar Shah.  I was really impressed with the shape Andy was able to achieve in this coil technique.  And I like how Sagar finished his piece off with metallics, stitching and buttons.

Below senior Shavonna Walker did some really cool embellishing with waxed linen, braiding and beads.

Junior Fernando Jacinto went all out on his bowl above.  Great use of color, and other findings from my goodie boxes.  I also really like the uneven edge treatment.  It makes the piece look more organic.  Great job Fernie!  

Another favorite of mine was completed by sophomore Tahnee Thantrong below.   Tahnee is a fabulous designer and I'm really looking forward to working with her again next year.  Notice how she necked the shoulder area in and squared it off?  And then added those sweet handles?  With the perfect embellishment? Brilliant!!!

And look at this beauty by senior Lorena Morales.  Love the incised decoration inside, and then how cool the sawdust finish looks as well.

Senior Michelle Lee is next with this fun feather piece, a bit of wire, waxed linen and beads.

And lastly, this very contemporary looking sculpture by junior Rita Labib.  Rita chose the largest pokie, and instead of doing a typical ending, used some ripping, and manipulating of her rim to get a really gorgeous looking piece.  Rita choose to put her embellishment in before the firings.  She pushed nails right into the clay when it was still plastic for a great look.  

Rita has also inspired me for next school year.   I think I'm going to require the kids to come up with an asymmetrical ending, so that no one ends up with a traditional looking piece.  And look at how lucky she got with the sawdust finish, fabulous markings.

Clay Masks - Student Work

These masks were made by my Beginning 3-d kids, and for many it was their first time to work in clay. They draped their slabs over a newspaper mold and I asked them to design their pieces with a lot of surface embellishment both before and after firing. These two were my favorites. The top one was made by senior Kevin Ni, and the lower one by senior Anne Guu.

I loved how both kids used raffia as accents, and Anne even added some seed beads. I also asked the students to try to bring in some kind of expressive quality, and I feel both kids did just that! Terrific job you two.

Interactive Clay Sculptures - Student Art

My Beginning Ceramics students just finished up this complex clay piece that had to be both interactive (movable parts) as well as embellished with mixed media in the finishing stage after coming out of the glaze firing. There were so many outstanding pieces to choose from to post. So I hope you enjoy what I picked out. One of my personal favorites belongs to senior Justin Currlin (above). I think it's brilliant how he incorporated the curved wire between the legs of his octopus. And then for extra points he built a stand to place his piece on. And look at the embellishment on that! I'm hoping that Justin goes on to take more art classes in college.

Next we have senior Heidi Aguilar who went all out on her piece too. Look at the paper collage she has glued on top of the glaze, and the fabulous base she built for her piece to stand on.

In the photo above senior Eugene Kim has done a sensitive and beautiful job embellishing his dragonfly that rests on the tree stump. Both the tree and wings have numerous seed beads glued onto them.

And senior Julie Jung has made a lovely flower chime. My favorite part of her piece is the inside of the flower. She has filled it with lots of nail heads (see photo below).

And senior Janet Hurtado has done this adorable frog whose arms move up and down. And again, look at the great base it's resting on. Soooooooooooooo cute Janet!

Senior Jennifer Su has gone all out on her embellishments so I've provided you with several close-ups so you can appreciate all the time and effort she put into her piece. The little clay heart is really a lid that pops off.

The kids were also to have made clay beads and charms to incorporate with their other added embellishments, so look closely and you will see how Jennifer strung hers in.

These next two belong to seniors Erin Unson and Chris Shishido. Erin put a lot of thought into how hers was going to come together in the finished work and made multiple pieces (above) and Chris pretty much did the same with his piece. Chris' chime reminds me of an island woman. Love the contrast between your glaze and beads Chris.

And lastly, another personal favorite of mine was done by senior Tryphena Liu. Love all the clay as well as bead and wire embellishments that she incorporated. What a fun piece! Great job everyone. You really outdid yourselves with this assignment.

Ashley Morris - Paper Cloth Fusion - Student Art

Inspired by mixed media artist Kelli Nina Perkins (see Artisits I Follow sidebar) and her book "Stitch Alchemy", Ashley, a junior, and my 4th year 3-d art student, created this extraordinary paper quilt. She spent hours building her stitch papers in all the different colorways that she wanted to use in the finished product, then embellished them with paint, stamping, and so much more. After she was satisfied she sketched out her design and cut out her cloth-paper shapes, stitched them to one another for the background, then cut out her subject and stitched those pieces over top the foundation. As a finishing touch she added seed beads for added interest then bordered piece with a black matt. See close up below which showcases her impeccable craftsmanship. Spectacular work Ashley, I'm so proud of you. Can't wait for Kelli to see it! Sending her an e-mail right now!

Hand Felted Bags with Lining - Student Art

My 2nd year 3-D art students just recently finished up these gorgeous felt bags. As always they had to jump through several hoops in the creative process. First of all, they had to make their own felt from raw, hand dyed wool rovings (see Joanna Gleason on side bar for rovings). Then they were required to do some needle felted designs as well as sew on some decorative beads. The most tedious part of the bag was creating and invisible stitching in the inner lining. They had to make their own patterns for everything. These kids possess amazing critical thinking skills to be able to pull the lining off! And lastly they had to put some kind of a closure on the bag so it would stay closed. The bags above belong to from top to bottom, left to right: junior Angeline Tran, senior Christie Connors, senior Alma Gudino, senior Trisha Shah, Alma on the next two, and junior Olivia Hill. Several of these girls I have been working with since they were 7th graders.

The piece above is Trisha's and you can see her needle felted designs as well as her decorative seed beads. And what a great button she found for the closure. Below is her felt right after she had finished making the foundation piece.

Olivia's foundation was my personal favorite. Love the colors and and the movement within the design. And below is a close up of one of Alma's 2 extra credits bags that she was able to make from her one foundation piece. Plus she needle felted the flower and crocheted her strap. Am I a lucky woman to work with these amazing children or what? :)