EGG DROP SOUP

Alumni Kaili Hamada,

Class of 2015,

 sent me this great pix  recently of a project she created for her 3-D composition class, 

a requirement for all Art Majors at the University of Hawaii on Oahu.

It's so clever I think I might copy it for my Advanced 3-D students.

Let me know what you think.

Here Kaili explains it in her own words:

Hey Ms. Sposa,

I'm getting to put my thinking and 3-D skills to good use this semester in my 3-D composition class.

This photo was from our Egg Drop today.

We were allowed paper, glue, and toothpicks.

I'm still searching for someone who recorded my drop today,

but from what my teacher said it had the "WOW" factor.

I used some paper to cushion the egg,

creating origami balls/balloons that I glued around the outside of the egg.

Toothpicks placed in the cage with space for collapse/bounce possibilities.

Also a few final cage-like toothpicks around the outside edge too.

The pinwheels were mostly for show,

and it looked pretty as it fell down from what I heard.

I couldn't bear to look  LOL

It was pretty savage though,

I believe only 4 survived out of a class of 21 kids.

I sure am glad mine survived.

I showed all the graphic design/drawing/painting kids in my class

 that I know what I'm doing LOL

 :)

It's just too beautiful to drop Kaili.

Don't know if I could have parted with it like you did.

I'm proud of your feat!

A DELIGHTFUL SURPRISE

Alumni Kaili Hamada,

Class of 2015,

dropped by the last month of school to visit & play on the potter's wheel.

It was so nice to have her back in the fold.

Have a great summer Kaili 

and a terrific & creative 2nd year at the U of H.

Love you sweet girl!

IT'S ALL ABOUT SURFACE DESIGN

Now that Kaili Hamada has learned to throw on the potter's wheel,

she is beginning to experiment with surface design.

She sent me a photo of this lovely bowl that she decorated with a sgraffito design. 

It was done by painting on a pigmented slip onto the plastic clay's surface.

When it becomes leatherhard,

you come in with a carving tool and scratch or carve out your design.

Loving it Kaili!!

A KAILI UPDATE

She's back for her 2nd semester at U.H,

 and taking another pottery class.

Kaili has fallen in love with clay  :)

I so get that,

I fell when I was 16 and a sophomore in Sally Foster Wilde's ceramics class

at Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton, Ca.

Let's see now,

that was 44 years ago,

and the love has grown even deeper.  :)

A few of her new finished pieces to come out of the kiln.

She is also experimenting with some of the upper division cone 10 glazes.

Is one of those called Flambe Kaili?

Looks like a glaze I used 40 years ago at Cal State Long Beach.

Kaili's pots are getting bigger ...

and her shapes more varied and interesting.

But it's this big beauty that intrigues me.

Are these solid pinched forms scored together?

Or are they hollow?

Or perhaps she has throw each one separably on the potter's wheel?

I'd love to know Kaili.

Get back to us please!

A KAILI HAMADA UPDATE

The last time we saw Kaili

 she and her classmates were in the process of Sawdust Firing their Pinch Pots

 at the University of Hawaii.

Since that time she has been learning how to throw on the potter's wheel.

She told me it was a struggle for her,

as it is for most everyone

when you try to learn a new global skill.

But Kaili doesn't let anything beat her,

she tries and tries until she conquers it

 and then becomes one of the best.

So let's see her results.

This is her shelf in the Ceramics Studio of all her finished wares.

We see many of her finished thrown pieces

 alongside her handbuilt ones from earlier in the semester.

Kaili said her instructor had them make many, many mugs,

17 in all for their final...

along with 6 bowls & 6 other forms of their choosing.

They were also required to trim the bottoms of each piece,

extremely labor intensive.

Here are a few of her pieces after the first bisque firing.

You can see how the clay have vitrified a bit and changed color to this pinkish hue.

And here they are  in the process of being glazed.

And 

Tah Dah!!!

the final products ready for the Final grading.

She told me she is planting and selling a few of her pieces as well.

And finally a mug exchange and gathering with fellow classmates and instructor

 at a local hang-out 

to celebrate a job well done.

Proud of you Kaili girl!

FRENCHIE

My girl,

alum Kaili Hamada,

class of 2015,

blowing her heart out on the French Horn,

on the field for the University of Hawaii.

GO KAILI!!!!

2014-2015 SENIOR FAREWELL - PART III

OK,

yeah,

I know,
I play favorites.

Don't we all as human beings??

You just can't help connecting more with some people then others.

And I think it's pretty obvious I connected with these three Intermediate 3-D gals.

From left to right:

Daphne Chiang, me, Bianca Tolentino, & Kaili Hamada.

A more civilized pix  :)

I had a blast with you guys,

teaching many of my favorite art forms.

It's a wonderful feeling to be able to pass on the Fiber Arts,

a lost art/craft in America.

I'm thinking that through so many of you,

you will be able to pass it on in college,

and so forth and so on.

Bianca Tolentino,

a Renaissance woman,

talented in so many of the Fine Arts,

and academically brilliant as well.

Your gifts,

 with your sense of the Dramatic will take you far.

You are an outside of the box thinker

which led you to creative many of the most unique pieces these past two years.

It was always a wonderful surprise looking forward to

 and seeing what you where going to come up with.

Wait till those college professors get a hold of you,

they are going to love you like I do.

All three of these young women worked their fingers to the bone for me,

putting in countless extra hours to pull off their amazing creations.

Before school, snack, lunch, 7th period and after school were a daily norm for them.

It's a beautiful thing to see dedication like that in this new computer generation.

Kaili and Bianca sculpting their plaster torsos.

Some of my favorite pix this year where captured by these 3 monkeys

 as they'd grab my camera

 and start shooting pix of themselves.

And then I'd get home and find them on my disk.

I'd be laughing out loud when I saw them.

And knew they would be perfect for the Tribute.

Other times they were just so darn cute ...

.I couldn't resist taking more pix of these characters.

Or times like these when they were so deep into right brain 

that they didn't even know I was watching them.

As you can see I probably have the most shots of Kaili,

 (she has a bit of indigo dye on her cheek)

because she was in the art room ALL THE TIME the past two years.

She threw herself into so many of the art forms

 and then continued to work on them

 long after the other kids had moved onto something else.

She made use of those TYE-Dye buckets until she exhausted them.

She spun more yarn on the spinning wheel then any other student.

She was possessed  :)

As many of you have been following the blog know,

Kaili is now an Art Major at the University of Hawaii.

Her passion for learning and the arts is a beautiful thing.

And I'm so grateful to have worked with one so dedicated.

I miss you like crazy Kaili-girl.

The lei I wore around my neck during graduation

 was made for me by Kaili and her mother. 

They strung many meaningful trinkets on the lei that they knew I would enjoy.

Thank you mom and Kaili for the lovely gift.

It hangs in my studio office so that I see it everyday,

and reminds me of this wonderful young woman.

Love you Kaili!!!

My sweet, sweet Daphne.

You make my heart expand because you fill it with so much love.

We connected instantly in your 7th grade year,

and our paths came together again in your junior year

 when you were able to come back to me

for Beginning and Intermediate 3-D art.

And last year I discovered that you are just as clumsy as I am,

so we will always be connected thru that as well  LOL

You have been an absolute JOY to work with.

Your innate sense of design and impeccable craftsmanship

 sets your pieces apart from the others.

Your hard work and dedication to all your classes sets you apart as well.

You are both an academic and an artist,

the best of both worlds.

I cannot wait to see where your journey will take you.

I do know that you will touch many lives with your big heart.

Know Daphne,

that you inspire me to be a better person.

Thank you for always giving me your best,

even when it was difficult to do so.

This pix of you above is one of my favorites from this year.

Clever of you to use your sweater as a dust mask.

Like I've told you many times,

your amazing critical thinking skills will take you far  :)

Love you to the moon and back sweet girl!

LOOK AT KAILI GO!

Besides pinch potting,

looks like Kaili is also learning slab and coil techniques

 in her college ceramics class.

I'm also noticing some sgrafitto designing on those two large cylinders.

Nice work Kaili.

My favorite is that little pinch pot

 with the incised grass scratches around it's middle and lip.

Adorable!!

And it looks like you guys have a Chili glaze like ours.  

A great application sweet girl!

Are you all firing to cone 10?

That looks like a Celadon glaze on the outside of your favorite one.

I look forward to more pictures.

We all miss you a lot!!!!