2014-2015 SENIOR FAREWELL - PART I

So here we go my beloved seniors,

your final good-bye and send off.

Sorry it took me so long to get it up.

Who better to start with then my trusty T.A. Sean Dezfulian.

I think I made Sean work harder in my class

 then he worked his whole High School career  LOL

Thank you Sean for going back and forth constantly to my car to haul in all my shit,

for stirring those messy glazes,

for lifting all the heavy stuff, 

for running countless errands,

and all the other endless tasks that I had for you.

And then looking as cool as a cucumber like it was no big deal  LOL

You made each one of my days as a teacher so much easier.

You lightened my load.

I will miss your smart alec ways,

and the fact that you always got my snide remarks as well.

You are in my heart,

actually have been since the 7th grade  :)

Adhora Islam and Evelyn Aldana,

I  so enjoyed working with and getting to know the two of you so much.

The creative energy that came out of you both was huge!!

And you were such an inspiration to the younger kids.

Thank you for your patience with them.

I will miss you two!

Crazy talented Nathon Chong.

It was so frustrating to actually get you to work in class,

but when you did,

such a pleasure to watch you create.

Images and designs flow from your fingers to the paper,

 and I'm hoping you will be able to use this gift in your future.

And speaking of gifts,

you Micheal Cantu,

have so much artistic talent that you consistently brought to the table.

You also have been blessed with the artistic gene,

 and it was truly remarkable to watch you produce on a daily basis.

And on top of all that,

what a wonderful person you are.

It was a pleasure and a treat to be your art teacher.

Jovani Garcia,

what a blow to us all that you were't able to be with us on Graduation.

Know that you were in our hearts as we marched that day.

I'm also so very sad that I wasn't able to hug you good bye and wish you well.

So hoping one day you will be back so we can share that hug,

I'll also be able to give you back your portfolio and get back my watercolor brush  LOL

What I loved the most about you Jovani, 

was that you were always with me whenever I spoke or demoed anything.

You got all my subtle nuisances and snarky remarks,

even  when it went right over the other kids heads.

You are mature beyond your years and a fine young man.

Please stop in and see me one last time.

Anna Lee,

I waited forever for you to come back to me.

You were an awesomely talented artistic 7th grader,

 and it took you 5 years before you could fit me back into your busy schedule.

It was worth the wait!

You produced so many uniquely beautiful & sensitive art pieces in the 3-D class.

And I loved that you were brave enough to give that spinning wheel a try.  

It was like watching a bird fly home.

That spinning wheel, drum carder and you belonged together  LOL

May your next journey be as wonderful as your one thru my art classes.

Ahhhh,

Sunny Kim.

I love you.

It was such a joy for me to be your teacher.

You bring out the best in everyone and bless us with your smile everyday.

You lit up the art room with your warmth and goodness,

and your art pieces were truly wonderful,

just like you.

I feel very fortunate that I own your wooden figure.

It hangs in my art studio where I look at it everyday and think of you.

You are forever in my heart!

Reis Masaka and Laarnie Barcelon

Who knew,

 in your junior year,

that you two would become more then friends your senior year.

It was a treat for me to watch your love bloom 

as the two of you became best friends.

Reis,

I want to especially thank you,

 for you and your family's generosity and graciousness.

You continually thought of me for all the special occasions 

with your delicious gifts

you brought for my husband and  I.

And you remembered me even in your senior year 

when you didn't even have my class!!

Your thoughtfulness and kindness touched my heart.

You are a keeper!

Laarnie is very lucky to have you in her life.

She can learn a lot from you.

A NEW ASSIGNMENT

STORY CLOTH

ADVANCED 3-D ART

recycled fabrics w/ text

It began with senior Laarnie Barcelon writing her story:

then choosing her fabrics to flow with it.

Writing those words directly onto her fabric.

Manipulating,

she ripped and wove them back together again,

(ala Jude Hill)

and stitched it all back into one.

Incorporating more fabrics and her words...

with stitch and embellishments.

To a final ending...

that flows with her story.

Lovely!!

And worth repeating.

ALTERED GARMENT CONSTRUCTION

ADVANCED 3-D ART

thrift store finds

Senior Laarnie Barcelon  is at it again,

creating something wonderful with old cast offs.

Her thrift store finds include:

multi-layered short white cotton skirt,

polyester blouse,

my favorite,

this vintage white cotton slip with hand and machine embroidery.

an old cotton night dress,

and a wonderful pair of black leather heels.

The assignment was to deconstruct the old clothes,

 and reassemble them with each other to make a pleasing garment that actually fit.

And to dye, embellish by hand and machine, 

and to make accessory pieces to compliment the outfit.

I wish Laarnie was here to write up what exactly she did.

She was also able to dig around in my donation bin

 and add additional fabrics to the mix.

Her accessories where earrings that she made from different pieces of found jewelry.

I find it very cool that the earrings are completely different 

yet both work together as a set with the outfit.

Congrats Laarnie on a job well done.

TAA TA DAH!!

REALISTIC CLAY HEAD RATTLES

CERAMICS I

clay, glazes & oxides

Here they are, 

the heads we saw last week peeking at us from the kiln shelf.

All so expressive.

The kids were scared of this assignment.

I think they surprised themselves with how well they did.

 This wonderfully perplexed soul was created by junior Efrain Quintero.

He stained him with cobalt carbonate which turns a blue/black without glaze over top.

Senior Michelle Cuatrona has sculpted this hopeful individual with the crazy piercings.

Michelle used metal right in the plastic clay for the pierced jewelry.

You might be noticing that most of these faces that I share are males.

That's because it is very difficult to sculpt a female in clay.

The reason is because when first learning to make these faces 

we have a tendency to make the features overly large 

which translates to a male face.

I feel junior Celeste Zambrano's piece on the left is leaning more towards female than male

 because of the longer blonde hair and blue eyes.  

8th grader Julia Ruiz knocked me out of the water with hers.

I love it!

Looks like a rock-a-billie character with those longer sideburns.

I also really like how expressive 8th grader Eugene Ho's face is.

He did a tremendous job with all his features.

Very believable.

And then there was senior laarnie Barcelon's,

the class favorite.

A fabulous piece in every way!

Features, expression and glazing.

DISPLAYING A LARGE PIECE OF ART

Senior Laarnie Barcelon,

sold one of her largest pieces to our English teacher Donna Hall.

Donna's room is already chock full of pieces she has bought from my art students at our Open House Sales,

so I was especially curious to see how she was going to display such a large work.

She picked the wall panels right behind her lecture podium to hang the piece.

She backed half of each panel with a gently patterned piece of fabric 

in a color that worked without distraction.

Then she went to Michael's Crafts and found the most wonderful twig and wire border

to place around the edge of the fabric.

Next she plans to buy a few more student art works to compliment Laarnie's sculpture

to hang in the negative spaces.

Can't wait to see it next year when she finishes her dispaly.

Maybe I'll photo the entire room so you can see her incredible collection. 

FAVORITE ASSIGNMENT

CARVED GLASS PLAQUES

CERAMICS I

clay, glass shards and glaze

Probably one of the favorite assignments of the year 

are these Carved Glass Plaques done by my beginners.

They are quite a treat for the eye!

This first one was made by senior Nikita Govind,

and I'm thinking she was already dreaming of summer vacation.  :)

I really like how senior Arun Ramakrishnan combined both glaze and the melted glass shards 

for his super hero piece.

 I felt it was one of his best works this year. 

Great design Arun!!!

Senior Payal Morari was the only one who thought to fracture her design...

and senior Ankita Batra brings us stunning color combined with black glaze on her bird.

Filling all those tiny craters with glass shards took a lot of patience which Ankita has.

And junior Sitara Puliyanda cleverly hides her first name in her piece amongst the leaves.

She also has thought to move the green from light to dark...

giving a dimensional effect.

Impeccable craftsmanship and lovely designs

are the hallmark of all of junor Christine Kim's works,

like the rose above.

And let us end with senior Laarnie Barcelon's highly remarkable piece here.

Besides carving areas away for her glass shards to melt into, 

she has also sculpted in bas relief her cat woman face.

She has brought in a bit of nail polish to achieve her reds.

Finding a red glaze in cone 5 is pretty difficult.

A little bit easier at cone 10.

So seniors...

take a ceramics class when you get to college so you can fire at cone 10.

It's the best!!!!

They've got the money, the kilns and the glazes  :)