IN THEIR OWN VOICES

MIXED MEDIA MOSAIC TILE BOXES

INTERMEDIATE 3-D ART

polymer clay, glass shards, wood boxes, metallic powders, acrylic paint, stamps

I thought it would be fun to hear from 3 of my favorite students about their art pieces.

So seniors Bianca Tolentino, Daphne Chiang and Kaili Hamada,

take it away!!!!!!!!

Heyo!

 My name's Bianca,

 and I'm actually very surprised as to how this box came about. 

I was jokingly saying how I should make a box to reflect how much of a drama queen I am,

 and it turns out, 

that's what the theme became! 

The words on the box say "Je suis la reine",

 or "I am the queen" in French. 

I think French is a beautiful language,

 and I loved how the metallic rubs looked on the black tile, 

so that's what I based my whole design off of. 

At first,

 I had no idea how to put my design together.

 It is a mosaic box, 

so I made the (totally painfully time consuming) choice of making tiny tiles to put together. 

That bit me in the butt later on when I put all of the tiles together.

 WOW that took a lot of patience, 

something I don't usually have. 

Still,

 I am so happy with the end result.

 My mom has fallen in love with the box,

 and I'm glad she did,

 because she truly is a woman of royalty. 

Thanks so much Ms. Sposa,

 for this assignment and everything you've exposed us to. 

Global skills are for life!

 :D

Hello, 

this is Daphne,

 and you're currently looking at the box I created! 

 I often use sun motifs or warm colors in my pieces. 

 The reason why?

 Well, 

I'm a pretty happy person who's absolutely terrified of the cold.  

The sun and warm colors remind me that when I'm having a bad day or feeling a bit down, 

the future will always be brighter. 

 Since I am graduating this year,

 I figured I would create a memory box where I can put little notes,

 reminders and trinkets,

 that help me remember all the happy moments I have had this year....

and in the future!. 

 It was a pain in the neck gluing all the tiny seed beads down between the clay tiles and glass mosaic pieces, 

but it was definitely worth it. 

I'm so thankful that I had the opportunity to spend 2 full years with Ms. Agrums, 

who constantly encourages me to be creative and confident in the pieces I'm making.  

She has taught me more than just about three-dimensional art

 but how to be a kind and hardworking character. 

 I love you, 

and I sure am gonna miss you when I leave for college. 

 Thank you for everything!

Hello everyone!

 I am Kaili Hamada,

 and the mosaic box pictured here is mine! :) 

I  based my box off of a song called Midnight City by M83, 

and the midnight aspect of the title is what inspired all of the blue tones.

 As you can see,

 I covered every outer surface of my box with tye dyed fabric. 

I absolutely love color and dyeing it into fabric,

 and I incorporate tye dye into every assignment that I am able to! 

The song Midnight City has always put a specific image in my mind.

 I imagine myself biking down a street lit by lamp posts while it is softly drizzling.

 I tried to portray 'night' with the color scheme I used,

 and I used the metallic rubs on my Polymer tiles to represent the lights aligning the street in my imagination! 

Although at times, 

I was really frustrated while trying to fit my glass pieces together nicely, 

my box "Midnight City" turned out to be a piece I'm very proud of. 

A huge thank you to Mrs. Sposa for her constant encouragement to all of us,

 and for helping me be confident in my art work!  

Ahhh,

I had no idea when I asked my beautiful girls to write about their boxes,

that it would turn into a cry fest for me.

Daphne, Kaili and Bianca, 

your heartfelt words touched me deeply.

Know that you will always be with me.

We have made so many wonderful memories together.

I'm going to miss your sweet faces coming in everyday at snack,

giving me a great big hi,

and often a hug,

to get a head start on your projects before class starts.

The hard work and effort you have given me is truly a remarkable thing.

Thank you for your enthusism and honest feedback.

It  helps me everyday to be a better teacher.

And know that I look forward to seeing what the future holds for you dear ones.

More to come to you this summer in my Senior Tribute.

All Boxed Up

MOSAIC TILED BOXES

INTERMEDIATE 3-D ART

wood box, polymer clay, glass shards, wood stain, gold, copper and silver leaf, india ink

Juniors Laarnie and Reis just finished up these stunning boxes in time for the Open House show.

Laarnie picked a wood box with a glass insert and filled in the glass area with polymer tiles embossed with gold, copper and silver leaf.  

Around those tiles she fit in bits of glass shards.

All pieces were glued down with tacky glue.

After staining her box she came in with india ink and dew lots of design elements to enhance her piece,

And when you open the lid you have addition mosaic surprises along with a bit of colored sand.

Tons of hard work went into getting this piece done on time.

Beautiful Laarnie!!

Reis picked out a round wooden box.

Both kids worked to a forest theme.

Reis focused on the age rings inside the tree truck for his lid design, using alternating rounds of polymer and glass.

He spent hours on the box side fitting together glass shards to ring and flow around it.

What precision!

Tremendous patience  :)

Mosaic Tile Boxes - Student Work

My Intermediate 3-D students loved this assignment.  We start by making Polymer tiles (above and below) ala Laurie Mika of "Mixed Media Mosaics", bake them, ... 

then arrange and glue them down to the sweet little wooden boxes I pick up for the kids at Michael's (below).

This striking "Star Gazer" box was made by senior Ashley Chowdhury.  Love the pearlescent paint she used on the inside with the alternating black stripes.

In this next one by senior Amy Hsu, you can see how she incorporated her soldered piece into the lid design (a requirement).

Another requirement was to find a place for one of their fused glass pieces.  Both Ashley and Amy chose to put theirs on the inside cover.

In this next gorgeous work by senior Lauren De Belen, she has chosen to keep her colors in a complimentary color scheme (purple and gold).  She has glued her fused glass piece on the top cover...

and attached her soldered work to the clasp.  Clever girl!

And then there is over achiever (I love it) senior Tiffany lee, you go girl!  Instead of working on the box foundation, she chose a wooden birdhouse instead.   And I don't know where she found the time to make all those tiles.  It's really remarkable. 

Also notice all those gold and silver beads and charms she has incorporated along with the tiles.  A great look.

And wait till you see this next one by senior Angela Wan.  Brilliant use of color and design as you will see below when you open the lid.

She has stayed in a primary color scheme and played up all the value of red and blue.  Fantastic piece kiddo!

I

This next one by junior Josh Berger is so serene and peaceful.  Notice his solder piece in the center works so well with the designs he has built around it.

And then there is senior Sheila San Agustin with her tree box.  Another overachiever  LOL.  She found a bunch of twigs in my room that I'd collected last summer and paper mached them to the box lid, and then did a great surround with her glass shards and beads.

She put her polymer tiles on the sides along with her solder pieces.  Pretty cool tiles, huh??

And then when you take off the lid she has built dividers into her box, padded and lined the inside for a truly remarkable work.  Sheila took this piece home with her every night so she'd be able to finish on time.

Doesn't get any better then this!!!  Love these kids!

Katherine England - Part Two

Not only is Katherine an inspiration to me, but I talk about her and her work to my students as well, and show them what she is up too.  I also like to show my students how artist's live and what their work spaces look like.  Katherine has several work spaces.  Her garage and driveway that we saw yesterday, but also her home.  Not only does Katherine journal everyday, but she also makes her own journals to draw in.  Below you can see her computer office area where she has several of her journals lining the walls.

There is art and craft everywhere inside her home.  Last time I was there she had added these whimsical pom-poms hanging from the ceiling.

She is also an artist in the kitchen and loves to cook and entertain in her 50's kitchen.  Usually when I stop by she has something heavenly simmering on the stove.

Right now her dining room table is also her work space as she puts the finishing touches on this sweet turtle.

A close up of all the beadwork that she incorporates along with the glass mosaic pieces.

Her home also features other artist's works that she collects.  This piece above and below was done by South County artist Laurie Mika.

The inside below.

And everywhere you look there is art;  on every table top, every wall, every available space.

Intermediate 3-D, these next pieces are for you.  We will be doing something similar on wooden box tops with mosaics, beads, charms, soldered and fused glass.

Love the hand and birdcage, and what a great way to use up old nails and chains.

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.