FRAMED & DELIVERED

After several weeks of deliberation about whether to gift this piece to my husband

who expressed his love of it,

or to give it to my son and his wife as a very tardy wedding gift,

my son won out.

Getting it to them was another matter

and barely fit in my car,

 but only with the top down.

It is at least 4 ft by 4 1/2 feet.

So needless to say it was a long, slow and careful journey as the wind whipped it to and fro 

against my seat back as I made that long trek to his home in the valley.

But I'm so glad I gave it to them for they ohhed and ahhed over it, 

and have already decided to hang it on a prominent wall in their front room.

Plus it was a wonderful surprise for them both

and completely unexpected.

My heart is happy.

I have since finished another smaller one which I really like as well, 

and am going to show my newly formed knit group how to wet block with it.

DISPLAYING ARTWORK

This tiny & stunning piece of hand stitching (4" by 4")

was done by one of my favorite Fiber Artists,

Hazel Montes of Handstories.

I purchased it from her shop about a year ago

 and finally figured out how I wanted to frame it out.

I have used this technique now a couple of times with Hazel's tiny Sailing Ships,

and love that you can hang them in a window to enjoy.

I also love the fact that I'm re-purposing 

these vintage crochet doilies.

Now I'm going to send this off to one of my all time favorite students 

whose coming to visit in August from her second semester abroad studying Architecture,

Karisma Dev. 

While with me for each of her 6 years at Whitney,

she studied all the Fiber and Sculptural Arts,

Beginning thru Special Studies 3-D Art,

as well as Beginning 2-D art. 

I know she will love and appreciate Hazel's handwork & design as much as I do.

If you have the time or interest,

insert Karisma's name into my search engine

 and you can see many of the pieces she created for me over the years.

She is also top in her class at Syracuse University

and I couldn't be more proud of her!

WHAT'S YOUR POINT?

POINTILLISM  WITH WATERCOLOR & FRAMING

ADVANCED 2-D ART

assorted colored felt tip markers w/ both large & small nibs, watercolor & brushes on mixed media paper or bristol, matt board & matt cutters

During the last several years,

a few of my 3rd year 2-D students have asked if they could bring in a bit of watercolor

 to their Pointillism piece.

Absolutely,

great idea!

So I believe it was last year that I changed up this assignment by adding watercolor 

as an additional requirement.

I asked then senior Samantha Tun to do several small samples before she began her original piece.

First she tried the markers all by themselves in Pointillism,

then she tried another by putting down her watercolor first,

letting it dry, 

then bringing the markers over top that.

But it was her third sample that she liked the most.  

She laid down the markers first then watercolored over them for a very cool effect.

Since the markers are water-based they smeared slightly as the watercolor went down 

which soften the pointillism look. 

And that's what we are seeing below in her finished original piece.

Her subject,

 a photograph she took of herself (self-portrait) amongst the leaves on the sidewalk.

I loved the composition the moment she showed me her photo. 

And with the watercolor skills already in place from 2nd level art class,

she was able to make a stunning piece.

In fact,

 I liked it so much, 

I bought it at Open House to teach with this year.

If you look closely below you can see several areas where the points of marker went down, 

then the water smeared them a bit into a value change.

So subtle and lovely Sam!

Also note how she framed it out.

That was an additional assignment,

her final actually for 1st Quarter.

She had to build and design a pleasing matt for her piece.

First she chose a piece of black poster board and flicked white paint on it.

Then she thought to place pieces of aluminum foil over several sections.

Unusual idea but it works.

I adore this piece, 

and it fits the season so well with all our falling leaves right now.

FIRST QUARTER FINAL

MATTING

ADVANCED 2-D ART

mat board & mat knife

For seniors Elias Rodriquez and Jonathan Hsu,

choosing either their Pointillism or Prismacolor original to mat up, 

was their final for the quarter.

They both have cut two previous mats for me in the Intermediate class

last year,

but it's still a challenging task. 

And not only did they need to cut a mat, but they were required to embellish the mat

in some way to flow visually with their art piece.

Above we see Elias touching up his Prismacolor

by adding more highlights to it,

to balance with the white pen drawings he did on the mat.

Both works turned out phenomenally,

and I'm so very proud to show them off.

Elias Rodriquez

Jonathan Hsu

Stick & Ink Drawings w/ Watercolor & Collage

I love showing off the results of this project because the assignment just keeps evolving and changing with each year that we do it.  It started off as a simple pen & ink work that grew into including ink washes, then watercolor, then collage.  What happens is a student will ask permission to try something outside the framework of the assignment, I say sure, go ahead; and then it turns out so well, I feel inspired to try it with the whole group the next year.

These works are done by my Intermediate 2-D kids.  They were allowed to pick their own subject matter, and then draw it in Modified Contour (again a Betty Edward's Right Brain thing) using only a thin wood dowel sharpened and dipped in india ink (my idea :).  So no pencil, no erasing.  This really freaks them out at first, so we do a practice piece before the original.  Then they find they love the technique, and off they go.

After the ink drawing they must mix up 3 values of ink wash and brush those in their appropriate places to create shadows.  Two more techniques remain.  Collage and watercolor to finish them off with in any order they want.  I do usually recommend collage before the watercolor though.

Now senior Belinda Wu (above and below) has taken her piece even one step farther by puncturing pin holes into her paper and sewing the heart with red thread.  Brilliant piece kiddo!  And get this, it's Belinda's first time watercoloring and look at how she took to it like a duck to water in her little mouse below.  A very talented young woman who is in the process of applying to Art Center and Rhode Island School of Design.  Should be a piece of cake for you, they will probably be fighting over you Belinda  LOL  

In this next one by senior Halah Elsahhar I really feel she has created a sensitive, lovely mood with her work.  Every time I see it I just kind of go ahhhhhh and relax.  :)

The students were required to frame out their pieces as well, and one of my favorite frames was made by senior Kevin Tang.  Plus I love his piece he created as well. The eucalyptus leaves are such a nice touch.

Junior Megan Fong belongs to this next one.  Sorry Megan that I shot it tilted.  Beautiful layers of collaged tissue with gold flecks surround her flower.  Megan totally got what I wanted with the ink washes used to shade the piece with.

And this last one was done by junior Michaela Platt, and again, I'm so sorry Michaela that it's out of focus.  I really need to work on photography skills.  :)  Look at the value range she has achieved with her tissue collage in the foreground, and her lovely use of watercolor.  Such a pretty piece. 

Prismacolor Metamorphasis - Student Work

Senior Laura Kadi is my sole 3rd year 2-D student, a very difficult class to make it into.  Laura just finished this lovely prismacolor piece in which she had to morph two unlike objects.  she choose a young girl and a hilltop waterfall.  Prismacolor is a waxy colored pencil and a bit challenging to learn to use.  I feel that Laura did an excellent job with both the morph and the pencils.  But what I especially love is how she framed out her piece which was her final assignment for 1st quarter.  She began with corrugated cardboard and collected a bunch of vegetation to embellish the top with, as well as bringing it into the work itself.  

Brilliant piece Laura!  I'm so proud of you!    

2 Point Box Constructions - Student Work

It is very rare for me to put up everyone's piece for each project on the blog.  I usually only showcase the best of the best.  So it's really remarkable when all the students make the cut as in this particular assignment. Congrats to all 5 of you!

This is an Intermediate 2-D perspective assignment that the students over the years have made so much more complex then it really is, which is delightful to me!  The basic requirements were to draw a minimum of 3 boxes using graphite in 2 point perspective, making sure that one of the boxes sits atop another in some creative way.   And to bring in a light source thru shading as well as bring a bit of color into the work.  Then to put a border around it.

Junior Megan Yeu has done just that and more in her piece here. She's brought in people, landscaping with waterbased pastels, and then bordered it in a very pleasing way for a very pretty work.  

Another junior, Michaela Platt, has designed a pirate's paradise with a very pleasing border that ties it all together.  As you are looking at these note the difference in the students shading styles.  I encourage everyone to find their own style whether thru using hatchure strokes, crosshatching, paper stump blending, etc.

Here is senior Belinda Wu, a very talented designer, who puts in incredible amounts of time and effort into her pieces as well as bringing in a touch of content as well.  I love that!

Senior Kevin Tang's work is always chock full of content above.  And I also like how he's bringing in some splatter effects.

And lastly, senior Halah Elsahhar has created a very unique and lovely design.  I really like how she is mixing media with the ink and graphite.  And those floating stairs are spectacular!

Samantha Arias and her Prismacolor Metamorphasis

Junior Samantha Arias, who left us a couple of weeks ago to go to Gahr High School, and who I have been teaching art to since she was in the 7th grade, did me a favor and left her nicest art pieces for me to put out at our Open House coming up in April.  This piece below was probably one of my favorites she created this year.  

The assignment was to morph two unlike objects together and then put it into a setting that made sense, kind of a surrealistic type composition.  The medium is Prismacolor, a waxy colored pencil.  Sam's grandmother had just passed away right before we started the assignment, so she was inspired to morph a skeleton with a butterfly.  As part of her final she was to take the piece and make an interesting frame to compliment the work.  Sam had saved and pressed several flowers from her grandmother's funeral and she incorporated them into her frame for a very special tribute to her Nana.

One of her best friends, junor Marison Arcille sent me this photo that she had taken of Sam and I .  Thank you Marison.  

Go to school Sam!!  Behave yourself....

Paper Mache' Framed Appliquilts - Student Work

We've seen these appliquilts earlier in the year, but what you didn't see were how the kids built paper mache' frames out of cardboard, masking tape, newspaper/starch, and paper collage to float them in.  And some of the back sides are even cooler then the fronts.  So enjoy!

Above and below we have sophomore Rita Labib's gorgeous, detailed work.  Check out the use of twigs, laces and peacock feathers she has incorporated into her frame.

The kids were required to include their names, city, state, date and title, plus anything else they wanted to add to the back side.  In this eye-catching piece, 8th grader Karisma Dev has brought in netting, twigs, text, and her preliminary tye-dye sampler that she fan folded to use as a focal point on the back side. 

Senior Tiffany Wang's nailed the visual flow that was required so that the frame worked with the colors and design of the quilt without distracting from it. 

Junior Jaimee Chirico has created a powerful statement thru both her quilt and frame.

Here senior Anisha Mistry went all out on the back side of her frame.  As you can see, these kids give me an amazing amount of effort on all their assignments.

Senior Anika Haque's frame is just as playful and sweet as her quilt.

Senior Brenda Yee went for a much more subtle approach to go with her very sensitive and calming quilt.  As you can also see the students were required to put a hanging devise on the backside.  I love all the solutions the kids came up with to handle this requirement.

Junior Noel Kim's back side was so well done, just like her quilt. 

And one of my personal favorites was done by junior Elsie Aguilar.  Fantastic visual flow, and the design on the back side was brilliant.

I'm so proud of all of you for working so very hard for me.

Framed Art in Mr. Z's Room

One of my all time favorite teachers here at Whitney, Rod Ziolkowski, who leads our Science Dept. and who also teaches Multi-Media, is an art lover. He is always one of the first teachers to show up at my Open House Art Preview, and he usually buys several pieces each year, oftentimes spending hundreds of dollars (his wife, Nancy Z, who also teaches Science here, does too). Then over the summer he again spends another several hundred to frame them out. It's so much fun for me and my students to see their pieces on display in his room. The above wall is already full, and now he is hanging the pieces from last year on another wall.

So here is a close up of some of the art he bought last year and framed, sorry about the glare in the shots. The top two were done by seniors Sonya Liu and Shabnaz Klondaker. And the lower two were created by again Shabnaz and senior Jeremy Chung.

And this bottom piece was done by senior Brandon Liao. For EXTRA CREDIT, to be e-mailed to me by Thursday night, Sept. 9th at dartisun@gmail.com, send me a pix of any of the other teachers or support staff that have Whitney student art hanging in their classrooms or offices. Take a pix of the art not the teachers! LOL My room and Mr. Z's room won't count since I already have both. THIS HAS TO BE SENT FROM YOU OR YOUR PARENTS E-MAIL ADDRESS, your friends can't do it for you.

Fractured Frontal Portraits - Student Work

My 2nd year 2-d students were required to find an interesting frontal shot from a magazine or picture they had taken. They were then to fracture the face in some creative way, enlarge it and execute it in oil or waterbased pastel, and then to mount it in an interesting format. These were some of the results. The top piece belongs to the talented senior Brandon Liao. Brandon's piece was so very beautiful, I'm pretty sure that he sold it at Open House to one of our teachers. And the bottom one was done by superstar senior Ashley Chang.

I took a couple of close ups so you could see her attention to detail in the stitching that she brought into this work, and the decorative holes she cut in the mat, as well as her beautiful use of the pastels.

This next one belongs to the exceptional senior Ann Lee. I shot it from the side as well so you can see the various levels that she glued the pieces down and makes it look a bit 3-d.

And this last one was done by the very gifted senior Anne Guu. Again, love the text these kids are bringing into their works. It makes the piece even that much more interesting. Look at how she didn't glue the pieces flat but rather in a wavy sort of way. I love how how much thought and effort went into each of these works. You guys are amazing!!