Mother's Day 2013

A beautiful surprise from my girl!

Only 2 months behind now on my blogging, being off for the summer really has it's advantages  :)

Mother's Day morning, my daughter Dani surprised me with this crazy wonderful sculpture that she made for me from cereal boxes and silk flowers.  She alerted Jim that she was downstairs and when I walked down all sleepy eyed, she jumped up from her hiding place behind the dining room table (scared me to death  LOL) and yelled out "Happy Mother's Day".  Then my poor baby had to trudge off to work, so my son Zach showed up to whisk me off to one of my favorite south land places, Roger's Gardens in Newport Beach.

Thank you Dani girl for that beautiful piece of art, I will treasure it and bring it out every Mother's Day.  You couldn't have given me a more special gift.  I love you!  

Newport was a sunny 74 degrees, perfect weather for visiting this amazing place full of plants and garden design.  We walked in to the most lovely and delicate bouquets of flowers, just dying to go home with us  :)

And then there were the Hydrangeas, the blues and purples my favorites.

And we couldn't pass up a visit to their greenhouses full of blooming orchids of every variety.  The one below really caught my eye.

And the anthuriums from Hawaii were in full bloom as well.

Once outside again we found the blossoms on this tree to be highly unique as well as it's fruit.

What I especially love at Roger's are the creative and artful displays like this very cool water feature, and the paper mache' and wire birds with paper collage.  Zach bought me one of these.  I had really missed doing paper mache' this year with my Beginning 3-D students, so I'm thinking we might try some birds next year and these are such great examples. 

These paper collaged 3- d cut-outs were really unusual, I wish I would have picked up one as well.   

Zach treated me to a bite of lunch beach side, then back home to check out the nasturtiums in my lush May garden.

What a fantastic day you two planned for me.

I love you both so very much...all the way around the world!

Head Over Heels...

over senior Tiffany Lee's paper mache' head mask.  She built this last school year when she was in my Beginning 3-D class at home as an extra credit piece during our paper mache' unit.  But I didn't get a chance to see it until this year when she brought it in as part of her Halloween costume.  The close-up shows off her attention to detail around the eyes.  Very cool piece Tiff, impressive actually!

The Yarn Lady - A Summer Outing

I took Jim with me to visit one of my favorite yarn stores, The Yarn Lady in Lake Forest, and it was so fun to watch Jim fit right in with the knitter's.  Mind you these were some really liberal gals who were talking politics.

As you can see above he was trying really hard to behave himself and not disagree of offend, something really hard for my man  LOL  I was so proud of him, he only spouted off in a very gentle manner.  Phew shu, it was a close call getting him out of there.

But before we left I wanted to get a shot of these really great paper mache' figures to show my students.

Woo Hoo...New Assignment - Woven Nest

Every year I teach my Beginning 3-D students how to spin their own yarn as well as to weave with it.  And I usually have them weave a pouch, but this year I tried something different, we wove bird nests.  The requirements were to build a foundation for the nest out of wire, then use at least 4 different kinds of fibers to weave the nest with, one being their own hand spun yarn.  They also had to fill the nest with something that worked visually, then make something special to put inside their nest.  The medium was up to them.

These nests turned out so spectacular that instead of just showing off a couple, I've photoed at least half of the classes projects, so this is kind of a long post.  I hope you enjoy it.

This first one above was done by sophomore Lydia Kim.  I was so impressed by her choice of fibers and then figuring out and making a pattern to sew a felt bird.  Bravo Lydia!!

This next very feminine and lovely nest was built by senior Aparna Vanchewaran.  This was an end of the year project and I turned the kids loose to find whatever they could to weave with.  I have boxes with laces and ribbons that Aparna made use of, and then just look at her incredible butterfly she made for the inside.  Wow! 

In this one, junior Alice Zhang used chenille, jute, feathers and newspaper strips to get this very realistic looking nest, plus her white hand spun.  And she splintered a piece of wood and used our woodburning tool to etch "Home" for her inside.  So creative!

This next playful piece was done by junior Sheila San Agustin.  She recycled a notebook spiral binding, and papermache'd  this adorable little guy holding his fishing pole.

I asked senior Jaimee Chirico to make a prototype so the students would be able to see an example before they started.  This is her wonderful piece.

Her bird and nest's foundations were built from wire before they where woven.  And her eggs were made from paper mache' and then paint was speckled on.

Junior Emily Yang has made a gorgeous piece here with lots of wonderful fiber choices.  she also made paper mache' eggs. 

Junior Tiffany Lee got crazy creative and built this fabulous sculpture using all kinds of recycled materials.  I was so impressed when she turned this in.  She is such an outside of the box thinker, and I'm hoping she goes on to major in design.

Look closely at this next one with it's sleeping angel inside made from polymer clay and feathers, and the little sign that says "Be back in 2 hours"  So cute junior Lydia Ko

And then there's the sweet pomegranate angel by senior Stephanie Pascua, and the wire chicken below by senior Luis Gomez.

Junior Sara Shams peeled apart a plastic woven netting material to line her basket with, and then made a golden egg to nestle inside her lovely nest.  And sophomore Alex Rendon went all out with a purple lace he found to weave with that created a great fringe. 

Junior Ashley Chowdhury created the most lovely piece with her ribbons, laces and roses, and sweet butterfly.  And very clever senior Shavanti Kariyawasam dedicated her nest to the senior class and how they were ready to spread their wings and leave us.

One of my very favorites was this one by junior Stella Park, loved the form, the color choices, the fiber selections, and all the beautiful hand spun around the lip.  Gorgeous work as always Stella!!

And this last one, by junior Julia Chanco, is another well thought out piece in both form, colors, and hanging devise.

And her egg was so lovely with the collaged papers.  

Fantastic job all of you, I'm so proud to show these off!!  Just sorry it took me so dang long!

Paper Mache' Collaged Boxes - My Work

This last June when I posted these boxes that my students made, I forgot to include mine.  For almost all the assignments I teach in my Ceramics and 3-D classes, I put myself on the spot and demo an original piece of art so the kids can see the design process and the building techniques involved in each project.  I usually try to stay one day ahead of them.  But somewhere along the way, usually the last couple days as the kids are finishing their pieces I start to slack on mine and never finish.  Well, here's one that actually got finished!  Ooh hoo!!  

The requirements were to build a lidded box from cardboard scraps and hold it together with masking tape.  I decided to make a ring box (didn't end up doing the lid) with a separation between the rings I wear everyday and the other more decorative ones I choose to go with different outfits.  The kids learned how to apply a paper mache' coating so the box would be really strong (2 layers on each side).

The last requirement was to paper collage at least 2 special papers onto the box and overlap them.   I chose the tea bags I had been saving that had special stains on them.  I opened them up and saved the tea leaves for a unit in handmade paper, then I tore them up into smaller pieces.  The other paper I chose was a map of Central and Southern California, as far up and east as Porterville, as far north as San Luis Obispo, and as far south as San Diego, and ripped the names of all the towns my husband and I had traveled thru in the last 3 years as a couple.  We used Mod Podge to collage the papers and seal the boxes with.

So now I have this very special box that I keep all the beautiful rings that my husband and my mother have given me.

Paper Mache' Collaged Boxes - Student Work

These little beauties were built from scratch by my Beginning 3-d students.  They started with recycled cardboard and masking tape to build their lidded box forms.  Then they learned the fine art of paper mache' and did 2 layers both inside and out.  The finishing touch was the paper collaging at the end.

This first one was made by senior Shivanti Kariyawasam.  I love her colorway and her recycled tin can roof .  It's an exceptional piece.  Shivanti was one of my top art designers this year at senior awards night.

The kids were required to bring in one special paper from home to incorporate into their paper collaging.

I really like this paper that junior Mark Ilog brought in for his pyramid here.  And then how he used 2 different colorways of it.  The ripped edges showing is also a very cool look.

For some students it was more about building a cool form then it was about the paper they used like the one above by senior Shane Suniga.

But many were into both like the sensitive one below by junior Stella Park.

Junior Lydia Ko came up with this extraordinary piano shaped lidded container with sheet music in her paper collage.  She shows off her great critical thinking skills with this double lid.

Junior Alice Zhang is another who gave us wonderful creativity with her adorable teapot.  I love how she literally thought outside the box to incorporate wire for her spout, handle and knob.  Very clever girl!

This next lovely box was made by senior Sunny Cheon.  She is using all my favorite things; flowers, handmade papers and text.

Junior Lily Lin loves to incorporate black lace in all her works.  She pulls it off well.

I saved my 2 favorites for last, this one by junior Niki Shah where she has built 3 into one, so cool... so pretty...

and this last one by junior Julia Faith Chanco.  What a gorgeous colorway she has chosen, and such beautiful papers she has found.  

Fabulous work all of you!