Feeling the Stress

Just now getting my Halloween goodies put away in my Studio.  For some reason I feel so much pressure this year to get my Xmas things up sooner.  So off we go this weekend for the tree, and out come the decorations.  Is it just me or are all of you out there feeling the rushed pace of the season?

You can already see the Xmas presents piling up under my table.  But don't peek  :)

Gone But Not Forgotten

Even though my 2nd quarter 7th graders are almost 1/2 way though the quarter, I'm still working on showing off some very talented little ones from my 1st quarter group.

These are their charcoal cones that need to include at least 3 value ranges, a horizon, cast shadow and either a foreground of background or both.

Above Maansi Shah gave us a beautifully designed piece with her swirly backdrop.  And below we have Heather Choe with this excellent work.  I really like how she moves bother her fore and backgrounds from light to dark also.  Clever girl.

Lastly, fun-loving Sanjana Koushik has haloed both her cone and cast shadow for a very cool look.  

Way to go young ones!

Thanksgiving 2012 - Only a Memory

Our School Dye Garden...

dressed for the Holiday with a very unusual colored pumpkin. 

A wish from our ASB kids...

and our giant Scroll bulb starting to sprout.

The Bird -Before

Marinated overnite inside and out with olive oil, rosemary from my garden, fresh garlic, sea salt and pepper.

Stuffed with more rosemary, onion and lemon wedges.

The Bird - After

After 4 hours of being roasted in the bar-b-que with rosemary sprigs soaked in water then placed on the grill to steam and infuse favor into the bird.  It works.  Moist & delicious!

The Pies

Kahlua Cheescake from Maria Calender's from Zach

Apple from Dani's boyfriend Steven

and Homemade Pumpkin courtesy of Dani's Cal Poly Bestfriend Megan 

and they where um um good!

Turkey Soup getting started in the Crock Pot two days later.

Delicious!

Thanksgiving Day from our Front Porch

Beautiful and Sunny

The Cooks (Inars and Deb)

The Guests (Zach, Dani, Jim, Megan And James)

 and The Help (Zach on Dishes), (Bogie and Sophie) on licking those paper plates clean

and a very Happy and Full Boy that night in his Snuggie on his guitar, singing his heart out to Sophie and I.

As junior Kaya Quarles would say"  It's gonna be good!", and it was  :)

Felt Pouches - Student Work

I'm loving my new Beginning 3-D kids.  They are working so hard for me and have the most positive attitudes.  I couldn't ask for more.  These pouches were their 1st quarter finals and a culmination of the entire quarter.  We studied color theory thru tye-dye and polymer clay, and also an embroidery unit, then put it all together into these pouches.

This first one (front and back) belong to senior Fernie Jacinto.  I'm sure he made this pouch to give to his girlfriend.  You can even insert a pix into the back clear vinyl piece.  Pretty clever Fernie.  You should put your prom pix from lat year inside.  :)

The front and back of this next cutie belongs to junior Kaya Quarles.  I am enjoying Kaya immensely  and it's so cool, I had her daddy in class years ago.  I'm loving her two little monsters.  Great job Kaya!   

Next we have 8th grader Jenna De La Paz with her very sweet girl.  I've got 3 eighth graders this year who are doing outstanding work; Jenna, Jacqueline and Lauren.  You 3 are keeping up with the older kids.

Below is the work of 10th grader Laarnie Barcelon.  She is coming to me with terrific design skills and tons of energy and effort.  Laarnie, I want you back for the 2nd and 3rd year of 3-D!

Now here is the work of 8th grader Lauren Kennedy.  Told you she was good.  Here you can see the front and back of her pouch.

This first one (front and back) was one of my favorites and done by senior Kasie Le-Nguyen.  I love how she did the background, very clever design kiddo.

This next one was also a beauty by senior May Luong, with great use of color.  May is also in my Beginning 2-D class and excelling there as well.

Below is the backside of senor Priyanka's piece.  So lovely!

Senior Michelle Yoshimoto made this sweet piece above.  Love her use of buttons in the work, and here is my third 8th grader Jacqueline Yu.  Unbelievable what I get out of thee young ones.

Next we have the work of senior Mylan Jefferson who loves the Irish at Notre Dame.  Beautiful work young woman!

And lastly we have senior Jessica Barrett who I had when she was in the 7th grade.  And what a beauty she has grown into.  Jessica does gorgeous work, with impeccable craftsmanship and great attention to detail.  Love that you are back sweet girl!

For EXTRA CREDIT on a piece of paper or fabric, make me a pouch (you can use staples, tape, glue, thread, yarn).  And if you figure out how to make a drawstring I will give you even more points.  On the front side decorate it and on the back side put your name and period, plus pick the pouch you like the best and put the name of the maker on the backside as well.  Whoever gets the most votes also picks up extra credit.  Hand pouch to me when you walk in the door.  Have fun!   

Color Pointillism - Student Work

This year only 1 student was able to fit my Advanced 2-D art class into their schedule, senior Laura Kadi.  She is starting the year off with some pretty challenging work.  Here she is combining watercolor with her color pointillism.   That's right, drawing with only dots of color.  She is using waterbased markers, but first she laid down her watercolor foundation.  Laura has been doing art with me since the 7th grade.  It's so great to be able to work here at Whitney where I'm able to watch these beautiful, inquisitive children grow up into upstanding young adults (most of them anyways  LOL)  We will be seeing more of Laura's work in the future. 

Florida 2012

This was my 3rd summer to go back to Florida with my husband to visit his family.  And I think I'm starting to get used to the heat and humidity, or maybe it just wasn't as bad this year.  Whatever, we had a fun and relaxing time with his folks.

The first part of our adventure began in East L.A. before we even boarded the plane.  We were early getting to the airport and as we were cruising along the 105 freeway to L.A.X. I said to Jim why don't we get off the freeway and you can show me what East L.A. looks like cuz I've heard all about it but have never driven thru (too scared).  He said are you sure?  Yep!  So off the freeway we go (above) and I'm thinking this doesn't look so bad, he said just wait.

So another mile and it's still not too bad.

But then all of a sudden, it starts to look pretty run down and barren.

So I said, OK, that's enough and back onto the freeway we went.

We stayed with my fabulous in laws, Vinnie and Bette, who always roll out the red carpet when we arrive.

I think Rocco, their pup, has gotten even bigger then the last time we visited.  He still thinks he's a lap dog  LOL

They live a little less then a mile from the ocean in the most beautiful gated community, complete with clubhouse and golf course.

This is their lovely pool where Rocco loves to jump in and swim along with us.  This year Jim's brother Jack joined us with his wife and another couple, so we did some exploring along the coast.

Jack took us to this hidden beach about an hour north of Hobe Sound, just below Palm Beach.  To get to the ocean we had to ford thru this crazy, dense jungle terrain.  Jim assured me that the wild boar and snakes would leave us alone.  Yeah, right  LOL

Finally we arrived at the water to find this huge blow hole.  I tried really hard to capture the water as it was coming up and out, but I just couldn't get it.  But there's the hole  :)

The ocean and sand along the Atlantic coast looks so different then what we are used to here along the Pacific.  The water is so clear that you can see the sharks really clearly along with the dolphins.  It's pretty scary how close the sharks come into shore.  The water is also the most beautiful shade of turquoise, and it feels so good against your skin compared to the waters of the Pacific. 

What I was able to get a shot of was Jim getting destroyed by the waves. 

But my favorite adventure was picking Rocco up from his doggy daycare playtime with his buddies.  He's so funny how he sits like such a gentleman in the back seat and gazes out the window.  I think he thinks he's people.  Such a regal young man  LOL

The worst part of the trip was that our plane was delayed by 5 hours.  And of course we got there early so it was a long wait.  We got back into L.A.X. at 3 in the morning (which is located at the west end of East L.A.) to find that my car had been towed away (long story).  So we had to find a taxi ($20) to take us out of our way to Marina Del Ray to collect the car (another $300 bucks), and then we find a ticket on the windshield for $300 for illegal parking.  It is now 4 in the morning.  By the time we got home it was 5:30 a.m. and we were out of money.  Lesson learned for next year.