IT NEVER GOES OUT OF STYLE

I'm having so much fun demonstrating for my Beginning 3-D students 

the art & craft of Tye-Dyeing.

Whether it's showing them the traditional patterns from the late 60's and 70's,

or the newer patterns that involve multiple layers of folding and wrapping.

It's all a blast!

So these are my paper demos. from this year.

And it seems that right now Tye-Dye has really made a come back in the fashion industry.

This summer I saw so many tops and dresses made from Tye-Dyed designs.

For me it's the unveiling that's the best and most satisfying part.

You just never know what you're gonna get,

and you are constantly thinking of new ideas to try.

And the second best part is that it's relatively inexpensive to do with a large class of kids.

And right now on Pinterest,

there are so many great tutorials and ideas.

Give it a try.

I recommend using Rit liquid dyes.

FINALLY FALL...

up in the San Bernardino Mts. 

A tree nursery up in Arrowhwead,

and ginormous fallen leaves from my neighbors tree.

SHOUT OUT...

TO MY KNUTTY KNITTERS

intermediate 3-d art students

Now that you guys are pro,

I want you to check out Alamitos Bay Yarn Co.

in the Long Beach Marina off Second and Marina.

It's the most picturesque fiber store offering classes in

knitting, crochet, weaving and spinning.

It's right on the water and you can watch the sail boats coming into the harbor.

And the store has the cutest red dutch door to catch the ocean breezes.

And then of course when you walk into the door and see all the all the fibery goodness...

ooh-la-la!!!

I hope you get a chance to check it out,

I know you'll love it as much as I do.  :)

EXPERIMENTING...

with a little bit of this and that,

and summer cabin flowers.

Vintage baby top...

old loom woven piece from college...

some saved clothes tags...

and a stuffed doll I made in the 1980's (Native American inspired).

Too much wildness for a baby top...

but I like how some of the ink from the tags has transferred to the top.

Way too much on back side.

But I like the cotton weaving.

I'll save it and incorporate it into something.

The stuffed doll's horse hair got a bit frazzled,

but I like the tags.

We'll see where they end up.

NEVER FORGOTTEN

I ran across this pix recently from last years 7th graders.  

The assignment was given to them by their English instructor

 to write to one of their teachers who made a difference in their lives,

and to thank them.

Know that I loved each one for your heartfelt notes,

and that I have them in a special place so that when I retire,

I'll put them in my book of Whitney memories.

CONNECTING THE DOTS

COLOR POINTILLISM

ADVANCED 2-D ART

felt tip markers & watercolor

I am so thrilled to show off the outstanding work

 of my 3rd year Drawing/Painting students,

seniors Jonathan Hsu and Elias Rodriquez.

 I've known and worked with these two young men since 7th grade,

and both of them are planning on going on in the arts in college.

So let's see their first major assignment of the year.

First off is Jonathan with this lovely portrait.

Besides drawing the entire piece using only dots of color,

I asked both boys to use watercolor as an accent 

either alone or under the felt tip markers.

Jonathan began his piece first with the markers 

then laid the watercolor into the dress area

 which gives him a wonderful contrast that catches the eye.

I especially love the stars/dots of white that he put on at the end

over the watercolor dress.

The boys brought in their own photos to work from,

and I really like both their choices.

Soft yet powerful.

In this next masterpiece by senior Elias Rodriquez,

he did the opposite,

 he started with watercolor underneath, 

then brought his pointillism over top,

for a brilliant work.

I have to tell you that I've been working fairly closely with Elias since 7th grade,

encouraging him to continue with his art studies,

giving him his first sketchbook.

And in the years when he couldn't fit me into his schedule,

he would still drop in to show me what he'd been creating 

and there were always words of encouragement.

But recently,

over this last summer,

his style and craftsmanship have come together in such a mature way.

I'm so very proud of how hard he's working 

and what he's producing.

This piece is by far one of his most outstanding works thus far,

 and also one of the most important pieces to come out of Whitney High School.

Bravo Elias!!

I'm so proud of you!!!!!

I wish all of you could see this piece in person,

it stops people in their tracks so they can take a look. 

Right now it's on display in our District Board Room

on Norwalk Blvd. and 166th in Cerritos.

Check it out if you can!!

GLORIOUS COLOR

COLOR THEORY

BEGINNING 2-D ART

tempera & felt tip marker on paper

with colored pencil accents

Let me introduce my new Drawing, Painting and Design students.

I'm very pleased with the level of skills many of them are coming to me with,

but also really excited to help the others learn more about the arts & techniques.

Junior Eileen Lee is coming to me with some of the highest level skills in the class.

That's needed since she wants to go on and major in the arts

What I really like that she thought to do in this piece 

was to bring in the colored pencil work.

It brings in a nice textual element into her highly sophisticated design.

The kids had the option of putting their color wheel and color schemes

onto two separate papers,

or for extra credit,

combine them into one design on one piece of paper. 

That's what senior Emily Allan did with her simple yet delicate piece above.

I'm really excited by this next work by junior Malaya Sithichai.

It's strikingly unique,

and wonderfully crafted.

And one of my favorite students from years past has returned to the fold,

junior Eunice Shim.

Look at her marvelous piece,

and again,

 I'm loving the colored pencil she also thought to bring into the background.

I think this is going to be a new requirement for this assignment next year. :) 

Thanks you guys for a great idea!

And this work by junior Vivian Chang has such lovely movement flowing thru it.

It makes me want to sway with it  :)

The class favorite was this one by junior Ayesha Durrani.

She has cleverly turned her color wheel and schemes into this remarkable dream catcher.

And notice her impeccable craftsmanship.

WOW!!

Next we see both of senior Rosenne Cho's pieces above and below.

This wonderful fractured rose is housing her color schemes and so much more,

and her rainy autumn day color wheel.

And we end with this highly decorative color wheel by junior Vicky Hur,

in which she has zentangled with colored marker for a very cool effect.

Am I a lucky woman or what to be working with kind of beginning talent?

Life is good,

very, very good!

:)

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE BORDERS

GRAPHITE SPHERES

7TH GRADE ART WHEEL 2015-2016 1ST QUARTER

graphite on paper w/ colored pencil accents

Even though you pups are gone, 

I've still got a bunch of your art pieces to show off.

So let's get started with your pencil spheres.

And let's also see what kinds of creative borders you've come up with 

to surround your drawings.

Borders really help to surround/fill up and balance a composition

 when you have too much negative space.

Sweet Nerie Crisologo is showing us great range of value within her sphere

plus she has gone for extra credit by bringing in some colored pencil accents.

Neri has given us a picture frame border.

Full of life Kritika Pantha

has drawn her very realistic looking apples in graphite

 and done the rest in colored pencil.

Notice her fun & swirly cornerstones.

Creative Daisy Camacho's cornerstone borders 

are the perfect compliment to her adorable drawing.

And Emma Phungraksakiat goes all out 

with both her drawing and ivy borders.

And what a tremendous job she has done with her sphere.

Fabulous transitions between value changes.

But I felt one of the most clever borders was done by Bryant Huang.

What a great idea Bryant!!

A LITTLE SHIBORI IN YOUR LIFE...

makes me a happy camper.

Demonstrated a bit of Pole Wrapping Shibori to my students

over top an eco-dyed silk scarf.

The result was pretty darn cool,

and made the eco-dyed scarf so much more interesting.

Now I'm really a happy girl!!!  :)

WHO'S GOT THE BUTTONS??

POLYMER BEADS & BUTTONS

BEGINNING 3-D ART

polymer clay & toaster oven

We do.

lots and lots of Polymer buttons and beads.

Meet my Beginning 3-Der's.

Below is a group shot of all their colorful creations strung 

and ready for grading.

I used the first part of this assignment to teach Color Theory in a 3-D approach.

And then we made these beads and buttons from their color mixtures. 

On their string this year were Marbleized Beads Or Buttons,

Candy Canes Beads.

Jelly Roll Buttons,

Stacked Stripes Buttons,

All Over Complex Bead,

Two Complex Buttons,

The Delgado Bead

 (named after Lena Delgado Bradshaw- a former Whitney teacher),

The Multicolored Knot Bead (recycling leftovers),

and any extras they have time for.  

Let's take a peek at a couple of strings up close.

Senior Jenna Llamas belongs to this first string

Next we have senior Elias Rodriquez.

We all like how he limited his palette.

And lastly we end with Cheryl-Mae Mallabo.

Great job all of you!

BOO!!!!!

My little pumpkin and her best guy

 lighting up their creations Halloween night.

TAA DAH!!!

I WILL MISS YOU

7TH GRADE ART WHEEL

2015-2016

1st Quarter

Farewell young ones,

it's gonna be hard to say good-bye now that I know you so well.

It was such a pleasure getting to work and tame you all  LOL

And amazing how much creativity I see in this first group.

I sure hope many of you will be back next year for either the Beginning 2 or 3-D classes.

You all have a special place in my heart.

Please stop by to visit and bring your parents in on Open House Nite.

Much love always

xoxoxoxo