a few more sculptures

Here are a couple of pieces that I took home from class today:

Frilled Lizard
clay and glaze / 8" x 6" x 5"

Howling Bear
clay / 7" x 3" x 3"

I haven't decided if I want to glaze this one or not. If I do, I will probably use a matte white glaze.

a few sculptures

Today was the last day of my ceramics class, and here are some fruits of my labor!

I made a bunch of these little heads to try different glazes.

each face is slightly different,
so they kinda remind me of the Chinese Terracotta Army

One of our assignments was to create a personal trophy, so I made this animal tree. I've been doing some research on the evolution of animals, and I chose four animals to represent a few ideas I've been learning.

Tree of Animals

clay and glaze / 8" x 8" x 6"

the rhino beetle represents insects,
which were some of the first animals on earth


the salamander represents the idea of
a fish developing into a land animal


the loris represents primates, the animal group to which we humans belong


the bat is a mammal that can fly,
which represents convergent evolution

Here are a couple more animals that I made this semester as well. I particularly like how the glazes turned out on these.



I learned so much this year in my sculpture and ceramics classes! I'm a little sad that there's no summer school, but I'll be keeping busy nonetheless. The sculpting must go on! =)

indignant fur seal

This guy cracks me up! Someone in my class was kind of making me mad when I was working on this, and I think I channeled some of my feelings into his expression.

plus, I love his rolls...

"hrumph!"

gifts for nick and sam

Birds over Torrance
shadow box, vellum paper, wire, and map / 5.5" x 5.5"

I made this diorama for my nephew, Nicholas, who just turned 5! It includes a map of his neighborhood from a 1991 Thomas Guide. I marked his house, attached a few birds with some wire, and framed it in a shadow box. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out and will definitely be buying more of these frames from IKEA.

Giraffe
paper and fabric / 5"x7"

I made this fabric collage for my niece, Samatha, who also just had a birthday and turned 3. Upon unwrapping it, I think she was a little disappointed that it wasn't Hello Kitty related. =P But, later she did say "I like giraffes," so that was encouraging!

life is good

Here are a few things that make me happy...

I made this sculpture over the weekend,
inspired by a self-portrait of Francoise Gilot

I'm working on a reproduction of 'Cardinal'
for an expecting couple's nursery

The original art card of the cardinal is 5.5" x 7" and this repro will be 16" x 20". It's nice to be working on a simple composition since it allows me to focus on the textures more. Thanks to Morgan and Matt for commissioning this piece.

...and last but not least, dinner was a success!
Noodle soup, yum-yum. I was happy with how the broth turned out. =)

The Makittuq Family of Muskoxen

This family of muskoxen is standing in defensive formation against a couple of prowling arctic wolves. Makittuq is the Inuit name for "arises, stands up."





The last challenge was to make the background mysterious. I'm happy enough with the results, but the atmosphere needs to be even more intriguing. Maybe if the wolves were more hidden, amidst the swirls of snow...

The snowflakes are cute. I've always loved buttons, and there are some white beads in there too. I congratulate myself for trying something new. =)

What can I do to intensify the scene though? Maybe I need to hide the characters a little — obstruct our view so the story isn't so obvious. After all, mystery is all about the unknown and the unclear, right?

lesson - the drawing is crucial. I should stop and critique at this point.
discovery - bead and button accents add depth and texture to the artwork
challenge - make the scene mysterious by veiling some of it

(To view the study, sculpture, drawing, and vector graphic for this portrait, please view a previous post.)

Portrait of Laura & Tommy

Laura, Tommy, and I met in tang soo! class at UCSD. We don't punch eachother for fun anymore, but I was pretty excited to hear my ole fightin' buddies plan to get hitched this summer.

They asked me to paint this portrait for their wedding invitations.

follow the wedding news at
www.itsabouttimetommy.net

hoorah for musk oxen!

Both male and female musk oxen have long, curved horns, but only the males give off a strong stink, which is the origin of their name. It is believed that these creatures lived alongside the wolly mammoth during the Pleistocene period, so they've been around for a while!

When threatened by predadors, musk oxen instinctively form a protective circle around their young. I've depicted them in this formation with stalking wolves in the background.

the vector graphic (step 4)

the drawing (step 3)

the sculptures (step 2)

the study (step 1)

Slowly but surely, this book is coming along! As always, thanks for your support =)

Boxing Hares Collage

I finally finished another portrait for my book!

Harold and Harriet the Hares

close up of Harold

it's spring time!

Hmm, I was hoping that the challenge to do a fighting or hunting scene would force me to do something darker. Alas, I cannot stop making cute things! Oh, well, maybe next time...

lesson - as with painting, avoid the use of black (I like how the dark purple turned out this time.)
discovery - working from maquettes works just as well as working from a larger sculpture
challenge - make the atmosphere mysterious

(To view the study, sculpture, drawing, and vector graphic for this portrait, please view a previous post.)

I've been doing a lot of research lately on the classification of animals, as well as the evolution of animals, and I'm trying to figure out a way to incorporate those ideas into my book. It's fascinating stuff, and I'm discovering a lot of new animals. For example, did you know that there is a deer that has fangs?!

musk deer

harmony and love collages are done!

Thank you, Guillermo, for your inspiring ideas!

18" by 42" wall hangings

The long and elegant Chinese scrolls make so much sense as a format for my work. I'd love to do more of these in the future.

Chinese character for harmony

moon phases

Chinese character for love

sun rays

I also enjoyed collaborating with my dad on this project...

original calligraphy by Simon Hui

thanks, daddy!

an update on the harmony and love collages

Today I made some good progress on the fabric collages for Guillermo. I'm feeling pretty happy!

Here's what I've got so far

The pieces of fabric are all cut out and ready to be sewn together. Each collage will be 18" x 42". (To give you a quick idea of how big that is, I put a pencil in the upper-left corner of the photo.)

a little snip here, another snip there...

some slivers of moon

and rays of sun too!

Soon I'll be lost in the whir of my sewing machine, thread flying and neat little stiches tightening. Will send another update soon...

went for a fabric run today

I'm working on a couple of fabric collages for my friend, Guillermo. I went to Joann's today and got these materials for them.

ooooh... I love them!

vector graphic designs

The blue one shows the Chinese character for "harmony" and the yellow, "love". Prominent sun and moon themes inspired the fabric selection.

sketch of Guillermo's room

Now the funnest part for me, cutting out shapes and sewing my days away. I'll share more pictures soon...

note: I'm having a love affair with radiohead again.

Boxing Hares

I was pretty excited when I discovered that, in springtime, hares have frequent boxing matches!

Interestingly enough, the fighters are not typically both male. It's the female who usually starts hitting her suitor. This is either a signal that she isn't ready to mate or a way to test her mate's endurance.

Meet Harriet and Harold the Hares...

the vector graphic (step 4)

the drawing (step 3)

the sculptures (step 2)

the study (step 1)

Stay tuned for the collage!