Farewell, Earth Day, Special Visitors, and the Art of Donna Sakamoto Crispin

The past week was significant for a number of reasons. First, we said farewell to a couple of great kids, and fantastic artists: Avalon and River. 

They're moving to North Carolina, and we will miss them dearly. They've promised to stay in touch, though, so hopefully I'll be able to update their travels and adventures in the future.

We all celebrated Earth Day this past week, which fell on a Thursday. Hence, all of the photos from this post are "Thursday" photos, which I took in Evergreen. To honor our beautiful planet, students created Earth Day posters . . .

Each young artist worked very hard to depict a scene that depicted the significance of this 40th annual celebration . . .

. . . students also made ATCs to share . . . 

. . . and bookmarks, too! What made this day even more special is that Thursday also happened to be 

Take Your Child to Work Day!

so we got a chance to meet (and make art with!) 

Talia and Jake!

Jake came to HSC with his mom, Miss Jen, and

Talia came with her mom, Miss Elona.

What's more is that Thursday afternoon, we all enjoyed the HSC Science Fair!

The theme, or goal, for this year's science fair was to make something that either:

1. Makes our lives easier, or

2. Helps our environment

Let me tell you: There were some AMAZING entries! 

In Explorations in Art, we discussed the portraits and self-portraits of Vincent van Gogh and Frida Kahlo. Students successfully identified van Gogh's early works as being strikingly different from his later ones, and critiqued the variety of Kahlo's self-portraits. Afterward, students created portraits that either used Impressionist colors, or depicted a Surreal image . . .

. . . Check out these very expressive eyes!

And finally, our featured artist of the week:

Donna Sakamoto Crispin

Lotus teapot made of red cedar bark, NW sedge, 
sweetgrass, curly filbert  branch by Donna Sakamoto Crispin

Donna is a fiber artist, who lives and works in Eugene, Oregon.

Copper Cascade made of sheet 
metal copper, copper wire by Donna Sakamoto Crispin

She often gathers her own weaving materials . . . 

Bird Transformation, made of face bead, 
assorted threads, beads by Donna Sakamoto Crispin

And uses her skill as a basket maker and fiber artist to create a variety of art. 

tiny coiled wire basket with turquoise button 

by Donna Sakamoto Crispin