Sunday, August 15, 2010

Super Cute Sushi Babies

From the moment I completed this project, all my students were crazy about it and wanted to learn to make it too.


Every student adds their own creative twist to the project. Some students add chopsticks, soy sauce, ginger, and other elements. They also give different facial expressions to their sushi babies. Some sushi babies seem to say "Eat Me! Eat Me!", while others are crying because they know they are about to be eaten. Some seem to be scared and are saying "Stay away!" Everyone has a lot of fun with this project.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

"Mommy and Me" Class

We had a "Mommy and Me" class today at the Omei Academy in Cupertino, CA. "Mommy and Me" means kids work together with their parents to complete a clay art project. It's a great way for parents and kids to feel closer to each other.

Today's project is a key hanger that features a pair of cute bunnies.


Today's participants included not just mommies, but also a grandma in her 70's. Granny looked like she was having more fun than the kids!


After I demonstrated each part of the project, everyone buried their head in their work and hurriedly got busy. You can see how everyone looks very focused while enjoying themselves at the same time.

In the beginning, when everyone saw the project they were going to work on, they all thought "this is too hard". But an hour and a half later, everyone completed their Bunny Keyholder. Everyone wore a huge smile of satisfaction and accomplishment.

Tissue Box

This is my student Tanvir's second project. No, it's not a bird house. It's a tissue box. It can be placed on a table or hung up on a wall.


Tanvir, who has never taken a painting class, did a great job making and painting this box. Her husband and children can't believe the project was made by her! But Simone guarantees that Tanvir really made it herself.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Can men also make beautiful flowers?

Look at this gentleman. He is really focused. The pink roses on the table were made by him.

The picture shows him making a hydrangea.



Love of handicrafts isn't just reserved for women. Men can do a great job at it too.

Now let's take a look at his finished product.



Isn't it beautiful? Let's all give him a great round of applause!

Alex said his wife loves flowers, so he made it for his wife.

He said he will go home and practice clay art even more. He challenged himself to make more and better projects in the future.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Easter Bunnies

These are the easter bunnies we made. They are actually piggy banks. We can put coins into the back of the egg and take them out from the bottom. From now on we're going to put our coins into the egg. Let's fill it up.

Let's all take the introductory clay art class (rose arrangement)

We've never seen clay art like Simone's. It's really amazing! How is it possible to make such beautiful things out of clay? Today is the first time we've ever worked on clay handicrafts. We are happy and nervous at the same time. We don't know how our projects will turn out. We'll find out very soon.

First, we mix a color of clay that we like. Then we roll the clay into little balls. It's really fun! (But we have our doubts. Can we really make roses out of these little balls? Without using any tools?)


Everyone is really focused.

Using only our fingers, we really did turn the clay balls into petals, and then turned those into roses.


We were the first to finish - we're really happy!


Eventually, everyone else finished.

Each one of the rose boxes looks really beautiful.


Everyone is thinking: what will I put in such a pretty box? Something precious?

How did 3 hours fly by so fast? We really had a great time today.

Let's all take a group picture with Simone. Yay!

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Finished projects




Yay!! I've finished the gifts for Mom and Dad.

I'm sure they'll enjoy it even more than I do!

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Alysia:

See how focused I am? When I'm attending my piano, violin, Chinese, and painting classes, it feels like I'm taking a class. It's only when I'm taking Clay Art Class on Saturdays that I feel like I'm just playing! Every week I can't wait for Saturday to come.


This is my finished project - a pencil holder. I'm going to put it on my desk so that I can look at it every day!


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Sally & Diana:

Our bunny coat hangers are finished. Let's hurry home and show them to Mom and Dad! We're outta here. Bye.


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Vicky & Kaitlyn:

This isn't a cooking class, it's a Clay Art Class, but we're making really yummy bread!


Ha ha! We made a basket of delicious French bread, croissants, toast, hot dogs, and many flavors of donuts. There are a couple of apples too. Oops, We forgot to make a bottle of milk. Well, next time...


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Sally & Diana:

Yay! We finished another project - a thermometer. The stars on my thermometer glow in the dark. Simone said the clay we use to make the stars is called luminous clay. Whenever I turn off the lights to go to sleep I can see the shining stars on my thermometer. I asked Simone if I can make more glow-in-the-dark stuff and she said "Of course". Woohoo - that's great!



I won't tell you who I am... but I made a thermometer too!