First Day of the First Grade!

Today was Ellie's first day of the First Grade. Ellie was both excited and nervous to go to school. She loved Kindergarten and wanted to go back to her old class with her old teacher. I told her that her new teacher was going to be really nice and that she would already know some of the kids in her new class. When we got to her class we met her teacher, Mrs. Wolfe and we found her desk. Ellie was excited that she already knew the little boy that she was sitting next to. After I took a few pictures I left her.... and I was very glad to see that she was smiling. When I picked her up from school she was still smiling. She had decided that first grade was fun and that her teacher was really nice. The best thing about her day? Recess! Of course that is probably every first grader's answer. I can't believe my little girl is in the first grade!

Graduation Party!

In honor of Danny and I graduating from College we decided to have a Pirate Luau.... yup you heard that right! Captain No Beard (Danny) had his whole mangy crew with him and I had my bunch of scallywags there too. We also invited a few landlubbers to join the party. The food was great and the music was Awesome! I must say that we had a swashbucklin' good time....

Some of the Hunt crew...

Me hearty, Amalia.

The Smith Landlubbers.....

Scurvy dog!

Ahhh yes.... the music.... I told you it was good!

Graduation

Go Fresno State!

Danny and I both are graduating from Fresno State. I received my Bachelors of Art with and Emphasis in Art History and Danny received his Bachelors in Nursing. We both got our Associates at the same time now we got our Bachelors at the same time. I told Danny that if he ever decides to get his Masters to let me know.... we can't break a tradition.

Don't we look like the two most educated people you have ever met?My friend Celina and I before the Ceremony... waiting in line. She was in a few of my classes, but we had the most fun in our Lithography class. I'm going to miss making art with friends.

Celina and I in the Save Mart Center.... It was such a long ceremony. I'm sure glad it's over!

I am very glad that I decided to go back to school at get my Bachelors degree. It was a lot of hard work and very stressful, but it was worth it! I am so proud of myself!

Open House

Ellie was so excited to go to her open house, especially since she had a pretty good big group of people coming to see her class! Of course Tanner and I were there, both her grandma's came and so did Aunt Meghan and Kaleigh! Ellie's class was full of exciting things to see.

We got to meet her teacher Mrs. "B". Ellie loves her teacher and is always making something to take to school to give to her.

This folder was full of work Ellie had been working on. The first thing we got to see in the folder was her "America the Beautiful" book and the whole class sang the song as we looked through the pages.

This is one example of Ellie's work. I don't know when she decided she wanted to become a police man, but apparently she's wanted to be one her WHOLE life!!!! That's a long time....

Ellie with her Grandma Candice, Aunt Meghan and her cousin Kaleigh. Aunt Meghan really enjoyed seeing Ellie's class because this is her area of expertise... she's one awesome Kindergarten teacher! Ellie read a couple books from her book box so her Aunt Meghan could see how good she could read!

Ellie, Grandma Diane, and Tanner sitting in the play house area of her classroom.



Another lovely example of Ellie's awesome work!



Ellie and I. What a fun time we had. After we left Ellie's school we all went to El Pollo Loco for some good food!

Ellie's Kindergarten Christmas Program

Today Ellie had her Kindergarten Christmas Program. She looked so adorable in her dress and was so excited to see that both of her Grandma's, Daddy, Mommy, Tanner and Caden came to see her sing. Before she started school Ellie would have refused to go up on stage and sing in front of so many people! That was not the case today. Ellie went up on stage, sang songs and recited poems. She looked so serious while she was singing, but in between each song she would look out at us with a big smile and wave. She was the only child that waved as much she did. After her program we all went to McDonald's to try their new hot chocolate and play on the playground.

Fresno State Student Art Show

I finally got brave enough to submit two of my pieces for the Student Art Show at Fresno State. I figured I should at least try once before I graduated. We were allowed to submit two pieces and I submitted two of my prints. One was an Intaglio Print and the other was a Lithograph... both were of trees. Both of my pieces got accepted into the show!

The Wall of trees... My pieces are the one on the far left and the one on the far right.

This is my Lithograph.

And this is me in front of my Intaglio... I took the picture myself. I was told that one of the judges really loved this piece, hmm.... maybe I should have put it up for sale.
As you can see I am very creative when it comes to giving my art a title.Thanks to everyone who came and saw my work!!!

Pumpkin Patch

Today I got to go with Ellie's class to the pumpkin patch. The kids had lots of fun. First they listened to a story about the rabbit that planted all the pumpkins. Then they went on a trail that led to the rabbit's burrow. They got to go into his burrow and climb up into his house. Next they got to go on a hay ride. The kids loved it, especially since their teacher got squirted by water during the ride! After the hay ride they ate their snacks. Then it was time for the kids to go and choose a pumpkin to take home with them. Ellie searched for the perfect pumpkin, she finally found one that she loved!

That night I asked Ellie if she wanted to carve her pumpkin. She looked at me and said, "So it can glow?" I said "yes". Without hesitation she looked at me and said "No." I then asked her if she wanted to draw a face on it. She decided that would be fun. She gave her pumpkin a happy face on one side and a scary face on the other. I tried to get her to put it outside, but she didn't want to. She decided to keep it in her bedroom and on her dresser so Tanner couldn't get to it.

Lithography 101

I have tried to explain what Lithography is and how the process is done, but it is very confusing... so I took some pictures during class to help explain it better.

First I would like to start off by explaining to you that we reuse stones. After you are done with a stone you clean it up and start all over with step one.

Step one: Preparing your stone

I didn't take my own picture of this part, but here is the tool that we use to grind the stone. First you get your stone wet. Then you sprinkle some #80 Carborundum grit (looks likes little flakes of metal) onto your wet stone. After that you pick up this metal thingy and move it in a circular motion all over the stone. Next you dry the stone and make sure that it is flat. If it is nice and flat you can continue on using higher number of grits or you can move on to the next step. The higher the grit you use the smoother your stone will be.

Step 2: Create a Border

Next you get out the border etch, which is gum arabic mixed with some nitric acid. Using a moist sponge you paint the border etch onto the area you want to be your border. Having the border etch on the stone is nice because you can not touch your stone once you are done grinding it, unless you want finger prints to show up on your finished print. This is what the stone looks like after the border etch is applied.

Step 3: Draw on the Stone

You can use different things to draw on your stone, such as a litho pencil, permanent marker, anything that is oily. I have only used a Litho pencil and lotion, but for this project I only used a litho pencil.

Step 4: Etching the Stone

This is the confusing part.... The purpose of etching the stone is to create a hydrophobic, or "water hating" area and a hydrophilic or "water loving" area. The part that becomes hydrophobic is the area you have drawn on and the hydrophilic is the area where you have not drawn.
The first Etch, yes it has to be etched twice.
First you need to secure your image to the stone by sprinkling some rosin and smearing it around your image and then sprinkling and spreading talc onto it. To etch the stone you need gum arabic and nitric acid. For this print I put gum arabic on my stone and rubbed it with my hand for about three minutes, then I added 4 drops of nitric acid to my remainig gum arabic and rubbed for another 3 minutes, and once again I added 4 drops of acid to the remaining gum arabic and rubbed for 3 more minutes. Last you tight wipe it with cheese cloth and let it set for at least 30 minutes.

The second Etch....
First you need to clean your stone with lithotine. Sometimes the image will completely disappear from your stone!

Then you rub ink back onto your stone with a rag and a tiny bit of lithotine.

After its all rubbed up with ink you need to wipe it off with water and a rag and...... Voila! The image will reappear!

Now you go back up and repeat the steps for the first etch!

Step 5: Preparing the Press

In order to print you have to set the pressure of the press to the size of your stone. Which includes putting the stone in the right place pulling the press lever down and tightening it, then lifting up the lever and tightening it a little more. Sorry no picture, but her is a pretty picture of my stone sitting on the press.

Step 6: Printing

Now it is time to print! First you need to clean your image with lithotine and rub it with ink and clean it off with water and a rag.... again. Then you get out the ink, and knock up the roller (which means to get the roller all covered in ink). Then you roll the ink onto your stone.

Its is important to keep the stone wet while applying the ink.Then you place your paper onto the stone.
Then you place this green board on top of your stone and paper and run it through the press.Notice how the finished project is a mirror image... if you make letters you have to draw them backwards otherwise they will be backwards on the finished print!The finished print is then placed on the drying rack to.... dry.
New stones.... to us anyways...
My teacher just got new stones that can be used in class. They are old printing stones that still have logos and things on them. He got them from a guy in Chicago who says they have been sitting in his print shop since the 1920s! Hmm... I don't think it will be much fun getting them ready to use again.
Close up of one of the "new" stones.