Art at Los Medanos College

You are a member of a family of California wine makers. You've been asked to design a new bottle for your families winery. Being a Photoshop student at Los Medanos College, your family knows it will be great. That was the story I told my students when I assigned them to design wine label and mock up a wine bottle. The wonderful bottle of Sofia from the Coppola winery (check out that little hanging heart!) by Hannah Rhinebeck was one of many great efforts. Here's a slide show of them all .

The Friday before Halloween LMC's Honors Art 5, and a few extra honors students, passports in order and shots current, journeyed to SF's Museum of Modern Art. We saw works we'd only seen reproductions of, including Diego Rivera, Freda Kahlo, Mark Rothko, Clifford Still, Alexander Calder and many others. Robert Arneson's self portrait was hit with the students, who just had to make photos with it. Everyone got back in one piece, so we're claiming the trip was a success.

Tony G., an LMC Photo II student, really wanted to try an old-time photo process. We settled on making a cyanotype , because the process doesn't require a darkroom. It does, however, require a large negative. We solved that problem by making one in Photoshop and printing it a transparency on our laser printer. Tony bought a commercial "sun print" kit and we went to work. Watching the image appear in water, then explode into blue when dipped in hydrogen peroxide was a blast. It's almost like we're in 1840 again. I'm hoping this is just the start of a grand, continuing experiment.

Every year the LMC art staff panics when this show comes around. That's a good thing. It helps us remember that we're not only teachers, we are artists who need to be making art. So we do. And here it is. Above, Lucy Snow's drums and Judi Pettite's painting. Below, Judi Pettite, the Art Gallery director, with our new instructional assistant, Eric Sanchez. The show runs through October 9, 2011

The Fall 2011 Photoshop class had an assignment to conceptualize a word from a list. They had to start with a scan and use layers to colorize it it. These are some of the results.

The Graphic Design Class created posters for 2011 Bike to Work Day. So, ride your bike, OK?

The Los Medanos College Art Gallery is hosting the Los Medanos College Fifth Invitational High School Student Art Exhibit from March 17 – April 14, 2011. The show is a juried art exhibition is open to all East Contra Costa high school students. It's a grand show this year, so don't miss it! Congratulations to our winners Wiomy Sternbergh , Best Painting, Deer Valley High School Sydnie Sherman , Best Mixed Media, Freedom High School Amanda Wallach , Best Ceramics, Deer Valley High School Michelle Baker , Best Drawing, Freedom High School Christian Villa , Best Photography, Pittsburg High School John Paul Salve , Jurors Award, Freedom High School Calire Joseph , Jurors Award, Freedom High School Gabe Tulchinsky , Jurors Award, Freedom High School

Our galley shows always wow me, but this one just knocks me out. It's right up my alley and the work is all first rate. It's just plain fun to visit. The show only runs from February 3 to March 3, 2011, so don't blink. Artist Hugh D'Andrade (above) actually painted a gallery wall for one piece. I'm already sad in advance knowing that it will be removed when the show ends. I'm plotting on ways to preserve it, but I don't think it's possible. Lisa Congdon , Mati Rose McDonough , and Jason Munn complete the show with installations, illustrations and graphics. Check these links to their work, some of which is on exhibit at LMC. You really want to see this show. The gallery is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, from 12:30-2:30 PM and 5:30-7:30 PM. David Tallitsch, Art Gallery Director, talks with students about the show.