Laguna Beach Festival of Arts

The last time I attended this art show was in 2001. I recall most of the art being too high end for my taste, nothing really appealed to me that much. So when GZ suggested we should go this year, I had some trepidation, but decided to go on the basis that things change and maybe this year I would be more interested.

Pictured at left is the delightful Tivoli Terrace restaurant where we ate dinner. I had a most wonderful shrimp entree... yum yum. Early bird special from 4-5pm (which we missed by minutes). I felt like I was back in Italy. Highly recommended, but a little pricey.

The festival runs from July 1st - August 31st. We picked Friday, July 20, and started with the Sawdust Arts and Crafts Festival down the street from the main event, which was okay, but could have been missed.

As soon as we entered the Festival of Arts I knew I was in for a treat. Exhibit after exhibit proved to be worthy of my attention. I could have taken many pieces home with me (except for the price tags, of course.) For this blog I picked five artists that I especially liked. However, there were more I could have chosen. I should also say there were many I didn't particularly care for, but on balance I felt this show had definitely improved since my last visit.

The following are in alphabetical order.

Marlo Bartels. Functional sculpture. Whimsical, magical ceramic mosaics. Absolutely charming and definitely my cuppa tea.

David P. Cooke. I almost left him off my list when I discovered he didn't have a website. Aaaagh, in this day and age how could a visual artist not have a web presence???? However, you can see one of his paintings listed on the Festival of Arts site here. I liked his bold images with dark undertones. These are not pretty pictures but have a sense of grinding real life. I often associate music with art and in this case I could hear a Tom Waits CD playing in the background of my mind.

W. Bradley Elsberry. I'm not usually a fan of landscapes, especially photographic/realistic ones. But I have to make an exception in this case. His paintings are almost surrealistic in their realism (you have to see them in person to understand what I'm saying). The painting that particularly attracted my attention was the one on his homepage, and it is huge. My only gripe about the gallery on his website is that the dimensions of the pieces are not listed and the images cannot be enlarged.

Molly Hutchings. Her website isn't terribly professional-looking but her artwork is amazing. I can't believe these are actually paintings and not collages. As I love Japanese Washi paper, how could I not love these?

Michael Situ. His painting of the Casino building at Avalon on Catalina Island caught my eye. This subject is a cliche, but the way he has dealt with it gives it a fresh look. Click on Paintings, then on #23. See how he has used the pier in shadow in the foreground to lead your eye to the Casino building in the background. Perfect!

Yachiyo Beck. Exquisite renditions of "still lifes" with wonderfully textured backgrounds. I'm attracted to architecture and these paintings are designed with an architectural quality which reminds me of the wall decorations at Pompeii.

We stayed for the Pageant of the Masters which you have to see to believe. It is incredible and worth seeing once. But as this was my second time in six year... and third over a lifetime... not something I need to do ever again.

(All photos copyright roslyn m wilkins)

Skateboarder Destruction
This makes me sick. The Culver Theatre (now the Kirk Douglas since 2005) has been around since 1947. One of its marvelous attributes is the wonderful marble terrazzo floors in pristine condition just as they were originally designed (except for one small patching job). They are a work of art and typical of the entrances to movie theatres of that era and earlier. I've always loved showing this terrazzo pavement to out of town visitors or on my architectural tours of Culver City.
But no more!
This is a recent photo of the pavement totally destroyed by skateboarders! No, I did not personally see skateboarders wreak this havoc, but I have seen them perpetrating similar damage on other public artworks and public spaces around Culver City and Los Angeles. When I see skateboarders in the process of tearing up public property I try to explain to them what they are doing, but they only come back the next day to further inflict their misery.
How could this terrazzo have survived for 60 years only to suffer this fate now? I am heart broken to see this.
The worst part is the skate boarding population seems to be exploding and I am seeing more of this kind of damage all the time.
(All photos copyright roslyn m wilkins)

Islamic Ceramic Tile Collection
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
I was cruising around on the LACMA website and came upon the online Islamic Ceramic Tile Collection. There are 91 tiles which you can enlarge in the viewer for close inspection. 11th Century to 19th Century. Of course, LACMA has other online collections you can look at. I'll be checking out other museum websites to seek out more tiles.

Friday in the Poppies

One of my latest tiles, this was inspired by a trip to the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve spring of 2005 to view the poppy fields. You can see this tile and the photo that inspired it, by clicking here.

Second Annual Culver City Art Walk
Although I had participated in the Culver City Art Group expedition of the Culver City galleries on Washington and La Cienega some weeks previously, I decided to go with a couple of friends on the Culver City Art Walk June 2 in the hopes of finding something new, different and exhilarating.
We met at MODAA (The Museum of Design Art and Architecture) which I had not visited before... a nice, large, open space, ideal for fairly large pieces. I liked the Brad Howe exhibit which reminded me of colorful beach towels.
Showing across the street at Lab 101 was my favorite artist of the day, Joshua Krause. All the time I was looking at the mixed media pieces I felt a very strong feminine vibe, quite a surprise when I discovered the artist was male. I really enjoyed the strong curves, curls and swirls he uses in his work, along with the connect-the-dots trails. His work would translate well to ceramic tiles... I was inspired. As Picasso said, Good artists copy but Great artists steal. Hmmmm.
I can't say there was any other artwork on Washington that appealed to me. But it was interesting to see the different sizes, shapes and styles of the galleries themselves, some just little holes in the wall, some quite spacious.
On La Cienega, at the George Billis Gallery, I fell in love with Josh Dorman's paintings on antique maps. What a brilliant concept. Obviously he has a love of maps and follows their contours and grids to give them new life with his designs.
We made it all the way to the end of the galleries at Venice Blvd. If you read my blog about the art group walk, you know the last time I did this trek was right after surgery. Thinking back on that, it was pretty stupid to do the walk so soon and I was in a lot of pain as the combination of drugs had affected my kidney area. So this trip was much more enjoyable.
I generally don't like to be in the midst of crowds of people. It was pretty much elbow to elbow out there on the street and we skipped a couple of galleries because they were jammed even at the doorway. But it was great to see so many people had turned out for this event. I doubt this is the kind of thing that generates revenue for the galleries as I imagine most of the walkers either couldn't or wouldn't buy artwork (I didn't see Donald Trump in the crowds...but then, I don't know if he buys artwork anyway), however, it does prove that the art scene is alive and well in LA, and for that the galleries must be happy.

Ballona Wetlands Artists WalkI am really behind with writing this blog, too many things going on, both unexpected and planned. It always seems like the less I try to do, the busier I get. Unfortunately, the opposite is not true!
Tuesday afternoon, May 29, a group of artists and environmental leaders met at Titmouse Park in Playa del Rey for a walkabout in the Saltwater Ballona Wetlands. I have previously walked through the Freshwater Marsh at Culver and Lincoln (including the areas behind the fence that the general public does not get to see) so I was curious to see what the Saltwater counterpart looked like. This area is pretty much "au naturel" in comparison to the Freshwater, part of which has been landscaped and planted.
I was able to get some good shots of cottonwood trees, lupins and other bushes and plants which I'll use for future tile designs in my Ballona Wetlands Series. As we walked around to the Ballona Creek side, we could see many White Egrets and Great Blue Herons in their habitat. There is nothing like seeing these graceful five-foot birds swoop through the air. I got a couple of good heron shots as they were wading and dipping in the water.
Like the bus trip I took a few weeks ago through the auspices of the Ballona Network, this was another attempt to motivate artists to contribute to the auction September 9. If you are an artist, and would like to use your creative talents to help with the "greening" of Los Angeles, contact Jeanette Vosburg at jeanette.vosburg@ballonanetwork.org. You can also take a look at the art gallery from last year's auction. Happy creating!

Hand-Painted Tile Class

Yes, I'm teaching again at Westside Extension at West Los Angeles College.

Decorative ceramic tiles have been in use for thousands of years and are just as popular today for a myriad of uses. Hand-painted tiles can be used for trivets, jewelery boxes, mirror frames, table tops and for installing on kitchen and bathroom walls.

Ceramic tile painting is easy, even if you have no artistic flair. I will show you all the steps and will provide patterns for those who wish to use them. Learn painting and drawing techniques and how to glaze the tiles. You’ll make one tile each week which I will fire for you in a kiln. Once fired, your artwork cannot deteriorate like a painting.

Returning students will learn more advanced techniques. Learn how to turn your favorite vacation photos or pet snapshots into lasting keepsakes.

Bring a container for water, a blow dryer (optional) and don't wear your best clothes!

Course #457 Hand-Painted Ceramic Tiles

Class fee $49 with $15 material fee payable to instructor first class

2 Saturdays: 9 am-12:30 pm , June 23 & 30

You can sign up here, my class is at the BOTTOM of the page!

Or call West Los Angeles College at (310) 287-4475