laguna beach art magazine

LagunaBeachARTmagazine.com

Laguna Beach

ARTm a g a z i n e

ART COLLECTORS Curt Sandman & Jennifer Barron Objects of Desire Dinner with Picasso EDGAR PAYNE: The Founding of the Art Association Actress Ruth Roman

ARTISTS you should know Fall Calendar of Events The Elephant Parade20

Maggie Taylorsurrealistic dreamscapes


We proudly Support the following Charities:

AIDS assistance program -Palm Springs Safe Nest-Las Vegas American Cancer SocietyAmerican Healing Arts Foundation St Judes Childrens Hospital Ophelia Foundation La Jolla Festival of the Arts Foundation

Pegasus Foundation Humane Society of the Desert Paralyzed Veterans of America

www.merrill-orr.com [email protected] (760) 641-5203

Master Sculptor

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FALL 2013Features

38 Paradise Found

The Vernacular Architecture of North LagunaThis north Laguna Beach neighborhood, often referred to as the flower streets, features homes in several styles, including bungalow, Craftsman, old-world and Pueblo;

many are examples of vernacular architecture as the original owners helped design and/or built them.

42 Indecorous Decorations

Cecilia Paredes aptly refers to her painterly photographs as photo performances. The photographs are a piece of

performance in that they document the painstaking, bodily and time consuming process wherein the artist paints herself

the precise pattern of her chosen background. 46

Good for their SoulsBluebird Canyon psychologists

explore creative connectionsOne glance at Maslows hierarchy of needs pyramid ...might also give one pause while determining where,

between the basics of needing food, shelter and sleep, and the pinnacle of self-actualization of creativity, lack of

prejudice and spontaneity, one might fall.52

Maggie TaylorSurrealistic Dreamscapes

Maggie Taylors photomontages, an amalgam of the old and the new, are comprised of 19th century daguerreotypes, old illustrations, contemporary photographs, as well as

various objects and artifacts; all layered together through digital image editing. The resulting artworks are surrealistic

dreamscapesthat demand time and attention from the viewer to fully comprehend.

56 Gorgeous Whatevers

To get at the heart of John Brosios work, which really mixes three styles without ever letting one dominate (realism,

surrealism and hyperrealism) I appeal to the tradition into which he best fits--- agnosticism.

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Laguna Beach

ARTm a g a z i n e


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Laguna Beach

ARTm a g a z i n e

FALL 2013Departments

20Objects of Desire

24Highlights of Last Season

Dinner with PicassoAttack of the 50 Foot HeroGeorge Hurrell Exhibition

28Ruth Roman

The Good Girl Glow32

Artist Adam SilvermanClay & Space

36Painting a Bright Future

60Artist Vanessa Rothe

64Edgar Payne and the Laguna Beach

Art Association65

20 ARTISTSyou should know

68 Artist Alrik Yuill

Creates Inaugural VANS US Open Surfing Trophy70

Raising HopeRuben Flores from Laguna Nursery shares his experience

raising money for local charities.72

Calendar of Events78

Art ResourcesMuseums, Galleries, Studios

82Young Artist

Origami Artist Brayden Jenson, Age 10 70

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LagunaBeachARTmagazine.com 13


If I had to name a theme for this issue it would be Connection. As an art magazine our goal is to connect our readers with the creative force that is Laguna Beach. As a community we feel a tacit ownership to the artistic reputation that has come to define Laguna Beach. The roots of this creativity are deep and Laguna Beach ART Magazine will explore a combination of the current local art market, as well as the creative heritage. Our goal is to reflect the diverse creative environment that has consistently attracted residents and visitors to this area.

It takes many different kinds of people to make such a rich art community. Whether you are connecting as an artist, generously offering your efforts to this mix of artistic energy, an art business, trying to help define what is relevant in the art world today, or an art enthusiast, supporting the art community through your attendance at events and adding to your own art collection, you are equally important in our eyes.

All of us have had that moment when you are flush with the connection between your soul and a piece of art. No matter the

preparation involved in setting up your chance meeting, it is always a joyful, uplifting surprise. Seeking out that soul-validating artwork is half the fun and Laguna Beach is privileged to have many opportunities for creative encounters.

In this, our premiere issue, we offer insights into upcoming exhibitions at Laguna Art Museum including the talented Adam Silverman and the newly founded Art & Nature event. We also acknowledge some of the talented students from Laguna College of Art and Design, and their recent accomplishments. I asked local horticultural expert and artisan, Ruben Flores of the Laguna Nursery to describe his passion and inspiration for Raising Hope for local non-profits through his charity work. We explore North Laguna through the eyes of Liz Goldner and Tom Lamb, and are welcomed into the home of Curt Sandman and Jennifer Barron to discuss their deeply-rooted feelings about creativity, and what it does for your soul.

Scattered throughout the magazine are profiles of artists, at various stages of their careers, who are contributing to the vibrancy of the art community. We have packed our pages full of what to look forward to seeing and doing this fall, as well as a few Highlights from last summer that we hope you enjoyed.

I asked our contributors to tell us about an exhibition that they connected to and why (you can read about their diverse interests on the Contributors page). My favorite exhibition was the reconstruction, in 1991, of Hitlers 1937 Degenerative Art Exhibit. This was the exhibit that really showed me the power and potential threat of art and artists. Hitlers aggressive and successful manipulation of the viewer with both the architecture of the exhibition space, and the graffiti covering the degenerative work, made me reconsider my own artistic expressions. I realized that individually not every artist changes the world, but as a group we can say something, reflect something that is very powerful and honest about our culture. Raw and unfiltered, art conveys a viewpoint that can not be rewritten in history books. I learned that art can both inform and define the viewer.

Janneen and I would both like to thank you all for the warm welcome. Launching a magazine with such lofty goals is not for the faint of heart. We look forward to your suggestions, submissions and contributions as we connect with Laguna Beach.

Christine DoddCreative Director

Letter from the Creative Director

Maggie TaylorBut Who Has WonPigmented digital print


Co -Publishers

Chr ist ine Dodd

Janneen Jackson

Christ ine Do dd Creat ive Direc tor

Janneen Jackson Adver t is ing Direc tor

Contributing Editors

Lesl ie Jenson

Harr iet Schwar tzman

Contributors

Lisa Aslanian

Janet B lake

Stac y Davies

Liz Goldner

Janneen Jackson

Tom Lamb

M ike St ice

Malcolm Warner

w w w.LagunaBeachAR Tmagazine.comFor Advertising and Editorial Information:

P.O. Box 9492, Laguna Beach, CA 92652or email [email protected]

The opinions expressed by writers and contributors do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher.

Laguna Beach ART Magazine is published quarterly by Laguna Beach ART Magazine, LLCFacebook f Logo CMYK / .eps Facebook f Logo CMYK / .eps


Contributors

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Mike Stice is a native of Southern California. Born in Orange County in 1970, Stice spent nearly his entire waking childhood outdoors. He cherishes his memories of the pre-OC Orange County and counts himself among the few and the fortunate who were raised there when its orange trees outnumbered its residents. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Stice worked at SURFING Magazine, first as the Special Services grommet and later as an Art Assistant. In 1998, Stice graduated cum laude from University of California, San Diego (UCSD) where he served as the Student Director of UCSDs Language and Cognition Lab while earning a B.A. in Linguistics with a Specialization in Language and Mind. Stices graduate studies in English were at University of California, Irvine (UCI).With the exception of the two-year hiatus in which he attended UCSD, Stice worked at Laguna Art Museum in several different capacitiesincluding Curatorial Research Intern and Director of Operationsfor over twenty years. Stice has maintained a post as a part-time Liberal Arts faculty member and Writing Lab Director at Laguna College of Art and Design (LCAD) since the fall semester 2000 and has served as LCADs first Communications Manager since July 2012. Stice is the author of Chronicle Books Wolfgang Bloch: The Colors of Coincidence (2008) and has penned a number of other published articles on Bloch.Since January 2013, Stice has hosted, College. Art. Radio. a weekly, hour-long radio program on KX93.5FM. A very, very amateur pianist, Stice counts writing, playing, and listening to an eclectic array of music among his top passions. Surfing, traveling, stand-up comedy, reading, writing, creating art, and sampling craft beers are other activities that keep him (mostly) sane.

Janet Blake is the curator of historical art at Laguna Art Museum. Her field as a scholar is the history of California art from 1900 to 1950, with a focus on American impressionists in California and the regional or American Scene artists of the 1930s and 1940s. In 1991 she co-edited the book American Scene Painting: California, 1930s and 1940s with Ruth Westphal. In 2007, Blake curated a major retrospective of the work of Millard Sheets at the Millard Sheets Center for the Arts at Fairplex in Pomona. Since joining Laguna Art Museum in 1998, she has worked on several of the museums outstanding exhibitions. In 2008 she assisted Will South with the major retrospective on William Wendt, and wrote the chronology of the artists life for the accompanying book; and in 2012, she curated a retrospective exhibition on Clarence Hinkle, accompanied by a comprehensive book on the artist. One of my favorite exhibitions was Frederic Remington: The Color of Night, which I saw at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., in summer 2003. It was a small exhibition of only twenty-nine paintings, all nocturnes completed between 1901 and 1909. The installation was stunning; the walls painted a beautiful slate blue, and all the paintings framed in charcoal-colored carved frames. In the works, Remington explored how various lightmoonlight, firelight, and candlelightaffected the color of night. The gallery had several deep blue upholstered divans where one could sit quietly and contemplate the ethereal beauty of the paintings.

Janet Blake

SR DaviesSR Davies is an award-winning arts and culture journalist in Los Angeles, Orange County and the Inland Empire, a film historian at UC Riverside and the University of Phoenix, and was the host of The Hollywood Happening radio show at KX 93.5 in Laguna Beach. She was formerly a coverage writer for Jodie Fosters Egg Pictures and the Sundance Institute, and a coordinating producer of development at E! True Hollywood Story. I grew up in a rather creative environment my mother is an artist but I had somehow reached my teens never having seen a famous work of art. The museums I had seen housed prehistoric skeletons and replicas of extinct Dodo birds that is, until 1986, when the Soviet Union released its Hermitage cache of Impressionist and early modern works to LACMA. At age 16, one knows very little about art, but it doesnt take a scholar of any degree to be bowled over by Monets water lilies, Matisses The Red Room and Van Goghs Portrait of Dr. Rey. Suddenly, art was much more than something that just anyone could engage in at school or purchase at a Beverly Hills gallery. It had history, longevity and story. More than that, it felt as if the people whod created it would have died or gone mad if theyd been stifled. Some did anyway, of course. It was then that I realized that art was unavoidable for some; it was their calling to greatness and to tragedy, and I was certain there was nothing more beautiful in life than that.

Liz Goldner haunted MoMA as a teenager, later worked in journalism, covering food, fashion, business, touring museums in her spare time. In 2000, she became an OC Metro art columnist, soon graduating to writing about art for Art and Living, Laguna Life & People, Women in the Arts, Orange Coast and more. She contributes to ArtScene, Art Ltd., Artillery, OC Register Magazine and The Huffington Post. She owns the website, http://www.contemporary-art-dialogue.com/. She lives in Laguna Beach with her photographic artist partner, often attending this towns art events and festivals. She is a member of AICA, International Association of Art Critics. My favorite exhibition ever, the Crosscurrents in L.A. Painting and Sculpture at the Getty Center, was a major part of the 2011-12 SoCal movement, Pacific Standard Time, involving more than 100 museums, galleries and performance venues, focusing on postwar art. The gist of PST was that artists inspired and influenced each other, creating an expansive movement of divergent styles, becoming a cohesive, enduring legacy.Crosscurrents included: a collection of hard-edge paintings with ceramic artwork; an assemblage and collage section; a collection called the L.A. Look, reflecting L.A. as a burgeoning art center and place of scenic beauty; and my favorite, a magnificent Finish Fetish section. Here, several iconic polyester resin pieces, also known as Light and Space works, were placed on pedestals, hung on the walls and carefully lit in the manner of traditional museums to show off their luminous beauty. Pieces in this section included: Peter Alexanders Cloud Box, a cast polyester cube with fluffy clouds floating within; Frederick Eversleys Untitled, a circular see-through piece that changes colors and shape as you move around it; and DeWain Valentines flawlessly polished Red Concave Circle. This installation conveyed the time, effort and extensive technical knowhow needed to create the various works, while the expert curation rendered the processes far into the background.

Liz Goldner

Malcolm Warner joined Laguna Art Museum as Executive Director in January 2012. Previously he was Deputy Director at the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas; Senior Curator of Paintings and Sculpture at the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven; and Curator of European Art at the San Diego Museum of Art. He was born in Aldershot (UK) and pursued both undergraduate and graduate studies at the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London. He received his PhD from the Courtauld in 1985. His doctoral dissertation was on the British Pre-Raphaelite painter John Everett Millais. He remains the leading authority on Millais and, as a long-term project, is preparing a catalogue raisonn of the artists works. His publications have ranged widely over European art, with an emphasis on art in Britain, from the eighteenth century to the twentieth. They include various articles and essays on Millais and other Victorian painters, an introductory history of portraiture, a guidebook to places in Britain associated with artists, and a catalogue of British paintings at the Art Institute of Chicago. He has taught courses in art history at the University of Manchester, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Chicago. Sensation was a great title for a great exhibition. Drawn from the collection of the advertising mogul Charles Saatchi, it showcased the young British artists now known collectively as the YBAs, including Damien Hirst and Rachel Whiteread. I saw it at the Royal Academy in London in 1997 and again at the Brooklyn Museum of Art in 1999. It was indeed a sensation, causing controversy and offense on both sides of the Atlantic. But the title was right for other, better reasons too. This was art that didnt care about being nice, or matching your expectations. It wanted you to feel something. Damien Hirsts famous memento mori, a shark in a tank of formaldehyde, was a good centerpiece for a show whose great themes were tragedy and death. Its detractors said it was just sensationalistic. But for me it was deeply serious, and unforgettable.

Malcolm Warner

Mike Stice

Tom LambFormally and informally educated in a variety of politically, social, culturally and art-based environments, Tom apprenticed with Aaron Siskind during graduate school he grow up in a creative household and working with great planners, conservationists, imagemakers, storytellers and adventurists; created the foundation for his image-making process. His supportive family has energized and supported his life style, approach and vision. He uses photography, as his primary tool, along with pioneering trends in new media. Tom has dedicated his life to not only creating, through the art of storytelling, memorable photographs, but also championing environmental awareness. His images, both from the air and the ground, are of the built and un-built, often abandoned or in transition, landscapes. His images examine how we interact with the planets most valuable but increasingly threatened resources. Tom is interested in the culture and with the balance between the natural world and mans mark on the land. He travels extensively; his work is published, exhibited and collected internationally.


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Under the instruction of legendary Disney Animator, Director and Voice Actor, Eric Goldberg, Attack of the 50-Foot Hero, an animated short created by students of Laguna College of Art and Designs First Annual Summer Animation Master Class, recently won Best Animation at the 4th Annual New Media Film Festival in Los Angeles.

In addition to earning top honors at the New Media Film Festival, Attack of the 50-Foot Hero, a traditionally animated 2-D short created on LCADs North Campus in the summer of 2012, was honored as an Official Selection at twelve film festivals overall.

Goldberg, instructor of LCADs 2012 Summer Animation Master Class and Project Advisor on Attack of the 50-Foot Hero worked on such Disney films as Aladdin, as Lead Animator on the character Genie; Hercules, as the lead animator on Phil; and Pocahontas as Co-Director.

The 2nd Annual Summer Animation Master Class at LCAD that wrapped up on August 3, 2013 was instructed by famed special effects, stop motion and puppet ace, Stephen Chiodo who oversaw the production of The Sock Thief, a five-minute stop-motion animated short comprised of nearly eight thousand frames, all shot in 4k Ultra HD. The Sock Thief will be entered in upwards of than 20 international film festivals. For more information visit www.lcad.edu. l

Laguna College of Art and Design Animated Short Takes Top Honors in Animation at the 4th Annual New Media Film Festivalwritten by Mike Stice


This past spring, Laguna Art Museum presented the exhibition George Hurrell: Laguna to Hollywood, which showcased over sixty works by the famed Hollywood glamour photographer. It traced his beginnings as a painter and photographer in Laguna Beach in the mid 1920s through his transformation into the chronicler of Hollywood stars in the 1930s and 40s. Hurrells story is a compelling one that revolves around a chance meeting with artist Edgar Payne in Chicago in 1925.

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1904, Hurrell moved to Chicago with his family in 1909. He had an early interest in learning photography, yet aspired to be a painter, enrolling in the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1922. In order to finance his education, he photographed paintings for other artists. He also apprenticed for three months with the pictorialist photographer Eugene Hutchinson, learning the basics of negative development and making contact prints.

Hurrell met Laguna Beach artist Edgar Payne sometime late in 1924 or early 1925. Payne was spending several months in Chicago after returning from a long European sojourn. Hurrell showed Payne some of his paintings, and the older, experienced artist encouraged him to visit Southern California. In May 1925 Payne arranged for Hurrell to stay in a little furnished cottage and studio in Laguna Beach called

The Paint Box. So named because many artists had stayed there over the years, including Payne.

Within a few weeks, Hurrell became acquainted with many of the resident artists in town and advertised his services as a portrait photographer and as a photographer

of paintings for newspaper and magazine reproduction. He became especially close to Julia Bracken, William Wendt and with William Griffith. In December 1925 he attended a Christmas dinner at Griffiths and met the woman whom he recalled as his first enthusiastic supporter, Florence Lowe Barnes. The wealthy and independent Barnes, who had a forty-acre estate in north Laguna Beach, counted among her many friends the silent screen actor Ramon Novarro. She introduced the actor to the young photographer soon after Hurrell moved to Los Angeles, in 1927. Novarro asked Hurrell to do a series of portraits that would promote his aspirations to be an opera star. He later

showed the photographs to his friend, the actress Norma Shearer, who prevailed upon Hurrell to make a series of enticing photographs of her that she could use to persuade her husband, MGM producer Irving Thalberg, to cast her in The Divorce. She won the part, and Hurrell soon received a contract from MGM. His career as glamour photographer to the stars was launched.

GEORGE HURRELL EXHIBITION written by Janet Blake

Highlights from Last Season

Photos this page clockwise: Jean Harlow,

Gelatin silver print, 1934, printed 1979-1980;

Ramon Novarro (with white horse at

Pancho Barness estate in San Marino)

Gelatin silver print, 1928, Norma Shearer,

Gelatin silver print, 1929; Photo opposite page:

George Hurrell, Self-Portrait,

Gelatin silver print, 1930.


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By 1930 Hurrell was the head of the MGM portrait gallery. He was soon dubbed the Grand Seigneur of the Hollywood Portrait. Norma Shearer never let anyone else photograph her. Another enthusiastic supporter was Joan Crawford, who allowed Hurrell to photograph her without makeup. With his knowledge of painting and chiaroscuro, Hurrell could complete a photograph by painting directly on the negative, adding lights to the eyes, highlights in the hair, and luminous skin tones. Bette Davis once remarked that a great deal of her fame was a result of Hurrells portraits.

Hurrell stayed at MGM for just two and a half years. He established his own studio on the Sunset Strip and later worked for Warner Bros. He was always in demand, and enjoyed a long and storied career that only ended with his death in 1992. His dealer at the time, David Fahey, remarked: George Hurrell is the quintessential example of a photographer who paints with light. He is the Rembrandt of photography. He remains today the premier glamour photographer of Hollywoods Golden Age and a master craftsman of enchanting and alluring imagery.l


Looking Back

Each year, millions of hopefuls struggle to find out that not every star in Hollywoods sky gets to shine Polaris. Most fall by the wayside early, with some settling into bit players and character actors, and while a chosen few make it to the top, most serious actors (the ones who arent in it for the fame alone) settle at the mid-range or B level. These second-tier stars are nothing to sniff at, of course, for theres much to be said for the passion, dedication and stamina it takes to remain in a game in which you know, for the most part, you will always come in second maybe even third or fourth.

For every Bette Davis and Jimmy Cagney, Meryl Streep and Robert De Niro, there are doz-ens of actors who never transition to A mate-rial, but its not necessarily due to wont of looks, ability or charm. They just dont get the lucky breaks, perhaps, or maybe their zing isnt quite as zingable as it needs to be. Enter former Laguna Beach resident and Hollywood starlet Ruth Roman, the A list lady with the B list resume, a beautiful brunette with a broad range whom Warner Bros. designer Milo Anderson once called a stunning example of the full-blown, shapely woman of 1951.

Born Norma Ro-man, the daughter of a carnival barker and cleaning woman, Roman rose from the poverty of her Boston-Polish roots through the rungs of hat check girl and dress model and once made $5 an hour posing for crime magazines. After a few stints on the stage, she boarded the train to Los Angeles with $200 in her pocket and combed the Hollywood cattle calls until she landed a glimpse in 1943s Stage Door Canteen, a wartime musical featuring cameos by every hot property in town from Tallulah Bankhead to Harpo Marx.

Fame was hardly beating down Romans door, however, and to save money as she jumped from bit part to bit part, she and sev-eral other struggling starlets rented a home in

Coldwater Canyon they dubbed The House of the Seven Garbos in an obvious bid for some divine intervention. Roman eventually began moving up or sideways, she might insist when she landed a low-grade serial in 1945, Jungle Queen, in which she, in the title role, saved dashing white hunters from a slew of ferocities. (To her horror, Warner Bros. would re-release the series in 1951 to capitalize on her rising star.)

After years of struggle, Roman finally caught the eye of famed Gone with the Wind producer David O. Selznik who signed her as Warners last contract player. Bit parts in films such as Since You Went Away starring Claudette Colbert and Gilda with Rita Hayworth soon turned into best friends with the lead roles in films such as 1949s Beyond the Forrest starring Bette Davis, who took an instant liking to Ro-man and backed her up when the newbie told director King Vidor that she was flubbing her lines because they were lousy. Shes right, this girl is absolutely right, Davis attested and then told Roman, Ruthie, never be afraid to fight for what is right.

While her starmeter was going up, however, one thing remained clear: everyone saw Roman, shapely as she might have been, as the good girl. A string of devoted wife/girlfriend roles soon flooded her way, and while the males she was adoring were no chumps (including Kirk Douglas, James Stewart and Gary Cooper), her desire to be cast against type in more complex and daring roles was rarely honored.

Warner Bros. did attempt to keep her in A material, however, insisting that Elia Kazan use her as Stella in A Streetcar Named Desire (with Kazan balking and tightening his grip on Kim Hunter) and forcing her onto Alfred Hitchcock in his twisty Strangers on a Train the most no-

written by SR Davies

RUTH ROMAN THE GOOD GIRL GLOWActress Ruth Roman was much more than Hollywoods wholesome brunette

After years of struggle, Roman finally caught the eye of

famed Gone with the Wind producer David O. Selznik who

signed her as Warners last contract player.


Artist Adam Silverman: Clay & Space

Photo by Katrina Dickson.


This fall Laguna Art Museum is proud to present an exhibition of work by the Los Angeles potter Adam Silverman. His first solo museum show will coincide with the publishing by Skira-Rizzoli of the beautiful book Adam Silverman Ceramics. The show features a selection of his best pots, including some new pieces created especially for the occasion, and an elaborate installation designed by Silverman himself.

In an instance of Silvermans ingenuity in creating unique site-specific pottery, one room in the Laguna show is an installation of pots crafted partially from local clay and fired in the firepits on Aliso Beach.

Silverman explains his technique as the most primitive form of firing, and the oldest. It is called pit firing because the pots are piled up in a pit with combustibles and ignited. The fire burns for a few hours and the pots sit in a bed of red hot coals and eventually it just runs out of fuel. There is very little control over the temperature or the environment that the pots are in, beyond choosing what you burn. In the case of the Laguna Beach pit firing, I included wood chips from the grounds of the Sawdust Art Festival, drift wood from the beach, wood from the local canyons, and seaweed from the beach. In addition, I collected 10 gallons of water from the ocean and made salt from the water, which was also added to the fire. There is clay that I got in the canyon at the end of Canyon Acres Drive. The local potter Mark Winner graciously showed me where to clay hunt. The clay was used to make slip to apply to the exterior of some of the pots. I used several different clay bodies for the pit firings and made about 50 pots, most of which will be displayed in one of the galleries at the museum in a very specific designed and built installation.

Also included in the show are two pieces that in different senses bring pottery together with video. Silverman explains, One is a collaboration between myself and Lucas Michael. It is a white pot sitting on a pedestal, with a video projected onto it. The video shows the same pot rotating,

written by Malcolm Warnerphotos by Stefano Massei, courtesy of Adam Silverman.

Artist Adam Silverman: Clay & Space


and the result is a very beautiful illusion of the pot being in water, or swept by the wind. The other video piece is of Le Corbusiers chapel at Ronchamp, a beautiful, small pilgrimage church in eastern France. This building has been enormously influential on me and my work. In its forms it is closely associated with the sea, and at the same time it is like a large pot that people can go inside. It feels like the outside and the inside were made simultaneously, as though the building were a pot, which is very unusual in architecture.

If Adam Silverman: Clay and Space has a recurrent theme, it is the relation of art to nature. Silverman brings to his pottery a keen response to natural forms and materials -- the spiral growth of sea shells, the textures of coral and barnacles, the rhythms of the tide, waves and seaweed, clay and wood. So its fitting that the show will form part of the museums upcoming Art & Nature

event, a multidisciplinary celebration of arts engagement with the natural world, which is scheduled for November 7-10, 2013.

Silvermans passion for clay began 25 years ago at the University of Colorado. He continued his education at the Rhode Island School of Design, where he studied architecture, art, and design. He moved to Los Angeles in 1988 and practiced architecture before co-founding the highly successful X-Large and X-Girl clothing lines. He has worked full-time as a potter since 2002, exhibiting widely in the U.S. and Japan. Since 2008 he has been studio director of Heath Ceramics.l

Adam Silverman: Clay and Space is on view at Laguna Art Museum from October 27, 2013 to January 19, 2014. Located at 307 Cliff Drive, Laguna Beach, CA 92651


Paradise Found The Vernacular Architecture of North Laguna


Traveling on North Coast Highway you will spy a 1917 Craftsman bungalow with its Swiss Chalet design. The old Cottage Restaurantvacated and anticipating its next incarnationfeels like a respite from the traffic on the highway. Past the Cottage and up Aster Street, discover a community from another era, a quiet place of mature trees, well-tended and overgrown gardens, and little historic homes. The enclave, hidden from the main drag, has been preserved by its residents and by the city that takes pride in it. This north Laguna Beach neighborhood, often referred to as the flower streets, features homes in several styles, including bungalow, Craftsman, old-world and Pueblo; many are examples of vernacular architecture as the original owners helped design and/or built them.

Flower streets residents, among them local artists and art lovers, are proud of their eclectic mix of homes, several citing a bit of personal dwelling history. Emily Wineingar, owner of an Aster Street 1920s home, explains, I grew up in that house. We bought it from an elderly couple named Riddle in 1952. The rose garden was there and my grandmother lovingly tended it and the rest of the yard for years. There was a fish pond and a pergola covered with wisteria that was so big, every spring, people from the neighborhood would smell its scent and come over to pay homage. My grandmother, Georgia Derge, bought the house next door in the fifties, so our family had three lots and put a passage between them. I sort of grew up in that house, too. My home has no hallways, just a bunch of rooms put together.

For a walking/biking tour, you might start at The Cottage and go up three steep blocks to 466 Aster Street to a classic two-story shingled Craftsman structure with gabled roof; extensive shrubbery attests to the homes 90-year longevity. A few blocks away at 397 Poplar Street, there is a1930s cottage modeled after an old European-style home, with its arched windows, heavy wooden door, gabled roof and tall chimney. Nearby at 406 Linden Street, youll see a classic California bungalow, with clapboard siding and front porch; built in the early 1900s, it is one of few such

written by Liz Goldner photos by Tomb Lamb

Paradise Found The Vernacular Architecture of North Laguna


dwellings in Laguna. A few blocks away at 416 Jasmine Street is a small English country style cottage, reminiscent of the house that Snow White escaped to, with rough cut wood door and shingled roof. One of Lagunas oldest homes is a block south at 390 Magnolia Drive; this small 1907 cottage, built over a weekend, has simple board and batten exterior and a few steps leading to a small front porch. North to 385 Locust Street, a 1929 Pueblo style bungalow with white stucco exterior, large arched paned window and curved roof, could have been in a Roadrunner cartoon. These are just a few of many historic homes along the flower streets, but three gems just outside the neighborhood beckon.

Suitable to Lagunas quirkiness is the nearby Witches House at 290 Wave Street. Perhaps this citys most unusual building, it is on the National Historic Registry. Architect Vernon Barker created this 84-year-old whimsical home as he built it, including in its design soaring gables, irregular shake shingles and a variety of paned windows, some tall and narrow, others broad. Equally eccentric is the interior with its unusual stairways, and series of inter-connecting rooms, some too small for adults, as they were built for the children and grandchildren who once inhabited it.

Walk around the corner to 770 Hillcrest Drive, and you might wonder what a majestic Norman-style castle is doing in Southern California. Legend tells us that construction on the Pyne Castle was begun during the roaring twentieswhen many people here had grand ideas. Wealthy Orange Countyan Walter Pyne commissioned the 62-room mansion with its steep stucco exterior, pitched turrets, pointed and Gothic style arched windows. Yet after he died, his family

sold it and it passed to several owners. Had President Nixon made the castle into the Western White House, as he considered doing, it might have prevailed as a home. But he did not, and it was divided into apartments. Fortunately, the renters love the place.

The final leg of this journey is along the rugged upper edge of Boat Canyon to another unusual setting, the Hortense Miller Gardens and residence. Here you can tour the classic Eames-inspired modern home, designed by Newport Beach architect Knowlton Ferald, with inspiration from teacher-writer-artist-gardener Hortense Miller (1908-2008). When completed in 1953, this one-story post and beam Allview Terrace home was an anomaly here. Constructed with concrete, glass, wood, brick, tile and Fiberglass, it features floor to ceiling glass or brick walls, and includes a fenestrated brick-bearing wall, bridging the kitchen garden and entry. Leah Vasquez, former Miller estate board member/architectural guide, explains that the open horizontal plan maximizes natural lighting, including light entering glass panels under the kitchen cabinets. The building, housing Millers art and artifacts, overlooks 2.5 acres of native and exotic gardens, while the estate is in the Laguna Beach Historic Registry. To reserve guided tours, contact (949) 497-0716 or check out http://www.hortensemillergarden.org/.

As you leave the Hortense Miller Garden, you might look westward toward the nearby shoreline and envision Crescent Bay Point Park. This dramatic park is like a movie set with its pristine landscaped area jutting into the ocean and sea foam crashing around rock formations. But that is for another journey. l


While Lagunans are proud of their historic homes, they also embrace reinvented properties. One such space at 1205-1223 North Coast Highway is anchored by the popular Mandarin King Restaurant. This formerly down-at-the heels 7,000-square-foot site was purchased 16 years ago by an entrepreneurial woman who moved into the third floor apartment, and then renovated the multi-use building. She refurbished the exterior and turned the second level into a suite of four offices with such elegant amenities, including ocean views, ceramic tile floors and a waterfall in the lobby, it could be a high-end condominium. She also renovated her third-level, 2,300-square-foot apartment to be her own Shangri-La as she calls it, from which you can hear seals barking. The nearby Art Hotel at 1404 North Coast Highway was a run-of-the-mill franchise until Gail Duncan purchased it in 2009. With imagination and support of local artists, she turned the place into a charming European style pensione replete with original artwork in nearly all rooms, the lobby and elevator. Ocean murals even adorn the pool area and waves are painted on the deck. Each room features a different local artist and all artwork is for sale, with the proceeds going to the artists. As Duncan explains, the hotel helps support the artists, while benefitting from the beauty of their work. l

Shangri-La is currently listed for sale with Remax Evolution in Laguna Beach www.coastalcitiesrealty.com

Join California horticulture expert Ruben Flores on a garden walk of Pyne Castle (historic rose garden shown). Times and dates vary contact Laguna Nursery for more details.

(949) 494-5200www.lagunanursery.net


Indecorous Decoration:

Cecilia Paredes

NarcissusPerformance photography39.25 x 33.25 inches


Cecilia Paredes aptly refers to her painterly photographs as photo performances. The photographs are a piece of performance in that they document the painstaking, bodily and time consuming process wherein the artist paints herself the precise pattern of her chosen background. The backgrounds vary. They are floral or forest like, referring to nature while remaining artificial; they are wallpaper, man made, stylized, faux and decorative. Or they are chintz or damask, unabashedly ornamental, domestic, of another time or another place and unwaveringly feminine.

Paredes then enters into the background, and is photographed, sometimes her entire body (in evocative and sensual repose), but mostly only a part of her bodyan arm or two, her torso, the back of her legs---- nearly disappears into the decoration and patterning.

She is captured, or photographed, in various gestures or expressions. Her relationship to the background, or broadly speaking, the environment (nature, culture, technology, the decorative, the feminine, whatever category she finds herself negotiating) is dynamic. She is not a doll; she interacts with her staged, imagined and visually vivid environment.

The photographs are also photographs in the most traditional sense. They freeze a moment in time, serving as a kind of memento of said moment. Yet they are painterly in (at least) two respects. First, they look like paintings; they are lush, textured and saturated. Second, they are paintings in part because Paredes is painted and her body paint uncannily matches the patterned backdrop.

What separates Paredes from the elaborately patterned flowers, leaves and Victorian or Art Nouveau wallpapers into which she paints herself is Paredes herself. She never completely blends, never becomes part of the decoration. Instead, she leaves a trace of herself--- her hair, or her eyes

and lips or a touch of unpainted flesh. In setting herself apart from what surrounds her, she may

go surreal, as in Art Nouveau. The artists torso and hands are disproportionate in relation to her tiny head, a dolls head on a human body--- and this puny head is jarring in that its face is painted over and it is crowned with an orange-y brown wig. The overall effect is discord; the backdrop is beautiful, patterned so as to lull but the figure is odd, even jarring.

With Narcissus, Paredes deepens the work with reference to Greek myth. Adding layers to an already stacked work, the artist paints herself not into a background of water but into a background of leavesa wallpaper of leaves, a forest like, earthy palette.

She stares at her reflection in the leaves, a slight bit of her cheek and skin around the eye left unpainted---exposed. A reminder that this is an image of a human being, and in this case a human being entranced with and enamored of herself, or her reflection. Here is where we should really pay attention to the image--- instead of water, which reflects, we have leaves, which do not reflect. Paredes offers a staging, an imitation of a reflection, a kind of mythologically resonant visual and cerebral echo. The myth is present in the works

written by Lisa Aslanian

NarcissusPerformance photography39.25 x 33.25 inches


GOOD for their SOULSBluebird Canyon psychologists explore creative connections

written by SR Davies l photos by Tom Lamb


When you sit down for a piece of pistachio pound cake with two people whove made careers in the cognitive sciences, its even money that, eventually, a famous psychological model will be mentioned if youre lucky. Theres really nothing more fascinating than people, of course, and why they do the things they do can provide hours of captivating conversation. One glance at Maslows hierarchy of needs pyramid the model in question might also give one pause while determining where, between the basics of needing food, shelter and sleep, and the pinnacle of self-actualization of creativity, lack of prejudice and spontaneity, one might fall.

Curt Sandman and Jennifer Barron have been climbing that pinnacle together for 33 years and not just in their cognitive science careers. Indeed, both have pursued their fascinations

with humanity he, as a much-lauded professor in UC Irvines Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, and she as a highly successful clinical psychologist and marriage and family therapist but theyve also pursued what can certainly be called self-actualization in their private, artistic lives.

The momentum began around 1985 when Jenny found a new home for their family. Nestled in Bluebird Canyon so snuggly that if you blink youll miss the hand-painted street sign at the beginning of the dirt road, the 1970s architecture of the modestly-sized, five-level structure appealed to their aesthetic immediately. They also appreciated the folklore of the area apparently, their road was named after Babe Didrikson, an Olympic athlete who took up residence there when the 1932 Olympics came to Laguna Beach.

GOOD for their SOULSBluebird Canyon psychologists explore creative connections

written by SR Davies l photos by Tom Lamb


Once theyd gutted the place, they hesitated to fill it right away. The living room, in fact, went without any furniture for four years, save a grand piano, until they found two orange chairs. Well, Curt thinks theyre orange. Jennys pretty sure theyre condensed tomato soup, and they politely agree to disagree. After the last of four daughters was well on her way through college, the two decided it was time to spend some of their resources on things they personally enjoyed, not just needed, and the Maslow climb was on.

Their first piece of original art was found on a trip to New Orleans when they happened by a gallery exhibition of sculptures by Daniel Meyer, who had just completed an Absolute Vodka campaign. Curt caught sight of the slick, sophisticated Red Hot Trumpet player, a futuristic Robocop-type figure done up in mustard and burnt orange, and was struck.

I took one look at it, he says, and just thought, wow, this is awesome. This is my taste.

Soon after, the couple began exploring more original art, as well as returning to galleries in Laguna and elsewhere to revisit pieces theyd once seen, but had been unable to afford. Luck


was with them, and they eventually tracked down Toast to Love by Soviet Block artist Yuroz from a poster theyd seen at Lagunas Fingerhut Gallery. The enormous ode to companionship, pomegranates and wine now hangs in their foyer. They also immediately sought out local artist, Sandra Jones Campbell.

For ten years wed seen Sandra Campbells work at the Festival of the Arts, Curt says, Finally, we just thought, life is short and we love being surrounded by beauty and its silly for us to defer this any longer. They now have 14 works by Campbell.

While neither Curt nor Jenny had any formal training in the arts, they both have deeply-rooted feelings about creativity, and what it does for your soul. For Jenny, it wasnt the encouragement from a high school art teacher to pursue her potential I had other aspirations and goals, and in 60s, you just took it one day at a time, she laughs but rather, various family members who encouraged her to explore artistic avenues. She and Curt routinely enjoy the arts of cooking (Im the souse chef and shes the director, he laughs), wine making, architecture and landscape. In fact, Jenny, in conjunction with their architect, designed their

second home, located in Breckinridge, Colorado.Curt grew up relatively removed from the

arts, and recalls his fascination beginning with a poster of Rubens Daniel in the Lions Den that his grandmother hung above his bed when he

While neither

Curt nor Jenny

had any formal

training in the arts,

they both have

deeply-rooted feelings

about creativity,

and what it does

for your soul.


was five. Many years later, when he was able to see the massive original at the National Museum in DC, it was profound.

It buckled my knees and flooded me with memories of childhood, he says. Art does that. It can remind you of a place and it can have a spiritual influence on you. Its historical, its mythological and Ive had that experience so many places.

From that moment on, he was determined to see every collection that he could find. For years he kept a catalogue in his mind of what hed seen and where it was housed- never even dreaming that hed own an original piece himself one day.

Now, Curt and Jennys Laguna home has nary a spot of unadorned wall space. There are Sandra Jones Campbells multi-peopled oils of family day trips and decadent dining and gambling scenarios circa the 1930s she moves with the times, first conspicuous consumption and then the bubble burst, Curt notes. They also have an array of work by America Martin seven in all which they found at the JoAnne Artman Gallery and that they moon over with great admiration. We love her work, Curt says. Big, strong, primitive strokes great use of color.

Fred Stodders vibrant ceramics also make the scene, and a moody Kathy Jones piece titled A Stranger to Me hangs in their bedroom, evoking a multitude of interpretations from guests. Featuring the backs of two figures staring out of a window, the image is haunting; some see parental rejection, others, spousal trouble, or perhaps its merely two people stalled in the same gray loneliness. Curt points out that art does not have to be beautiful, to be beautiful. Its just pure, he says. A form of truth.

Because its also spiritual for them, its no surprise that Curt and Jenny also connect with the works of Native American artist Frank Howell. After many years of searching, Curt


finally acquired an original Howell a few years ago. It now hangs in their Breckinridge home in a triangular-shaped room they loosely refer to as the cathedral.

Its this feeling of connection to the piece, and to all of the works in their collection, that drives them, in fact. Theyre uninterested in decreasing or increasing values, and dont even really consider themselves the owners of the art.

I hate to think of it as collecting, Curt says. I think of it more as borrowing. Collecting seems purposeful, with an organizational element. Ours is really random.

Jenny agrees. We buy things and we dont even have a place to put them, she laughs. We do not know how to buy strategically at all.

But who needs strategy? According to Maslow, self-actualization isnt planning things out purposefully and scientifically. Its about accomplishing everything that one can, and becoming the most that one can be. What better way to explore all that might entail than to be surrounded by the wistful, wise and wonderful creations of the soul. l


Maggie Taylor surrealistic dreamscapes

The Nest, Pigmented digital print


Maggie Taylors photomontages, an amalgam of the old and the new, are comprised of 19th century daguerreotypes, old illustrations, contemporary photographs, as well as various objects and artifacts; all layered together through digital image editing. The resulting artworks are surrealistic dreamscapesthat demand time and attention from the viewer to fully comprehend.

written by Liz Goldner

Taylors Burden of Dreams, a visual duet of a woman and a man, features old photographic portraits found at antique fairs, combined with objects, photos and illustrations, all representing the numerous thoughts exploding out the couples heads. To create these artworks, Taylor scans the images and objects into her computer; then using Photoshop, she manipulates the faces, adding retro-color schemes. She finally engages in the laborious task of layering the scanned objectsincluding flowers, plants, animals, snakes, insects, books and musical instrumentsto convey the couples numerous private thoughts. She says that Burden of Dreams is semi-autobiographical, adding that she often loses herself in the creative process while building these complex artworks.

Burden of Dreams, exemplifying Taylors three-decade body of work, also flows naturally from her childhood pursuits of reading and listening to stories, as well as building and creating things. I was a very introverted child

who loved a good story, whether it was by Ray Bradbury or in a Mary Tyler Moore episode, she says. Building houses with blocks made me feel like an architect, while my dollhouses became design projects or stage sets. In high school, Taylors driving passion to know more about life helped her excel at her studies. She was admitted to Yale University in the early 1980s, choosing philosophy as a major in order to gain broad knowledge of worldwide ideas and beliefs. She also took many photography classes, soon realizing that with this discipline, she could combine her love of art with her desire for philosophical expression. She attended graduate school at the University of Floridaa place where students were merging film photography with painting, sculpture and performance, and often collaborating on larger installations. Taylor reveled in that multidisciplinary environment. Adapting this broad artistic approach to her own work, she began combining seemingly unrelated objects,

Maggie Taylor surrealistic dreamscapes

The Nest, Pigmented digital print

Left:The Burden of Dreams 2013Pigmented digital printRight:The Burden of Dreams 2012Pigmented digital print


including old toys, dead birds, caterpillars, various junk and debris, in individual photographs. Looking back, these surreal still-life images became the precursors of her current multilayered works. She received an MFA from the University of Florida in 1987.

Taylor lives near a small swamp in Gainesville, Florida, with three large dogs and her husband, Jerry Uelsmann, who is a pioneer in the photomontage darkroom technique. Jerry is totally committed to making photographs as a way of life, she says. It is inspiring to see the magical things he comes up with in the darkroom. From her home studio Taylor talks about living a life of artistic bliss. Having a creative job is essential to me. If I did not make these images, I might be writing or working as a designer of some sort. I like anything hands-on that involves imagination. When asked about other recent images, she lovingly describes them as though they were offspring. Discussing But Who Has Won, part of her Alice in Wonderland series, she points to a Victorian girl scanned from an 1850 daguerreotype, while the surrounding birds are from 18th century botanical illustrations. For The Nest, she used a 19th century photograph of a girl, added goggles, and then scanned a hornets nest that, today, is proudly displayed in her home. For the bees swarming out of the nest, she scanned dead

bees and old bee drawings. In Moving On, her homage to last years Olympics, she scanned an image of an athletic young man, had him pull a cloud with a face on it, while a similar cloud is on his shirt. The surrounding landscapes in her works are derived from various sources, including photographs from her own travels. When asked about the symbolism in these artworks, she says that the ideas simply flow out from her, that she has difficulty putting their origins into words.

Taylor, who has won several awards for her images, is widely exhibited in the U.S. and Europe and is in gallery and museum collections, talks poignantly about her future. While she plans to continue building artworks within her computer, she is equally enamored with the resulting old-fashioned looking prints comprised of ink on paper. I will always want to create finished pieces that can be hung on the wall or go into books.l

Maggie Taylor is available locally at : Joanne Artman Gallery, 326 North Coast Highway, Laguna Beach, CANo Ordinary Days: Everything You Never Imagined! Runs November 7-December 31Artist Reception & Book Signing November 7th

Left:Small Celebration

Pigmented digital printRight:

Moving OnPigmented digital print


Lightning Strikes Twice, Pigmented digital print


GORGEOUS WHATEVERS The work of John Brosio written by Lisa Aslanian

Edge of Town #9


The above is the final line of Rabelaiss farce, an exit strategy, a way out, and above all else an agnostics affirmation of meaning: I am going to look for the grand perhaps. The meaning is conveyed in part by the choice of genre (farce) and the idea of ending the story with a question mark, without a resolution. Agnosticism is a stance or an attitude of engaged indifference. To get at the heart of John Brosios work, which really mixes three styles without ever letting one dominate (realism, surrealism and hyperrealism) I appeal to the tradition into which he best fits--- agnosticism.

While his work may be dominated by images of tornados and these works merit the critical attention they attract--- his rendering of tornadoes is stunning, forceful and conceptually (and literally) loaded---- his oeuvre is united not by his focus on this particular force of nature. Rather, Brosios work is held together as a body of work by his attitude. Whether nature or science fiction or an image of the grotesque, Brosios affect---- and it comes through in each and every work--- is wry, curious and ironic, in that however close he is to embracing what he paints, he maintains the distance of the agnostic; he prefers to be alive and unsure than to have decided.

Agnosticism has a long history and a long relationship with art so in the interest of brevity and keeping it fresh, lets place Brosio in the company of a few contemporary American agnostics. First, the work has the sensibility of Andy Warhol, who delivered us an innocuous, seemingly canned

Je vais men chercher un grand peut-etre - Francois Rabelais

written by Lisa Aslanian

Edge of Town #9

Edge of Town #11, 35 x 40, 2012

58 LagunaBeachARTmagazine.comNocturne 2, 60 x 36, 2006


(pardon the pun) Americana with the brillo boxes and soup cans alongside a voyeuristic and violent America in the car crash series and the electric chair series, the latter alluding also to the sadism of state sponsored violence. Warhol made farce, was irony and really made no statement that led anyone anywhere.

Brosio also has the wit of the Coen brothers. Take Fargo. In this flic Fargo is more Fargo than Fargo. The mimicry stays so close to what is mimicked it slips into hilarious satire. And the story revolves around an unfathomable crime (and that which we cannot access, that which is unfathomable, belongs to the sublime).

Brosio shares his attitude toward painting, and life more generally, in an interview with John Seed in the Huffington Post, wherein he calls life and the effort we make as we go about it a gorgeous whatever. Is this not tantamount, at least in vibe, to the big perhaps? Like Rabelais, Brosio has a kind of generative agnosticism. There is no reason, he says, to put the pipe down and get up off of the couch. But there is also no reason not to put the pipe down, get up and try to create some of the greatest things that have ever been done. In other words, if you are going to bother to get off of the couch, dont do anything half-assed. Live. Be curious and fascinated about and with the world, which he refers to as a gorgeous whatever. He loves the phrase whatever because it is dismissive and celebratory at the same time. I have come to see his paintings as a bunch of, or a series of, gorgeous whatevers.

Nocturne 2 and Texas Road are both painterly and gorgeous and the tornado itself dominates the pictorial space, dwarfs the man made objects (cars and boats and highway) and the other bits of nature (ocean and trees). But they are tranquil paintings. The observer is distant, watching, beholding the form and the grandeur of the storm.

There are many varieties of tornado but as a rule they come on fast, overpower, destroy and dissolve into dust almost as quickly and suddenly as they came. People take shelter underground --- but they wreak havoc even though they look as innocuous as a funnel used to drink beer by frat boys. Finally, if the tornado comes at night, no one would be able to see it without lightening, or something else that

illuminated the distinct shape of the thing. So in Dorothys Kansas, people experienced tornados as coming out of nowhere, with only sound for warning.

We live side by side with nature and are subject to its destructive force. Lives are lost all over the world in earthquakes because the infrastructure is shabby---- so nature, in this sense, has not lost its connection to the sublime. Brosio gets all this and he gets all this in the paintings, yet they remain calm. Yes, the calm before the storm--- and it is a kind of enthralled calm that the images impart. I imagine Brosio in awe at the same time that he shrugs his shoulders.

In Edge of Town 11 and Edge of Town 9 the tornadoes are more fully offset by architecture and people. They are still the ominous element of the work but they share the space with the goings on of every day life. The images, though they share a title and a basic imaginary framework of nature, place and people, are radically different.

In number 11, we see a figure sitting calmly in front of a donut store. Life goes on regardless of the darkening of the sky and the approaching destruction, and this disconnect separates the planes of the picture. It is as though we have the coexistence of two separate realities, as in surrealism but the tie between the two realities, the narrative, somehow remains intact, as in realism.

Number 9 is straight up realism. A gorgeous piece of work that captures how we imagine people react to the coming of a tornado. They scatter in different directions away from the impending destruction---- but the dominant feel of the work is observation, an intense engagement with and removal from the image. We do not feel fear when we look at the work; fear gives way to wonder, to awe, to a sense of reverence and eh, so be it.

Brosio shows at Sue Greewood Fine Art and he is an exciting painter, a painter who really revels in the art of painting. While he works in a variety of idioms, he is always figurative and he never completely leaves narrative. Yet, to get it, to appreciate it, to revel in what is his talent and vision, see it. You have to see not just the talent but also the wit, the character of the work and its creator. l

Nocturne 2, 60 x 36, 2006


Artist Vanessa Rothe

written by Janneen Jackson


VVanessa Franoise Rothe grew up in the heart of the Laguna Beach artists colony. Inspired at an early age by her father, a well-known German clothing designer, Detlev Rothe and her French mother, Jacqueline Ricaud, her passion for art ignited when she won 1st place in the Color it Orange competition as a child. As a high school student, Rothe won the senior art contest and received top art scholarships from Laguna Beach High School and the Fes-tival of the Arts to study at the University of San Diego and the University of California, Irvine. It was after earning a Business degree in Marketing and French Literature that Rothe returned to study fine art at the Laguna College of Art and Design and at ateliers in France and Italy.

Being in front of my subject is a crucial part of my work. Whether I create the work on location, take a photo of it as I walk around it, or make a small watercolor sketch of the scene, its important to me to have experi-enced it firsthand. commented Rothe.

Her long time influences include a mix of traditional representational artists, impressionist artists, such as Sargent, Sorolla and Chase, and master artist friends, such as Scott Burdick, Ray Roberts and Peggi Kroll-Roberts.

this page (clockwise): Riviera Boats,

oil, 12x16Vanessa Rothe Gallery at

418 Ocean Avenue, Laguna Beach Moss Point Laguna Beach,

oil, 12x16opposite page:

the artist in her studio

Artist Vanessa Rothe


Vanessa Rothe


Rothe takes the essence of a subject and captures its charm on canvas with the use of color, shadow, and light. The natural simplic-ity of her work, her visible brush strokes and pleasing color combinations form a realistic yet slightly impressionistic style which her collec-tors admire.

When creating my works of art, I look for and enjoy the subtle changes in value and color within each thing I paint, such as in a field of fresh cut wheat, where there are at least four main shades of gold and ochre. Getting those values right and laying them down side by side on the canvas to build the volume is what I enjoy about painting in oils.

Her subjects include classic California seascapes and landscapes, the beautiful pastoral landscapes of France, Switzerland and Italy, the allure of historic cities such as Paris and Venice, colorful boats from the Riviera, vibrant still lifes, and her new collection of figurative work.

Among her many accomplishments, Rothe has been honored to exhibit alongside some of the nations top artists and painters. She is proud to have had many successful solo exhibi-tions at the Wendt Gallery in Laguna Beach, as well as with an impressive list of group shows, including Richard Schmid Fine Art Auction, the Annual American Impressionist Society Exhibition, and California Art Club exhibitions. Rothe was also included on an esteemed list for Artists for a New Century at The Bennington Center for the Arts.

My work is simply about capturing a moment, the way I saw it or experienced it.

Whether its the ocean changing multiple colors of blue in the sunlight, an Italian Riviera port when the light brightens one side of the old wood boats, or the quiet coolness of sitting under the shade of rows of platan trees as the sun flickers between long shadows at the end of the day. It may not be the exact colors of the scene, rather it is what I saw or remember, that is the most important part of that moment.

Rothe is a signature member of the Ameri-can Impressionist Society, a member of the California Art Club, Oil Painters of America and Laguna Plein Air Painters Association. She is also honored to be the California Editor of the nationally acclaimed art collector magazine Fine

Art Connoisseur, as well as a long time contrib-uting writer for Plein Air magazine.

Rothe works as a professional fine artist, curator and writer. You can often find her at her studio at 418 Ocean Avenue in Laguna Beach. In addition to showing at fine art galleries world-wide, she now teaches atelier style private art lessons and workshops, and is the author/artist to a new series of art instructional books entitled An Art School Approach to Oils published by Walter Foster Publishing. Rothe is sponsored by SENNELIER The Paints of the French Impres-sionists and Savoir Faire fine art materials.lUpcoming Exhibition:

Solo Exhibition From Paris to Marrakech at Randy Higbee Gallery including over 30 new works done on location in Morocco as well as large studio pieces. Randy Higbee Gallery 102 Kalmus Costa Mesa CA, 92626, www.randyhigbeegallery

this page: Picolo Chiesa Tuscany, oil, 8x10 Montage Seascape oil, 18x24opposite page (clockwise): Rue des Platans, oil, 18x24 Laguna Canyon Study oil, 8x16 Mas Provincial, oil, 16x20

When creating my works of art, I look for and enjoy the subtle changes in value and color within each thing I paint, such as in a field of fresh cut wheat, where there are at least four main shades of gold and ochre...Vanessa Rothe

64 LagunaBeachARTmagazine.com juried advertorial

Every summer, Laguna Beach comes alive with multiple arts activities and festivals, drawing visitors from around the country. Laguna Beach evolved into an arts-oriented community due to its early history as an art colony. Artists were drawn to Southern California because of its uniquely varied geography and its unrivaled climate. Along the coast, art colonies developed in Carmel, Monterey, La Jolla, and Laguna BeachLaguna Beach being one of the first.

By 1917, there were many noted artists who lived or worked in Laguna Beach, among them Frank Cuprien, Conway Griffith, Anna Hills, William Wendt, Julia Bracken Wendt, Gardner Symons, Donna Schuster, Edgar Payne, and Elsie Palmer Payne. Edgar Payne, who was originally from Chicago, recognized a need for a community space where artists could exhibit and sell their paintings as a group. In July 1918, he persuaded Laguna Beach Hotel owner Joseph Yoch to allow the artists to convert a vacant, one-room cottage on the grounds of

the hotel into a gallery. Town residents were enthusiastic about the idea, and donations were collected to pay for the renovation.

Many years later Frank Cuprien recalled that first gallery in an article published in the Los Angeles Times: In the summer of 1918 we fixed up the ramshackle old building with the assistance of Nick Isch. (Nick was Joseph Yochs brother-in-law and proprietor of the

general store.) First we drove the bats out of the building and built a skylight in the roof. We whitewashed the walls and oiled the old floors. Later on we had a sewing bee, with all the ladies of the town present, and covered the walls with burlap. Everybody worked like Trojans.

Just outside the building they erected Elsie Paynes hand-lettered sign, Art Gallery.

Their exhibition opened on July 27, 1918, with 100 works by twenty-five artists. Within three weeks, over 2,000 people visited the little gallery. On August 20 several artists met at Edgar Paynes home on Glenneyre Street to discuss creating an organization that would

1935 Postcard, courtesy of Laguna Art Museum

LBAA Art Gallery c1935, courtesy of Laguna Art Museum

written by Janet Blake

Edgar Payne and the Laguna Beach Art Association

LagunaBeachARTmagazine.com 65juried advertorial

20ARTISTSyou should knowANDREPEEYAY

[email protected](714) 603-3431

Mixed Focus, Acrylic on Canvas, 18x 24

Live By X, Acrylic and Oil on Framed Canvas, 36x36

A Tribute To Mohandas Karamchand GandhiAcrylic on Canvas, 60x60

MAIDY MORHOUS


FreeFall, Bronze, 16x11x5

Extension2, Bronze, 8x8x12

UnderWraps, Bronze, 22x10x3

CHAD MOUNT

[email protected](646) 820.2788

Old GrowthAcrylic, Oils, Pencil on Hardboard, 18 x 18

Its Just You and MeAcrylic, Oils, Pencil on Hardboard, 18 x 18

Ive Been Waiting (detail)Acrylic, Oils, Pencil on Hardboard, 36 x 24


allow the gallery to become a permanent institution. Anna Hills became temporary chairman, and a constitution was drafted adopting the name of the organization as the Laguna Beach Art Association. Officers were selected from the resident artists, and, fittingly, Edgar Payne was elected the first president, with Anna Hills as vice-president. Members were both artists and laymen. They paid annual dues of $1.00. They began holding monthly juried exhibitions and every August would hold an anniversary exhibition.

Edgar Payne was one of the most important artists to have been associated with Laguna Beach. Born near Cassville, Missouri in 1883, he was largely self-taught and spent the early part of his career in Chicago. He exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago and at other galleries and museums throughout the United States. Between 1909 and 1917, he made several trips to California, visiting Laguna Beach in 1909 and 1911. He moved from Chicago to Glendale in the

summer of 1917, and, in November, moved to Laguna Beach. In 1920, after completing his term as president of the art association, he moved to Los Angeles. However, his ties with the Laguna Beach Art Association were strong, and he continued to be active in various activities and exhibitions. He contributed to the fund that the association organized in order to build a permanent, fire-proof gallery on Cliff Drive. The new gallery opened to much fanfare in February 1929, and todays Laguna Art Museum occupies part of that original structure.

When Edgar Payne first visited Laguna Beach in 1909, he was already a well-known American artist who had garnered numerous awards. Stylistically his work falls in the canon of American Impressionism, yet in many works he employed a heavy impasto and bravura brushstroke that set him apart from traditional impressionists. Highly prolific, his subjects included landscapes, seascapes, harbors scenes, desert scenes, and mountain vistas. He is likely the most prolific painter of the High Sierra, traveling extensively through the region and camping for weeks at a time in remote areas. He also traveled throughout the deserts of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. His paintings of Canyon de Chellypowerful in their composition and rich colorationare sought after by collectors. He spent a long sojourn in Europebetween 1922 and 1924painting in France, Italy, and Switzerland. His painting of Mont Blanc, The Great White Peak, won an honorable mention at the spring 1923 Paris Salon.

The art association held a memorial exhibition for Payne following his death in 1947. In 1952, a bronze plaque created by his widow, Elsie Palmer Payne, was dedicated and installed in the art associations gallery. It can be seen today on the upper level of Laguna Art Museum. The museum held an exhibition of Paynes work in 1973. His work was included in several group exhibitions over the next four decades, and in February 2012, a major retrospective, Edgar Payne: The Scenic Journey, opened at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento. It traveled to the Pasadena Museum of California Art and the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Laguna Art Museum holds several works by Payne in its permanent collection, including scenes of the High Sierra and seascapes of Laguna Beach. l

Photos from upper left: Edgar Payne in the Alps, courtesy of Laguna Art Museum; Edgar Payne, Eternal Surge, Oil on canvas, c. 1921, 34 x 45 inches; Edgar Payne, Sierra Packer, Oil on canvas, 1939, 28 x 34 inches.


Raising Hope

How long have you been fundraising for non-profits? Five years, but Ive been raising funds as a business owner for 27 years! How did you get into fundraising? I was pushed into it, and I fought it, until I saw how rewarding it is. A good friend here in Laguna asked me to sit in on a board meeting and meet some great people, and that was it. What was your first event? It was with the Pacific Marine Mammal Center, the annual fundraiser to benefit our oceans and environment here in Laguna. It was a smashing success and it was fun. For me it doesnt get any better than great people, a great organization and a great cause. What is the most successful event you have had? It was my first fundraiser as President of the Laguna Beach Beautification Council. We had a daunting task of putting together our first grand gala. We were fortunate enough that Todd Orlich and the Montage Resort stepped up to help us put it on, as they will again with our event this year on October 31st. I had never chaired an event like this before. It was a great success.

We had wonderful people come and learn about the organization. There were great auction items, and we introduced the importance of keeping Laguna Beach clean and beautiful through the presentation of store fronts, gardens, parks and residences. Its a rewarding non-profit in that the success of LBBC brings our city such luster and presence. Do you have any suggestions for someone who wants to get involved with raising money for charities? Just do it. We all need help. Just ask someone in the organization you are interested in how you can help. Let them know your skill set and your willingness to lend your hands and your time. They will be happy to accept. How do you choose the charities to partner with? They must align with my thoughts on the environment, the city and the culture, etc. It has got to be something Im truly passionate about. Otherwise it is just a show and not much gratification will come from it. How does a person or business go about partnering with you on a charity event? Just ask. I request that they have a relationship with me or my companies. Do some business with us. Get to know us. What kind of preparation do you reccomend for a garden prior to an event? Wow. So much! If its an important garden event, it starts about six weeks earlier when you can trim plants to promote flowering for the day of the event. Plant annual flowers and fill in containers so that they will be ready. Then for five weeks water, trim, and spray so that

it is perfect on the day of the event. The day before the event make sure everything is swept and windows are washed. Dont forget to clean the bird poop off the statues and garden art! On the day of the event put out cushions, light the fireplace, set out candles, make sure the fountains are perfect with beautiful floating flowers and cue the mood with music. You must be an expert by now at throwing parties, any tips for the rest of us? Make sure it is a party you want to throw. When its not, there is no spirit. When it is, its easy. Its about enrollment. Not asking, not pushing. Its Hey Im having a party and of course you would want to be there!! and I can tell you why.

Flores is the President of the Laguna Beach Beautification Council, on the board of directors for the Pacific Marine Mammal Center, and an advisor and the creative director for the Community Garden in South Laguna Beach. He would love to tell you more about each organizition just stop by the nursery and ask!

Ruben Flores has infectious enthusiasm. When asked about being born and raised in California, he gushes, I love this place. With a degree in ornamental horticulture and an MBA, Flores is the creative force behind Laguna Nursery.

My work is art I have done gardens in 16 countries and all have incorporated major art. Im working on a job in Dallas, Texas right now where I designed, commissioned and will install 2 ceramic koi murals to give an illusion of a koi pond with an Asian garden from the interior of the mansion. Landscape design is pure art.

Clearly Flores is passionate about creating beautiful environments for his clients, but he is also passionate about his community. Giving back is a large part of his business plan. We asked him to share some insights on getting involved in the community.

Ruben Flores on how to give back to your communitywritten by Chirstine Dodd


20ARTISTSyou should knowROBERTA NIETO


Red, Acrylic on Canvas, 48x48

Breaking Free, Acrylic on Canvas, 24x48

Broken, Acrylic on Canvas, 54x54

Buddha in a Straight Jacket, Cast Stone, 18x15x10

juried advertorial

JANETMULLER


Toils of the Wealthy, Mixed Media, 48x48

Puppets Revenge, Mixed Media, 24x36

Egypts Queen, Oil on Canvas, 12x16

MYUNGWON KIM


Untitled 1_ Color Series, Mixed Media, 96x96

Untitled 4_ Color Series, Mixed Media, 96x96

Wet Wash (detail of triptych), Mixed Media, 96x60 (triptych 96x180)

written by Chirstine Dodd


SEPTEMBERSeptember 1 October 31, 2013The George Gallery354 N. Coast Hwy, Laguna BeachNature Doesnt Knock, Featuring multi-media work of seven radically different artists on the subject of nature. www.thegeorgegallery.com

Sunday, September 1, 2013 Art-A-Fair, Closing DayLocation: Art-A-Fair FestivalSunday 10-6pm777 Laguna Canyon Rd., Laguna Beachwww.art-a-fair.com

Sunday, September 1, 2013 Sawdust Art FestivalAddress: 935 Laguna Canyon Rd., Laguna Beach10am-10pm www.sawdustartfestival.org

September 1-29, 2013expose: beatriz da costaFaux realJohn Mason Blue WallLaguna Art Museum307 Cliff Dr. , Laguna Beach949-494-8971www.lagunaartmuseum.org

September November 16Elephant Parade and Art ExhibitionFree, located throughout Dana Pointwww.elephantparade.com

Wednesday September 4, 2013Pelican Hill Art & Wine Walks22701 S Pelican Hill Rd Newport CoastComplimentary guided walks depart from the Concierge Gallery at 5pmwww.pelicanhill.com

September 4-8, 2013Laguna Dance Festivalwww.lagunadancefestival.org

September 5-8, 2013Quorum Gallery Celebrates 50 Years! 374 N. Coast HighwayQuorum Gallery, the first co-operative gallery to open its doors in Laguna Beach celebrates 50 years! www.quoremgallery.com

Thursday, September 5, 2013 Laguna Gallery of Contemporary Art LGOCA 611 South Coast HighwayIntroducing a collection of 17 Salvador Dali signed lithographs, 6-9pmwww.lgoca.com

Thursday, September 5, 2013 Townley Gallery570 South Coast Highway, 6-9pmCome by and see a new abstract series by Townley www.townleygallery.com

Thursday, September 5, 2013 First Thursdays Art WalkVarious Galleries, FreeShuttle services are available from 6-9pm www.firstthursdaysartwalk.com

September 5-6, 2013Parsons Dance Company PerformancePart of Laguna Dance FestivalLaguna Playhousewww.lagunadancefestival.org

Friday, September 6, 2013 Flavors Of Laguna Food Tasting TourWe capture the most intricate and flavorful culinary delights that Laguna Beach has to offer and we bring it to you in a 2 to 3-hour walking tour. Times: 10-2pmwww.flavorsoflaguna.com

September 8 & 15, 2013The Artistry of Wine SeriesThe Loft, 2-4pm30801 South Coast Hwy., Laguna Beach(at Montage Laguna Beach)www.montagelagunabeach.com

Friday, September 6, 2013 Sawdust Studio Art ClassesSawdust Art Festival (inside the Healy House)10:00am & 2:00pm935 Laguna Canyon Rd., Laguna Beachwww.sawdustartfestival.org/studio-classes

September 6 8, 2013Toshiba Tall Ships FestivalOcean Institute24200 Dana Point Harbor Dr., Dana Pointwww.tallshipsfestival.com

September 6- 27, 2013Sunset SerenadesHeisler Park, Rockpile Amphitheatre5:30pm-Sunset

Saturday, September 7, 2013Laguna Nursery Garden Walk1370 South Coast Highway, Laguna BeachJoin California horticulture expert, Ruben Flores on a garden walk to explore North Laguna. Bring your friends and your walking shoes and meet at Laguna Nursery at 10am -$10www.lagunanursery.net (949) 494-5200

Saturday, September 7, 2013Laguna Culinary Arts Saturday Wine TastingLaguna Culinary Arts, 1-4pm Address: 845 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beachwww.lagunaculinaryarts.com

September 7-8, 2013Aspen Santa Fe Ballet PerformancePart of Laguna Dance FestivalLocation: Laguna Playhousewww.lagunadancefestival.org

September 7 -22, 2013 Rogers Gardens2301 San Joaquin Hills Rd, CDMSolo Exhibit | Joe Paquet: New WorksMeet master plein air artist Joe Paquet. Joe will be conducting a discussion from 2- 4pm on Why Paint in Plein Air? Reception from 4 6pm www.rogersgardens.com

Thursday, September 12, 2013 Laguna Art Museum307 Cliff Drive, Laguna BeachEvan J Marshall, Solo Mandolin, 7-8pm

Saturday, September 14, 2013 Art and Sea Lions (Painting) Presented by LOCA9-10:30amPacific Marine Mammal Center20612 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach

September 14 - 28, 2013Randy Higbee GalleryFrom Paris to Marrakesh is one woman solo exhibition by Vanessa Rothe featuring a collection of original works in a variety of media. The French- Moroccan themed Artists Reception will be held September 14th from 6 to 9 pm.102 Kalmus Drive, Costa Mesawww.randyhigbeegallery.com

September 15, 2013Bluegrass and BBQConcert 4pm-7pm, BBQ 4pm-6pmMagnolia Patio at Aliso Creek Inn & Golf Course31106 S. Coast Hwy., Laguna BeachTickets: (800) 595-4849; Info: (949) 715-9713

September 17- 29, 2013 The Laguna Playhouse 606 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna BeachThe World Premiere Preview Production of Hershey Felder as Franz Liszt in ROCKSTAR!A Strictly Limited Engagement! Romance, Scandal, Intrigue. All played out on the keys. www.lagunaplayhouse.com

Wednesday September 18, 20132013 Taste of Laguna & Business ExpoExplore Laguna Beach through an unforgettable evening of exceptional food and spirits, live music, demonstrations and more! 4:30-8:30pm, 650 Laguna Canyon Rd., Laguna Beachwww.lagunabeachchamber.org

Wednesday September 18, 2013Pelican Hill Art & Wine Walks22701 S Pelican Hill Rd., Newport CoastComplimentary guided walks depart from the Concierge Gallery at 5pmwww.pelicanhill.com

Calendar of Events

Children in local schools participated in painting

miniature baby elephants for the Elephant Parade

shown here are a few of their pieces.


20ARTISTSyou should know

juried advertorial

MERRILLORR

[email protected]

(760) 641-5203

Sunrise, Steel11x 4 x 4

Untitled 2, Steel11x 4 x 4

JESSICA JANG

http://[email protected](714)785-2995

laguna beach art magazine

Documents

laguna beachartm

laguna beach949

jolla festival

following charities

desert paralyzed veterans

contemporary photographs

painterly photographs

comxenia collection