As the bumper-to-bumper traffic on roads leading to and from Laguna Beach attest, the scenic town is a huge draw for visitors. A big part of the attraction, never mind the ocean and beaches, are the yearly summer festivals – Sawdust, Art-A-Fair, Festival of Arts and the Pageant of the Masters.
In its Laguna Canyon Road location since 1988, Laguna Art-A-Fair presents itself as “A Festival Without Borders” and welcomes artists from around the world. Unlike the Festival of Arts and Sawdust, Art-A-Fair has no local residency requirements and brims with artists from not only the U.S. but as far afield as Russia, South Africa and Latin America.
Consequently, the festival features diverse approaches to art, subject matter and choice of materials, along with points of view and artists’ backstories that somehow make it into the character of their work.
Differences in what comprises fine arts and crafts are mostly irrelevant here; rather, one sees creativity in its boundless manifestations, from intricate mixed media works (Kelieda Smith, Booth C22) to finely detailed portraits of Native Americans (Rene Garcia, Booth B33), and intricate glass assemblages (David Greenhalgh, Booth D4) to a variety of stained and blown glass, friendly florals and a few bunnies.
Painters, fabric artists, sculptors, photographers, jewelers and makers of all kinds expand the norms of their art.
Ilze Sims was born in South Africa and spent many years crewing on sailboats through French Polynesia and the Caribbean. The results of her travels are mixed media paintings of seas and skies, suffused with layers of gold leaf that recall the unique vibes of the tropics (Booth A27).
Bongani Khumalo’s animal sculptures are made from wire and tiny beads in a unique process that originated in South Africa (Booth D11).
Six artists this year are Village residents who have made their marks on the community’s art scene in or around Clubhouse 4.
Agnes Copeland has exhibited and taught workshops at Art-A-Fair for 30 years. The festival’s oldest artist at age 92, she filled her booth with beautiful collages of cutout paper on painted canvases, along with watercolor and gouache paintings that attract viewers and buyers. Her workshops have inspired generations of students.
“I paint memories. I don’t copy but work from my imagination,” she said.
Copeland studied art in college but didn’t start painting until age 55 and did a long stint across the street at the Festival of Arts. This summer is her last as an exhibitor at Art-A-Fair, she said (Booth B3).
“I’m just too old now. It’s getting physically difficult,” she said. “I enjoyed teaching, people have a lot of fun, but it gets difficult as you get older.”
Still, Copeland said, she’ll continue creating. “I’ll probably continue if I can get to Clubhouse 4. I have enjoyed the companionship of other artists, and I’ll still be dabbling in it.”
Audrey Grider’s powerfully rendered horses have retained their distinctive mythical air, shaped into hearts or suspended in dreamlike narratives (Booth A22).
Her interest in horses started early.
“I drew a horse with six legs at age 4,” she said. “My earliest memories are of reaching up to a pony and wanting to get on.” Today, she keeps a horse at the Equestrian Center.
Lately, Grider has branched into abstracts that take shape not just via forethought but during the painting process.
“Each painting is like opening a present. I never know exactly what will happen – elements of the unknown channeling something spiritual,” she said.
For example, her painting of two bird heads ultimately morphed into the shape of an eagle.
Switching gears, Grider also paints delicate, otherworldly-looking flowers.
“Painting comes from my soul – it is a part of my identity,” she said. “It shows how I see the world.”
Fiber artist Carrie Olsen is enjoying her third summer at Art-A-Fair. Her three decades as an artist include a stint as a commercial photographer, but she counts her fabric art pieces among her signature accomplishments (Booth D5).
“Fabric is my palette,” Olsen said.
What distinguishes her work from quilts as we know them is that there are no patterns in the fabric. It’s all about design – the shape and color of the fabric and the nature of the stitching.
“My designs are inspired by modern American painters like (abstract expressionist) Franz Kline, and I love the minimalism of contemporary American artists,” she said.
Eva Altman is displaying her abstract geometric paintings, loosely reminiscent of those by Dutchy painter Piet Mondrian, for the second year (Booth D13).
“It’s Mondrian, but more colorfully refined,” she said. “This year I have shifted compositions to allow for space between the geometric forms.”
Wearing an elegant black T-shirt featuring one of her paintings, Altman said sales this summer appear better than last year.
“Making art makes me happy – that’s something I want to transfer to others like my buyers,” she said.
Viviana Stone’s paintings channel Pablo Picasso at times, but she adds her own twist to portraits of women with misaligned eyes and is creating her own compositions of vases and florals (Booth D2).
“I am using more primary colors and let my thoughts guide me as I work,” she said. “First outlines emerge and then I fill them in as inspiration comes. There are zero rules. I do whatever I want at the moment. It’s pure fun.”
Stone is also enamored of things midcentury modern and has outfitted her booth with a few collectibles from the period.
Painter Maribeth McFaul and her husband, jeweler Joe McFaul, are back at Art-A-Fair this year.
Maribeth McFaul, a well-known street artist who paints in chalk pastels and is renowned for watercolor paintings, is showing smaller canvases with a uniquely vibrant energy (Booth A7).
“Bouquet Maybe” is an intriguing composition of floral forms and abstract shapes painted with chalk paint, an acrylic paint with a flat finish.
Another standout is a nine-panel painting titled “Dragonfly Queen” that allows the eventual owner to separate the squares and rearrange them at will.
Visitors motoring in from the Village will be familiar with Joe McFaul’s Southwestern and Native American-inspired jewelry crafted from silver or copper. A former lawyer, he too acquired his artistic skills later in life at Clubhouse 4. (Booth A6)
Finally, anyone with an eye and heart for whimsy should check out Laura Seeley’s works: cats wearing costumes on large and small paintings, cats on jigsaw puzzles, storybooks about cats. There are also a few works with floral motifs, but the cats have it here.
“I have a heart for kids and seniors,” said Seeley, adding that she has made coloring books for kids and people with dementia. “My world is whimsical.”
Art-A-Fair also offers music, dancing and art classes. If all that activity gets one hungry and thirsty, there’s a restaurant and bar.
Laguna Art-A-Fair, at 777 Laguna Canyon Rd., is open through Aug. 31. For hours and ticket prices, visit art-a-fair.com.