Getting the dust off

Suzie Harrison

Put your shoes on, it’s time to do the Sawdust shuffle.

The sawdust arrived Wednesday and the artists are busily attending to

the last detail for the Sawdust Festival, the annual arts and crafts

festival that features the best artists in Laguna Beach.

All mediums of fine arts and crafts will be exhibited, including art

glass, ceramics, clothing, jewelry, leather, oil painting, printmaking,

sculpture, watercolor and woodworking.

The doors open to the public next Friday and will remain open everyday

from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., through September 1.

This year the festival boasts an even larger group of Laguna Beach

artists than previous ones, with 197 artists exhibiting, including 29

newcomers.

“I absolutely love it,” said artist Susan Moscaritolo. “I have been

with the festival almost since the very beginning.”

The setting is peaceful, with waterfalls on a three-acre eucalyptus

grove in Laguna Canyon. The handcrafted village is different every year,

with the artists acting as architects and putting their own creativity

into designing and building their exhibition booths.

“Some of the booths are extremely creative and the artists have gone

all out for the summer complete with faux finishes,” said festival

coordinator Lynne Powell. “One is built into the hillside and has

handcrafted rocks that resemble a cave and another has a Hansel and

Gretal look.”

It gives art lovers the chance to meet the artists in a casual setting

and see their work and how they create it.

“I am very excited,” said Catherine Reade, an exhibiting jewelry

maker. “It’s going to be a great year and season with a lot of new

artists bringing a whole new energy. Everybody is excited about the new

season.”

In addition to the exhibits, the festival will offer hands-on

workshops and demonstrations by Sawdust artists for adults and children

in glass blowing, painting, printmaking and ceramics.

This year the festival will also feature three guest artists,

including the world-renowned work by Dion Wright, one of the festival’s

founders.

Wright will be exhibiting “The Mandala of Taxonomy,” a piece that has

been shown publicly for more than 26 years and has been featured in Life

Magazine, the New York Times and on the Today Show.

During the 1960s the piece was shown at the legendary gallery Mystic

Arts in town.

“All these budding creative ideas were being born there and the

Mandala related to the mystic arts and artists in Laguna in the 1960s,”

said Roark Gourley, who met Wright back in the 1960s when they where both

at the Sawdust.

The other guests include Steven Kensrue, an exhibitor in the 1960s,

and Rebecca Love, who lives in Northern California and is well-known for

her sculpting that involves body-casting glazes.

Also new, Powell said, is the children’s art booth, where younger

children can take part in a host of art activities.

The Sawdust Festival typically welcomes more than 200,000 visitors,

coming from all over the United States as well as Europe and Australia.

“A lot of people come from the East Coast and they call every year to

see when the festival will be so they can plan their summer vacation,”

Powell said.

There will be entertainment every day and evening, including live

bands, music and other shows. There are also three restaurants and a

saloon.

Thursday nights are locals’ nights, when locals get in free from 6

p.m. to 10 p.m.

“It comes really fast,” Powell said. “A month and a half ago it seemed

like there is plenty of time and all of a sudden it is the last week

before the show and everyone is finishing up their deadlines. But then it

comes together and the show has a magical aura.”

* SUZIE HARRISON covers the arts and entertainment for the Coastline

Pilot. She can be reached at 494-4321.

FYI

The Sawdust Festival is at 935 Laguna Canyon Road. For more

information, call 494-3030 or go onlineto o7 www.sawdustartfestival.org.

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