Varietal art marks Woman’s Club exhibition

BARBARA DIAMOND

The Laguna Beach Woman’s Club annual art show and auction fills a

special niche in Laguna Beach.

New and emerging women artists gain experience and confidence

exhibiting and mingling with well-known local artists in a welcoming

atmosphere where the only judges are the buyers.

“This year, we had a very enthusiastic response from the artists

who wished to exhibit, and had to create a waiting list,” said show

chair Mary Murray, also an exhibitor.

The event showcased the works of more than 40 artists and raised

money for the club’s many projects through the auction of show

participants’ donations. Almost $1,700 was raised by the sale of the

donations, made in lieu of entry fees.

Potter Nadine Nordstrom chaired the auction. Murray met Nordstrom

last year on a hike in Laguna Canyon when Nordstrom, a Laguna Coast

Wilderness Park docent, was Murray’s guide. And it was Nordstrom who

encouraged Murray to exhibit her work for the first time in the

club’s 2004 show.

Since then Murray was accepted into the Sawdust Festival Winter

Fantasy, participated in the recent Art Studio Tour and, of course,

the 4th Annual Women Artists Show, held Sunday and April 17 at the

clubhouse on St. Ann’s Drive.

Murray, who has only been working in ceramics and fused glass

since she retired in 2002 after 30 years in the computer industry,

volunteered to coordinate this year’s show, assisted by Peggie

Thomas. “Works spanned a very broad range,” Murray said.

The range stretched from oil paintings to hand-painted silk, from

shell-decorated hatbands and collages to underwater photography, from

jewelry to petroglyphs.

“Our show has such a different flavor,” club board member Veronica

Nice said. “The artists are so diverse.”

Suzanne Short exhibited her textured pen and ink drawings for the

second time at the show. Short, a quadriplegic since a car accident

in 1982, started drawing in rehab, using her mouth to hold the pen.

She does commissioned architectural renderings and portraits, but

focuses mainly on pets, drawing from photographs.

Sandy Morgan paints rocks.

“This is only the second time I’ve been in a show,” Morgan said.

“The first time was this show, last year. I was so scared.”

Some participants -- like attorney Barbara Cornelius -- put their

art on hold until they quit their daytime jobs. Some, like dentist

Barbara Hawthorne and clinical psychologist Linda Grossman -- are

still juggling careers and art.

South Laguna resident Juliana Essen, who exhibited her photographs

of women in Thailand at the show, has a degree in international

development and a doctorate in anthropology.

“My hope is that proceeds will support my social science

research,” said Essen, a part-time instructor at Soka University.

Essen will begin her next project in December, a comparison of

women’s experiences in poverty in Thailand and Laos on opposite sides

of the Mekong River.

Grace Bryan, who donated the artwork for the show brochure, fliers

and banners, attended what is now the Laguna College of Art & Design

when it started in the late 1950s.

Bryan has a bachelor’s degree in fine arts and for the past 12

years has taught drawing and painting at her home.

“Art is my life,” she said. “I pass on what I have learned only in

hopes for others to better enjoy the beauty of art and have a better

understanding.”

Other veteran Laguna Beach artists in the show included

watercolorist Iris Adam -- known for her flower power, who is now

concentrating on landscapes; glass artist Leslie Davis; Pratt

Institute graduate Linda Hall; Sawdust Festival exhibitor and Holiday

Pallette Contest winner Diann Ocean, and yes that is her legal name;

Laguna Canyon Artists member Skip Roma; and fabric painter Olivia

Batchelder.

Batchelder also exhibited the butterfly she created for the KOCE

Butterfly Initiative project.

“Thirty-five artists participated,” the longtime Sawdust

participant said. “They were shown and auctioned at Rogers Gardens,

the proceeds for Orange County schools.”

Batchelder wore one of her hand-painted silk outfits, set off with

a gorgeous pendant created by Lisa McMillan.

McMillan, who traded the pendant for a hand-painted sarong, sells

her work mostly at shows.

“I recently closed my shop and I am selling more,” McMillan said.

“This is my first time at the Woman’s Club.”

The show was a homecoming for painter Carol Lloyd. Her great

grandmother, Jennie Johnson, and great aunt Ora Warling, helped start

the club. Lloyd and her mother, Beryl Viebeck, are members. Ora and

Oscar Warling’s home still stands in Laguna, the seventh oldest house

in town.

“I’m looking forward to being involved in this and future events,”

Lloyd said.

A group of community-minded women organized the club in 1922 to

benefit the residents through philanthropy.

They met originally in a building where City Hall is now. When

city officials asked the club members to exchange the property for

the corner parcel at St. Ann’s Drive and Glenneyre Street, a promise

was made to preserve the pepper tree that still shades City Hall.

That tree, incidentally, was planted by George Rogers, Viebeck’s

great uncle, who at one time owned a good portion of downtown Laguna

Beach.

The club continues to serve the community, with a special emphasis

on women’s causes. Projects include programs on feminist issues,

recognition of a woman of the year, support for the needy and a venue

for women artists.

Among the browsers, buyers and club members at the show: Anne

Wood, recently presented with the Exchange Club’s Book of Golden

Deeds; Marsha Bode, recognized by the club for community activities;

Bette Anderson, local author and past president of Village Laguna;

Anne Johnson, planning commissioner; Ann Quilter, co-chair of the

Senior Center fundraising campaign, club President Peggy Ford and her

daughter, Nikki.

New members are welcome. For more information, call (949)

497-1200.

* OUR LAGUNA is a regular feature of the Laguna Beach Coastline

Pilot. Contributions are welcome. Write to Barbara Diamond, P.O. Box

248, Laguna Beach, 92652; hand deliver to Suite 222 in the

Lumberyard, 384 Forest Ave.; call (949) 494-4321 or fax (949)

494-8979.