In The Arts

Live Benevolence auction at Sawdust

The Sawdust Festival will hold its annual Artists’ Benevolence Fund Live Art Auction from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday on the festival’s Main Entertainment Deck.

Proceeds from the event, generated by an array of artwork donated by Sawdust exhibitors, will go to the Sawdust’s Artists’ Benevolence Fund, which provides financial aid to artists living in Laguna Beach whose primary source of income is generated from their artwork.

The fund was established in 1987 to help artists who have suffered hardship from an impaired health condition, personal tragedy or catastrophe.

Tony DeZago, professional auctioneer, will emcee the event for the 15th consecutive year. DeZago’s personal knowledge of Sawdust artists and their artwork enhances the bidding process.

Complimentary to the auction audience will be ice cold lemonade and fresh popcorn donated by Fran’s Popcorn Booth.

Auction items may be previewed the day of the event from noon to 2 p.m.

For more information, call (949) 494-3030 or visit www.sawdustartfestival.org.

Fine art of food preparation

Nancy Milby, Laguna Culinary Arts founder and executive director, will teach cooking secrets from 1 to 2 p.m. Sunday as part of the fifth annual “Art of Cooking” series at the Festival of Arts.

Milby will discuss education in the fine art of food preparation, demonstrate tricks and techniques in the kitchen, and answer the audience’s questions about preparing and cooking dishes.

Having developed a love of cooking many years ago while designing healthy and substantial meals for backpacking trips in the Sierras, Milby’s cuisine is still based on the belief that everything should be fresh, favoring seasonal ingredients. She believes that simple is best and that cooking and sharing meals with family and friends is a fundamental part of our social fabric.

Also a certified sommelier of the Court of Master Sommeliers, she holds an advanced certificate from the Wine & Spirits Education Trust, London, and is a certified wine specialist of the Society of Wine Educators, Washington, D.C. The Laguna Culinary Arts’ wine cellar reflects her wide interest in wine, featuring great value wines from all the major growing regions of the world.

Milby’s passion for travel and experiencing the local culture of the places she visits prompted her to launch Laguna Culinary Arts Adventures, specializing in international culinary travel.

The cooking series is free with Festival of Arts admission.

Photography classes Mondays at Sawdust

Supporting the Sawdust’s mission to educate the public and promote the art created in Laguna Beach, Sawdust photographers David Linnig and Paul Renner will teach a Special Photography Series from 7 to 9 p.m. Mondays in the festival’s Healy House.

Classes cost $5 and are designed for students, pre-teen to adult, and appropriate for digital or film cameras.

?Monday: “Seeing Light I” ““ Linnig will cover topics of basic composition and the use of light. Topics including rule of thirds, leading lines, form, shape, merges, negative spaces, white balance, depth of field and others. For digital or film cameras.

?Aug. 10: “Seeing Light II” ““ Elements of composition, direction and quality of light, and camera controls.

?Aug. 17: “Vacation Photography I, Wildlife” ““ Renner will share with students the technique he uses in his own profession as wildlife photographer.

?Aug. 24: “Vacation Photography I, Wildlife” ““ Renner will share with students the technique he uses in his own profession as photographer, emphasizing landscape subjects.

To sign up, call (949) 494-3030. Space is limited to 10 students per class.

For more art classes, visit www.sawdustartfestival.org.

The Sawdust Art Festival is at 935 Laguna Canyon Road with free trolley service to and from the Act V parking lot.

Coffee and Conversations

Artists Kathy Jones, Betty Haight, Stephanie Cunningham and Bruce Burr will host this week’s “Coffee and Conversations” from 10 to 11 a.m. Thursday on the Festival of Arts grounds.

The discussion will focus on the book “Art and Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking,” by Ted Orland and David Bayles, and the challenges they encounter during the artistic process and how they strive to overcome them.

“We believe creativity is a part of every person and there are many ways in which artists produce their artwork,” Jones said. “We will be talking about grappling daily with problems of making art in the real world.”

The series of informal conversations will run through Aug. 27. General admission is $7.

For more information, call (949) 464-4282.

Jazz Wednesday features Shew

Laguna Beach Live! will feature the Jamie Shew Quartet from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday in the Rose Garden of the Hotel Laguna.

Jazz vocalist Jamie Shew, bassist Roger Shew, guitarist Mike Scott and drummer Steve Barnes will perform.

Jamie Shew, director of vocal jazz studies at Fullerton College, is an accomplished teacher, composer and arranger and performs regularly in the greater Los Angeles area.

Roger Shew also teaches at Fullerton College and is well known in Laguna as the teacher of the jazz band at Laguna Beach High School.

Cover charge is $10. Food and beverages are available for purchase.

Light jackets are advised near sundown.

Doors open at 5:15 p.m.; reservations for groups of eight or more may be made prior to the day of concert by calling (949) 715-9713.

For more information, visit www.lagunabeachlive.org.

Sawdust entertainment lineup

The Sawdust Festival has a variety of musical entertainment lined up for this week.

Today, Jason Feddy performs on the main stage from noon to 4:30 p.m., with the Regular Guys playing folk and blues from 5:30 to 9 p.m.

Saturday’s dance party will feature Post-Modern Pop band, Vermouth, on the main stage from 5:3o to 9:45 p.m.

Singer/songwriter Michelle Mangione will perform her own ballads from 1:30 to 4 p.m Sunday at the tavern, followed by Acoustic Rock artist, Alec Bridges, from 5 to 9:30 p.m.

Lance Cosgrove will rock at the tavern from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, followed by Ken Garcia from 5 to 9:30 p.m. Swing Jazz band, Hot Club De Bop, will also stir things up on the main stage from 5:30 to 9:45 p.m.