Laguna Beach: Sawdust Festival & Memories...

We did the 9.5 hour traverse of US 395 on Saturday in order to celebrate Steve's mom's birthday. While in SoCal, we have some other special plans, one of which was a return to our old stomping grounds- Laguna Beach.

The 56th Annual Sawdust Festival is a not-to-miss event which offers: handcrafted art by 200 Laguna Beach artists; three stages of live music; complimentary art classes; glassblowing; art demonstrations; and a plethora of outdoor dining options and saloon offerings - all set in an eclectic, artisan-built village in Laguna Beach.

The Festival is a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating the public and promoting art created by local artisans in Laguna Beach. Since its inception, the festival has celebrated and supported the work of its hometown artists, who must live in my favorite beach town to participate.
This is non-juried, so it plays a vital role in supporting the careers of many local artists. For nine weeks during the summer, the Festival draws more than 200,000 visitors. Guests are invited to shop along sawdust-covered (placed originally to keep the dirt dust down) paths and delight in the uniqueness of it all. There truly is no other place like it.

Lupe Blanton's mushrooms have been on the Laguna landscape for as long as I've been coming there (1981). They are whimsical and so fun.

David Fleischmann's palm tree husks, used as a canvas, made us chuckle. So clever.


The diversity of art mediums continues to impress. Alta Overlook is painted on the inside of an Altoids tin.
Something about Jeffries' piece was very appealing to me.  According to the artist statement, "This series is inspired by the river beds along the Russian River, located in Northern California. Just as our eyes are drawn to the unique, fluid shapes in nature, the rock wall series captures the flexible and organic flow in nature as the textured surface of the glass invites the viewer to come closer. I enjoy the challenge of making each form different in shape and size, and choosing a color palette that creates a mood. Using color, I can create pathways to lead the viewer's eye through a piece."

I was drawn to Margaret Hemsley's booth, over and over during the course of our visit. "For Laguna Beach artist Margaret Hemsley, the American flag is a freedom of expression. She creates flags and ceramic art inspired by Americana. Her work is nostalgic and unique, and the Sawdust Festival in Laguna Beach is the perfect venue to display her one-of-a-kind works. Exhibiting for 22 years, Hemsley is one of the most tenured of the 200 local artists here." Note this is a mosaic made from broken Campbell's Soup bowls.

Another favorite was the work of Ulrike Scheuchl who describes herself as The Unconventional Photographer.
She wrote about her art, "I often use props that are put into new context to tell a story in a single picture. I create whimsical images of cupcakes that travel, have careers, and a social life." I love, love, love her work!

Having felted a small ball that took hours and a lot of pain, I so appreciated Couture Felt Art by Helga. WOW.
Our dining entertainment was provided by the very talented Wilfax.


This couple made me realize that this event has changed little since its start in 1968.

Part of the appeal here is the creative and imaginative booths. You name it and the artists have created it. Boats, planes, spaceships, solar houses, log cabins, country stores, bird houses, castles, pagodas, cranes and windmills are just a few of the standout booths.
Some artists have spent up to two months designing and then constructing an unforgettable, one-of-a-kind architectural masterpiece (all to be torn down after the Winter Fantasy Festival and begun again next year).
One of the more senior artisans is Star Shields, a master airbrush artist. In 1973, Star and his two art partners formed The Rainbow Kids in Laguna Beach with their infamous Spaceship Booth at the Sawdust Art Festival (above). It was during those years that they airbrush personal stage and tour clothing for Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, George Harrison, Paul McCartney & Wings, the Allman Brothers, Moody Blues and others. In 1979, Star originated fantasy airbrush face painting and body art. How cool that almost 50 years after that first Spaceship, Star is still at the Festival adding color to our world!?
After the Festival, we headed to Laguna's Main Beach for a walk down Memory Lane.

Steve and I ended our first date in the bar in this stately building. Our wedding night was spent there, too. Hotel Laguna, a white Early California Mission-style three-story building, with Spanish arches and bell tower, opened in 1930. Humphrey Bogart, Errol Flynn and Charles A. Lindbergh are among the luminaries who dined and drank there while gazing at picture-perfect ocean sunsets. The guest book bears the signatures of Myrna Loy, Faye Wray and Prince Theodore of Russia.

Through the 1950s, famous people such as Lauren Bacall, John Barrymore, Joan Fontaine and Rosalind Russell patronized the hotel’s Pier Nine Bar (we were in good company).

Sadly, the Hotel Laguna closed in 2017. There are talks of reopening it, but man what a lot of work.

Memory Lane, for us in Laguna Beach, is a wood boardwalk and toes in the sand.



How wonderful to end our memory-filled day dining with my college friend, Julie. She was there when Steve and I made our connection. What fun.

I love Alicia Cook's quote, "You always want the fondness of the remember-whens to outnumber the might-have-beens."

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1 comments:

Brady said...

You really know how to pack it in! And I saw briefly you before your day unfolded. Such funny timing to call you as I was driving by you at the visitor center. I can't believe someone is making a living selling painted palm masks. We were doing that as kids! It was one of the projects my mom had students working on when we would host Murrieta Elementary students for field trips at our house.

July 27, 2022 at 7:48 AM

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