BY MARRIE STONE, Stu News Arts Columnist
LAGUNA BEACH, CA - When the Festival of Arts began in 1932, its creators envisioned an “Intellectual Carnival.” They proposed a week-long festival to attract tourists and counter the severe economic impacts of the Great Depression. That August, roughly two dozen artists hung their paintings on trees, buildings, and fences in a vacant lot behind the old Sandwich Mill on the corner of Coast Boulevard and Forest Avenue. Other artists opened their home studios to the public. Music, banners, parades, and entertainment set the stage for what would become the “Festival of Arts,” one of the top art festivals in the nation. Annual visitors grew from 2,200 that first year to roughly 225,000 today. The Festival of Arts (FOA) has been named one of the Top Five Art Fairs in the West and Top 5 Art Festivals in the nation by USA Today. The Orange County Register named it the Best Place to Buy Original Art.
This week, the FOA welcomed guests back to celebrate their 90th anniversary. One hundred and twenty artists, including 14 newcomers, opened their booths to visitors on Tuesday (July 5) showing work across 16 mediums.
”Avid art collectors and festivalgoers will have an outstanding variety of fine art to browse and purchase as they walk among the artists’ displays,” said Marketing and Public Relations Director Sharbie Higuchi.
Though the tagline “Intellectual Carnival” fell by the wayside long ago, it remains an interesting description for what goes on behind the scenes in the artists’ studios. I caught up with six of this year’s exhibitors to get a peek inside their minds and process, learning about their inspirations and influences, and getting some artistic advice.
Painting with Light: Photographer Christopher Allwine
“I’ve always had a thing for urban exploration,” said photographer Christopher Allwine. “Something about the atmosphere of pilfering through abandoned sites fuels my drive to create.”
Allwine, a five-time FOA exhibitor, centered this year’s theme around remote wrecking yards in the middle of the desert. “Daylight hours were spent scouting vehicles and envisioning how I was going to tell their stories, all the while factoring in the very surreal context of the environment,” he said. “Even though the cars are barely intact, I feel like they are inherently evocative enough to be effective ‘models' for this group of photographs.”
Born into a family of creatives that goes back generations, both of Allwine’s parents worked in the film and television industry. “Having that kind of endorsement at a young age played a big role in my development as an artist,” he said. “I’m also a very curious and inquisitive person by nature. I love classic cars and that passion carried over into this series.”
Darkness is Allwine’s canvas. He uses handheld light tools as faux-paintbrushes to create “light paintings” with his camera. The effect, drawing perhaps from those parental influences, is wholly cinematic. “I think the best art needs to showcase the artist’s technique along with provoking a visceral response,” he said. “In this particular series, the dynamic combination of night photography and light painting at a remote scrapyard in the middle of nowhere fulfilled that for me.”
Allwine’s advice to new artists? “Don’t be afraid to try new things,” he said. “Especially in a field as oversaturated as photography, it’s imperative to stand out from the crowd. Modern advances in camera technology have expanded the boundaries of the art form exponentially, which is great for anyone who is just starting out. Also, don’t hesitate to put yourself out there when it comes to applying to art shows. The experience of showcasing at FOA has done wonders for my career and confidence. It continues to serve as motivation to keep on creating.”
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-via Stu News Laguna