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Fun is key at 40th annual Labor Day Arts Festival |
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Friday, 11 September 2009 |
By Catherine Billey
Mammoth Times Staff Writer
 mammoth times photo/diane eagle The 40th Annual Mammoth Lakes Labor Day Festival of the Arts featured more than 100 juried artists with everything from fine photography to unique clothing to furniture, jewelry, stained class, pottery and more.
His wife and partner, Kristina, wearing a jaunty hat and a broad smile as the festival drew to a close on Monday, agreed.
The Lipchitzes have been displaying their fine-art soap and body butter at the festival for six years. They said they had enjoyed meeting lots of new customers and seeing repeat customers and locals this past weekend.
They count among their many fans Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who has described their soap as beautiful. In fact, a disclaimer says: “It looks and smells like candy, but... Please don’t lick the soap!”
The juried art festival showcased more than 100 fine artists and contemporary craftspeople from the Western United States.
Locals and visitors alike wandered through the Jeffrey pines in Sam’s Woods, some with beer or wine in hand, others munching on treats from local eateries and service groups.
“I think that we had an incredible turnout – the parking on Saturday and Sunday was all the way to both corners [of Minaret Road],” said Gaye Mueller, Executive Director of Mono Council of the Arts and organizer of the festival.
“People really appreciated the quality of the artwork. We had maybe 35 percent new artists, including many new photographers.”
Nestled among the Jeffrey pines for the first time, for example, was Alan Barlow of Alan Barlow Fine Art Photography. He and his wife, Debbie, – who enjoyed the cheerful, sunny scene from a chair in their booth – are longtime second homeowners in Mammoth Lakes. When escrow closes on their new home in Swall Meadows, they will be relocating permanently from Orange County.
“A lot of positives,” Barlow said of festival business on Monday, Labor Day. “There was a lot of interest in the Mammoth Mountain photo, especially from people who live here. Some want to put it in their homes down south, but most want it for their second homes here.”
As with so many photographers attracted to the Sierra Nevada, Barlow shares a passion for capturing their beauty and grandeur down to the smallest detail. With his large format photography, he succeeds in creating a sense of actually being there – memorably conveyed in his image of Mammoth Mountain from the northside.
“Even Vern came by the said ‘that’s a different shot,’” Barlow noted with evident respect for fellow photographer Vern Clevenger, who displayed his own work near the entrance to the festival.
Another local photographer, Londie Padelsky, showcased her landscapes, moonscapes and peoplescapes and said she had recently returned with fresh images from a two-month trip to Alaska.
All the photographers said they had sold many smaller pieces, but sales of the more expensive, larger pieces were sluggish. Perhaps the most popular draw was David Forster of Light Capture Photography, who is based in Washington State and specializes in fine landscape photography from around the American West. Mueller said he was “making a killing.”
Mueller said three cash awards were presented to selected artists at the end of the festival based on presentation, originality, and creativity: First place went to Richard and Deborah Bloom, of Portland, Ore., who featured unique obsidian wind chimes; second was Dan Ishlar, with Crystal Glaze Ceramics, of Oak Harbor, Wash.; and third place went to a local, Mammoth Lakes metal artist Michael Ramirez, who displayed in his first major show ever.
It was the last Labor Day show for longtime local oil painter Chip Van Nattan, who has participated for all 40 years of the festival. His oil painting of T.J. Lake, done with a palette knife, sold almost immediately on Saturday. |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 18 September 2009 )
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