Tantalizing art, bare-armed weather, picture-perfect setting. And, a 7.2 earthquake to boot on this memorable Easter Sunday here in the Palm Springs valley!
Karen Ralke–my faithful art show companion—and I had just exited the Indian Wells Arts Festival, found my car on the grassy north 40, and turned on the ignition when the trembler hit. Thinking it was perhaps somebody I knew deliberately rocking the car, and much too violently to be amusing, I crankily turned around to ascertain the culprit. No one is there. Then, my foggy brain decided there was something seriously amiss with my Nissan. Karen spys the adjacent car swaying as well and proclaims an earthquake. For two native Californians, it took much too long to figure it out.
It seemed to go on forever. Even when I stepped out of the car to experience it first-hand, the ground coninued rolling. I kid you not; just recounting the experience makes me physically dizzy.
That's how our Easter arts-outing ended. We promptly hied ourselves to Panera Bread to decompress and dissect the day's events over a late-afternoon coffee. Because we were there when the restaurant closed, the manager tossed us each a free baguette!
The Indian Wells Arts Festival is held on the grounds of the tennis stadium which just hosted the world's 5th largest tennis tournament, the BNP Paribas Open. I often think the players must hold this venue in high esteem since the formidable views of the Santa Rosa Mountains, coupled with the bucolic temps, cannot easily be topped.
The art festival of 200 juried artists completed its 3-day run today in this idyllic setting: white tents scattered around the grassy verdure with live musical accompaniment and food vendors rounding out the all-you-could-want sensory delights.
Karen and I tucked into the artist experience with our usual gusto, chatting up many of the fascinating purveyors, adding to our proverbial wish-list, and departing with a few treasures.
We spent some time in the company of father-son bronze artists, David and Lee Caleb Pollock. When Karen admired some miniature frog-featured pieces, the conversation was on. Lee Caleb, a personable, articulate young man, expounded on the different mediums employed—cold dust versus hot bronze, and graciously fielded the inevitable query on his surname, Pollock, by retrieving a binder referencing the iconic artist and his family's own meritorious artistic achievements. I think there's a Pollock piece in Karen's future!
The duo's sensuous animal-oriented sculptures can be viewed at their respective websites, Lee Pollock and David Pollock
Karen Carlson, a first-time artist to the festival from Albuquerque, reported a successful debut with her gorgeously-wrought leather handbags. Noticing from her bio that we had each earned a degree in English Literature, we shared a conspiratorial laugh about our passion for books and decidedly non-literary vocations. I guessed that her favorite novel was Pride and Prejudice. It's actually Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth, the tragic plot of which still engenders passion in Karen's synopsis.
My Karen longingly stroked one capacious pouch then we reluctantly left the other Karen's vivacious company to continue our journey.
View her wearable art at her website, KC Leather Design.
Snake Jagger, a local artist, was chosen as this year's featured artist. His amusing renditions of skewed desert life never fail to lure event-goers and elicit laughs. I never minded visits to my own physician because she had one of Jagger's pieces hanging prominently in her waiting room!
Here's a shot of the colorful artwork which became a signed poster. Upon close inspection, one spies a kiosk, water spigot and rake mater-of-factly included in the desertscape flora and fauna.
His work—which he describes as whimsical surrealism—can be found on his website which depicts a self-portrait clad in his favorite pirate costume accompanied by Disneyland's memorable pirate ditty.
The Arts Festival is a family-centric and community-oriented show which prides itself on patron participation. Faces of Hope, a mural conceived by Ricardo Aguilar, invites festival goers of all ages to partake with a paintbrush.
Arizona glassblower, Bruce Freund, has been a mainstay of the Festival since its inception and always draws an appreciative crowd to watch him wrest gorgeous blown creations from the most humble medium, sand.
He works steadily throughout each day at his portable kiln, oblvious to the furnace heat. Just standing on the concrete in blazing sunshine and watching his adroit dance of creation left me enervated! I own his work and revel in the mastery on display.
On an aside, I noticed that just-deceased actor John Forsythe's original name was also Freund. Guess the chosen surname had a more mellifluous ring!
View his work online.
I've just discovered the work of Linda and Charley Perkins and have added their unique wire-oriented pieces to my wish list. The Oceanside, CA, couple create compelling pieces uisng objects trouves; hearts are a prime subject.
I was recently smitten with this piece on the left at last week's Art Under the Umbrellas in La Quinta and found my delight undimmed in seeing it again today.
The Paris-themed artwork starts with vintage maps and handmade paper and ultimately emerges into a colorful and arresting art piece.
This piece, entitled Spirit of a Child, was fashioned from a veritable treasure trove of childrens' memorabilia and framed with recylcled tins.
View their art at Perkins Art Studio.
Husband-wife team, Jeff and Lila Fulton, start the creative process with sand mermaids on the seashore, then preserve the ephemeral creations through photography. Here Lila works on an almost-complete mermaid with her two babies. Even the sand is dyed the requisite green!
View their fun work at Mermaids and Art.com
One of the many artists allowing an up-close-and-personal view of the creative process.
When I spied a new vendor sporting my surname—albeit spelled incorrectly!—I handed the camera to Karen and demanded a shot.
Then, off to the car to experience the day's big drama, the Baja shake!
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