Woodworkers, quilters, painters, printmakers, jewelry makers, ceramicists, anyone handy with a crochet hook or knitting needle, and even an author, converged in early June on Clubhouse 2 for the eighth annual Laguna Woods Village Art Affair.
On the patio outside, guests danced to the jazzy tunes of The Woods Combo, featuring vocalist Moqui Lund’s exquisite renditions of hits like “Summertime.”
Inside, artists displayed and sold their wares and talked about their art and the joy it brings them.
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A miniature guitar and a tiny replica of a golf cart woodworker Ami Gilad created show fine attention to detail at the Laguna Woods Village Art Affair on June 4.
(Photo by Daniella Walsh) -
Judy Redner paints seascapes, ships and flowers, here on display at the Laguna Woods Village Art Affair on June 4.
(Photo by Daniella Walsh) -
Jim Gibson, the featured artist at the Laguna Woods Village Art Affair on June 4, has put on canvas some of his experiences as a combat medic in Vietnam.
(Photo by Daniella Walsh) -
Jim Breck uses a unique approach in his pastel paintings, seen here at the Laguna Woods Village Art Affair on June 4.
(Photo by Daniella Walsh) -
Jewelry maker Margo Flynn and daughter Gillian model jewelry at the Laguna Woods Village Art Affair on June 4.
(Photo by Daniella Walsh) -
Watercolor artist Tim Hahne paints trees and sea creatures, here at the Laguna Woods Village Art Affair on June 4.
(Photo by Daniella Walsh) -
Georgie Hackford paints faces on clay flower pots, perfect for those without an art studio to work in, she says. Here, her work is on display at the Laguna Woods Village Art Affair on June 4.
(Photo by Daniella Walsh) -
Frank Irving, here at the Laguna Woods Village Art Affair on June 4, says he started making small furniture pieces as a child.
(Photo by Daniella Walsh) -
Donna Karbach displays the quilts created by the Crazy Quilters of Laguna Woods at the Village Art Affair on June 4. The quilts are often donated to good causes.
(Photo by Daniella Walsh) -
Christine Kelly, displaying her wares at the Laguna Woods Village Art Affair on June 4, hopes more women will join her at the woodworking studio in Clubhouse 4.
(Photo by Daniella Walsh) -
Former art teacher Eva Altmann, showing her works at the Laguna Woods Village Art Affair on June 4, channels artists such as Piet Mondrian in her paintings.
(Photo by Daniella Walsh)
Christine Kelly started woodworking after taking furniture-making classes at Orange Coast College. She came to the Village from Orange a year ago and fell in love with the woodworking studio in Clubhouse 4. She says she’s the only woman working wood at the clubhouse, creating assorted boxes and hearts, and hopes more will join her.
“I always learn new things there,” she said.
Ami Gilad, who came to the Village about six years ago, is an engineer who took up woodworking after he retired. A miniature guitar and a tiny replica of a golf cart he created impressed with their fine attention to detail.
Village artist Frank Irving’s mid-century modern style rocking chairs were inspired by the work of the late master furniture maker Sam Maloof.
“I started making little furniture pieces as a kid and also taught ceramics,” Irving said. He also ran a psychiatric clinic for young adults in the 1960s, he added.
Georgie “Gigi” Hackford has taken painting to a different plane by abandoning flat surfaces such as canvas: She paints delicate female faces on clay flower pots.
“Hard edge, soft edge and now no edge,” Hackford said, adding that the pots are a perfect outlet for someone without a studio.
Jim Breck, a pastel artist, takes his medium to a higher level by using a novel technique that eliminates the mess and hassle often associated with soft pastels. Instead of forcing initially large amounts of pigment onto paper, he makes light color bases and spreads the medium around with a shaper, a brushlike tool with a plastic head instead of bristles.
The results are works that an untrained eye might perceive at first as photographs, instead of paintings. The secret also lies in the paper, which has a sanded surface.
“My process allows for more control, and it also eliminates the need for fixatives,” Breck explained.
Judy Redner, a 16-year Village resident, displayed her oil paintings accompanied by Cloe peacefully snoozing in her doggie stroller.
“I paint whenever the mood hits me, whatever I want,” she said.
At her table were seascapes and a painting of an impressive sailing ship along with depictions of delicate flowers.
Tim Hahne, a watercolor artist, moved to the Village in 2020 with his wife after having lived in Romania for 25 years.
“We were going on a mission trip for maybe a couple of years and just came to love the place,” he said.
An artist since the eighth grade, Hahne paints trees, giving them a slightly surreal look, as well as sea creatures.
“I want to show the beauty of God’s creation,” he said.
Eva Altmann makes colorful, hard-edged collages that have become something of a trademark for the Munich-born artist. Lately, she has experimented with softer-edged paintings, but anyone with an eye for artists such as Piet Mondrian will appreciate this former art teacher’s works.
Donna Karbach showed the stunning quilts produced by the Crazy Quilters of Laguna Woods. The group lends its artistry to several charitable causes and organizations. One such creation is “Chemo Quilts” for the City of Hope in Duarte. In the works are quilts for veterans and firefighters.
“We want to make quilts for them because they help so many of us here,” she said.
Among the jewelry makers at the fair, Margo Flynn channels Iris Apfel with her dramatic pieces featuring large beads and vintage flourishes. A jewelry maker for 20 years, Flynn said she enjoys wearing larger pieces herself.
“I’m short, but I like dramatic accents,” she said.
Her daughter Gillian had come up from San Diego to help Flynn sell and to model. Not quite a chip off the old bead, so to speak, Gillian likes to sell vintage items.
“I wheeled her through flea markets in a stroller — in London,” Flynn said.
Last but not least, painter/author Jim Gibson was the featured artist at Art Affair, occupying a separate room for displays of his new book, “Not Paid Eleven Cents an Hour to Think,” a memoir of his service in Vietnam.
Known in the Village for his stunning portraits of the Equestrian Center’s horses Blaze and and the late Rascal, displayed in a past art show at the Community Center, Gibson has transformed some of his experiences as a combat medic in Vietnam into paintings.
Altogether, Saturday afternoon’s gathering once again displayed the variety of the Village’s artistic acumen and the joy it keeps bringing to all.
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