An artful love affair

Suzie Harrison

With dedication and passion, one woman sacrificed more than most

would and continues to do so to keep the Art-A-Fair festival alive.

Well-known and longtime Laguna artist Iris Adam and her

now-deceased husband Vetold J. Adam wanted to make sure the summer

art show had a permanent home.

“We mortgaged our property, raised money and bought it ourselves,”

Adam said.

The art show started in 1967 but was set to lose its lease by

1985, which is when Adam stepped in.

“We needed new grounds that belonged to us, we found property, and

we incorporated a group to hopefully buy the property,” Adam said.

“We tried to raise money and couldn’t.”

It’s now nestled into the picturesque canyon with a cascading

waterfall.

Adam is steadfast in keeping the property as the Art-A-Fair’s

permanent home, while artists make contributions to a fund to buy her

out. Her business partner, Harvey Woolsey, is proprietor of half the

property.

Like Adam herself, the Art-A-Fair has Laguna flair and represents

every medium, including jewelry, ceramics, paintings, glasswork,

woodwork, photography and nontraditional media such as graphic

design.

Adam gave a tour from booth to booth, talking about the artists

and their work with enthusiasm.

“There are about 130 artists in Art-A-Fair, some local, mostly

Laguna Beach and local areas like San Juan Capistrano and San

Clemente -- mostly in Orange County and L.A.,” Adam said.

It’s a juried show with some notable jurors in the past such as

Zolton Zoro and Gerrard Brommer, Adam said.

“One of the things good about it is that it’s user-friendly and

artist-friendly,” Adam said.

When describing the vibe of the Art-A-Fair, “friendly” was a

sentiment shared by many of the artists. They typically have a high

rate of return artists, from 100 to 110 each year.

Watercolor painter Mariann Brewer said she’s in her fifth year

exhibiting at the Art-A-Fair.

“I really enjoy it and enjoy the people,” Brewer said. “We have a

really good group.”

Brewer paints miniatures, and for good reason.

“My watercolors are small -- I taught myself at the coffee table

and only had this much room,” Brewer explained.

She illustrated by pointing to the small table she was working on

at the art festival. She chose this format so she could spend more

time chatting with her husband. It was the most convenient location

to have family time.

Her husband, Scooter Brewer, is the vice president in charge of

operations at the Art-A-Fair, which includes the construction and

layout of all the artists’ booths.

“Someone will pick a painting of the Hotel Laguna because of its

special memories for them, such as being married there,” Brewer said.

“Or they’ll choose Heisler Park because that’s where they had their

first kiss.”

Eleven-year exhibitor Scott Sutton writes, illustrates and

publishes children’s books.

“I also do originals and reproductions of the artwork in [my]

children’s books,” Sutton said.

Sutton has been a commercial artist since 1971, a gallery artist

since 1978 and has done work with children’s books since 1985.

“I’ve wanted to do it [children’s books] since I was a kid,”

Sutton said. “I would color, write and illustrate in grade school,

junior high and high school.”

He had to start out where the moneymaking opportunity was first

and work his way toward his passion.

“I love the atmosphere of this show, I love the art in this show,

and I love the people in this show,” Sutton said. “I almost cry at

the end of the [summer] because it’s over -- I wish it was

year-round. It’s a great venue to show your artwork.”

He said each year it keeps getting better, and opening night

illustrated that with a line out the door until 9:30 p.m.

Birgitta Kappe has exhibited at the Art-A-Fair for seven years and

said her work could be most accurately described as impressionistic

oil paintings. Last year her work was chosen to represent the art

festival in its marketing materials.

“The highlight of the Art-A-Fair is the whole show itself, the

atmosphere, friends and good art,” Kappe said. “The show is getting

better and better with more exciting artists coming in each year.”

They have art workshops every day, which are free with admission.

Adam teaches some of the classes.

This year, she is doing face-painting and gourd-painting.

Barbara Kimmel-Palmer teaches watercolor every Tuesday. This

morning, she had a class of 12 children, all younger than 6.

“There are varied classes throughout the day,” Kimmel-Palmer said.

She has been exhibiting 14 years at the Art-A-Fair and recently

retired as a school art teacher after 25 years.

“One big thing is how the artists felt about each other -- it’s a

family affair,” Adam said.

On the grounds is Tivoli Too! Restaurant. Art-A-Fair is open daily

from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. through Sept. 5. Admission is $5 for adults,

$3 for seniors and children 12 and younger are free. Each paid

admission serves as a season pass for the show. Art-A-Fair is at 777

Laguna Canyon Road.

For information, call (949) 494-4514 or visit online at

https://www.art-a-fair.com.