Artist Michael Ezzell, photo courtesy Charley Akers Photography
Weekly Festival of Arts Series continues Thursday August 15 from 12 – 1pm
The Festival of Arts continues its weekly Thursday Art Talk series with “Built to Last” led by Michael Ezzell, Casey Parlette and Brittany Ryan on Thursday, August 15 from 12 – 1pm. Each sculptor works in a variety of medium- combining wood, ceramic, glass, metal, fabric and even painting into the pieces they create. At the Art Talk, they will discuss their materials, process, and their own career as artists with the audience.
Michael Ezzell’s sculptures of warriors, fish, and other animals and figures are ceramic thrown shapes, fired to 2000 degrees. He adds leaded or hand cut and fused glass and in some pieces, LED lights. The results are exquisite, exotic pieces that could inhabit storybooks, sci-fi films or our imagination.
Casey Parlette utilizes a variety of techniques and materials to render the animals and plants in his sculptures. His subjects are wildlife – with particular emphasis on marine animals – hammered, forged, carved and welded of wood, bronze, brass, steel, titanium, mother of pearl, abalone, stone, concrete and more. Casey’s observations of animals in the wild have both engendered and influenced his art, in which he strives to capture the essence of his subject’s spirit and motion.
In Brittany Ryan’s paintings and sculptures, she explores the figure’s relationship with its environment, both spatial and social. The pieces describe the psychological dynamics of alienation within and among individuals as well as between individuals and their spaces of habitation. The works depict young women in child-like dresses exhibiting a body language of disaffection. These women display vulnerability and awkwardness through the rhetoric of gesture and posture.
This is one of several topics discussed at the Festival’s weekly Art Talks: A Lecture Series. Each Thursday from 12 – 1pm through August 29, Festival artists lead conversations about their medium, inspiration, and careers in this fascinating and stimulating series. For more information and a schedule of topics, visit http://www.foapom.com/education/art-workshops-lectures/art-talks-a-lecture-series/
DATES AND ADMISSION
The Festival of Arts is open daily from June 30 – August 31, 2013, from 10am to 11:30pm (Early closing at 6pm June 30 – July 4 and 3:30pm on August 24). General Admission: Weekdays $7, Weekends $10; Students & Seniors: Weekdays $4, Weekends $6; Free Admission for Children 12 and under, Military, and Laguna Beach Residents.
A special promotion (funded in part by Bank of America) offers patrons the opportunity to purchase a Passport to the Arts for only $21.50. Receive unlimited admission all summer long to The Festival of Arts, the Sawdust Art Festival and Art-A-Fair. Go online for more information and details at www.LagunaBeachPassport.com or call (949) 497-0521. Each passport includes one-time free parking in the ACT V parking lot on Laguna Canyon Road and FREE shuttle service. Offer excludes Pageant of the Masters.
ABOUT THE FESTIVAL OF ARTS
The Festival of Arts and Pageant of the Masters are sponsored in part by Acura, Fidelity Investments, KOST Radio 103.5, the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, and The Orange County Register. The Festival of Arts is a non-profit organization that produces The Festival of Arts – California’s Premier Fine Art Show and the Pageant of the Masters. For general information, call (949) 494-1145 or visit the website at www.LagunaFestivalofArts.org. The event is located at 650 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach, California. Proceeds support the arts and art education in and about Laguna Beach.
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Meghan Perez
Sharbie Higuchi, Director of Marketing and Public Relations
Festival of Arts • 650 Laguna Canyon Road • Laguna Beach, CA 92651
