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Local Authors and Artists Featured at Garden of Knowledge Event

A rare and impressive gathering of local Ojai Valley authors and artists will be a major feature of the Garden of Knowledge Event scheduled for September 16, 2006. In an informal garden setting, attendees can meet the authors and discuss their books and ideas, and talk with some of the artists about their works which will be on display for the Silent Auction and the Raffle.

The authors scheduled to attend are:

Larry Chambers,  writer of over 50 published books and hundreds of articles, ranging from Recondo (required reading for Army Rangers) to Protect your 401(K) and First Time Investor, highly acclaimed investment books.

Carter Crocker writes for children’s television programming; his young adult novel “The Tale of the Swamp Rat” was a Book Sense Pick and is now in paperback.

Jerry Camarillo Dunn, Jr. has written for the National Geographic Society for 22 years; his latest is  a guidebook of San Francisco. Jerry’s non-travel books include Idiom Savant: Slang As It Is Slung, which collects the often hilarious lingo of more than 100 American subcultures.

Susan Florence is an internationally known author and artist. Her recent line of books, the Journeys Series, are short, meditative reads painted with soft, loose watercolors, many reflecting the beauty and peace of Ojai.

Marty Fujita is an evolutionary biologist whose book, “Archipelago: the Islands of Indonesia”, co-authored with Gavan Daws, celebrates the travels and discoveries of the great naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace, through photos and essays that the Washington Post Book World calls “extraordinarily beautiful”.

Ken McAlpine is an award-winning travel writer; his feature stories have earned him two Lowell Thomas Awards. His latest book, "Off Season: Discovering America on Winter's Shore" (Random House) was a Barnes and Noble Great New Writers selection.

Rob Ryder played varsity basketball at Princeton, moved to Hollywood and developed a career as a screenwriter. In 1992 he was hired as the basketball coordinator on “White Men Can’t Jump”. He wrote a column on sports and entertainment for ESPN.com which provided the grist for his memoir, “Hollywood Jock” (HarperCollins, June 2006). 

Rick Ridgeway is one of the world’s most foremost mountaineers and adventurers, as well as a writer, photographer, and filmmaker. Esquire honored him on their exclusive list of “the top men and women who are changing America.”  Rick is the author of six books, most recently The Big Open about his expedition to northwest Tibet following on foot the endangered Tibetan antelope

David Allen Roberts is widely recognized as the world’s leading expert on personal and organizational productivity, honored by Forbes as one of the top five executive coaches in the United States. David authored the best-selling book, Getting Things Done: the Art of Stress-Free Productivity, and delivers often sold-out Getting Things Done seminars to audiences throughout the US and Europe.

Local artists contributing to the Raffle and Silent Auction are:

Richard Amend, whose current drawings have evolved as a result of his work as a production designer in the film business. Site location photographs became sketches for pastel drawings. There is stillness, the capturing of a singular moment, and a particular quality of light in Richard's work.

Gayel Childress paints with a touch of whimsy and a love for color, form, and design. Gayel works in acrylic, watercolor, printmaking, oil and mixed media. She tries to catch the spirit of her subject with an eye for experimentation.

Bert Collinspaintings are realistic landscapes, seascapes and still lifes, emphasizing natural color and detail. Bert has won many Best of Show and First Place Awards in over two hundred juried competitions. In 1997, she received the Lifetime Achievement in the Arts Award from the City of Ojai.

Ruth Farnham works in oils and oil pastels, producing paintings that are rich with vibrant color, and has been represented by several galleries over the last fifty years. Travels in Mediterranean Europe, the Middle East, India and China have resulted in ongoing study and development. 

Theodore Gall is a prolific sculptor. Working every day on his series of fantastical bronze heads that open to reveal dreams and scenes inside, his mind is racing ahead to the next twenty ideas. Ted's sculptures are signed originals....not editions. Each has a theme. Ted's sculpture is included in many public and private collections and he has won numerous awards at art shows throughout the country.

Otto Heino is an exceptional potter, who uses a special pale yellow glaze used by ancient Chinese potters. The formula for the glaze had been lost, but Otto and his wife Vivika spent over 10 years re-creating the formula. Otto may be the oldest (at 90) working potter in the US, and he is certainly one of the best. Otto served in World War II as a waist gunner on a B-17 bomber and survived 40 bombing missions over Europe. Otto's work is collected world-wide and has been exhibited internationally at numerous important museums.

Karen K. Lewis is primarily a studio painter, whose subjects include chairs in studio settings, still lifes, and large groupings of people. Lewis is also a plein air painter of the Ojai landscape, and a printmaker. Her work can be seen annually at her studio on the October Ojai Studio Artists’ Tour, or online by visiting her website.

Sherry Loehr started her career as an art teacher in Colorado, experimented with pottery in her spare time, and developed a whimsical and very successful line of tableware. She and her husband moved to Ojai in 1985, where she discovered her passion and talent for painting. From Sherry’s website:” I create an imaginary environment for the things I see. I want to isolate them, to study, perhaps just two pears or a single branch of loquats. I enjoy the simplicity, the spareness of a few objects, carefully observed”.

Julia Pfeiffer is a master beadweaver and designer of distinctive beaded art wear, pursuing her craft for over 25 years. Inspired by her earlier work in textiles design, Julia uses traditional stitches in unique and innovative ways to achieve the desired complexity for her original beadwork designs, which may incorporate mixed media such as feathers, precious metals, stones, leathers, and furs.

Betty Saunders. “All paintings are completed on site (en plein air) and are mostly landscapes. I transport my easel and painting materials to a site a few miles from my home. I love color and this is expressed in all of my images. During the summer I travel to England, Spain, Italy or France and return with paintings for my next show. I consider Cezanne, Gauguin and other Post-Impressionists as influences in my work.”

Debra Scolari worked as a clothing designer and costumer for the film and television industry in Los Angeles, moving to Ojai in 1988 where she began painting and incorporating her love of texture, pattern and design into her artwork. Studies of photography and digital imaging led to combining the traditional methods of art with the limitless possibilities of the computer to create digital illustrations for her stock images business. Debra Scolari Studio and Gallery shows a combination of fine art painting and art prints.

Shahastra is an eclectic artist working in various fine art modes: pastels, oils and mixed media. Her figurative soul studies have recently been published into a 50-card reflective deck. She is also a functional designer, translating her work into sterling and gem jewelry and sculptural ironworks.

Linda Taylor has been an art instructor at Nordhoff High School for 19 years. She received a BA degree from San Diego State University and a Master of Fine Arts degree from UCSB. Linda is active in the arts community of Ojai as one of the founders of Ojai Studio Artists, and maintains an active printmaking studio in her home.

Nancy Whitman paints in an exuberant style, combining broad brush strokes and unexpected use of color in her oil, acrylic and watercolor creations. The vigor and joie de vivre bursting from her canvases reflect her love affair with nature. Enormously versatile and varied in her expressions, Nancy attempts to work toward the feeling of the magic and freedom of a child.

The Garden of Knowledge Event is sponsored by the Ojai Education Foundation, a nonprofit organization that promotes excellence in public education by building community support and providing resources to schools in the Ojai Unified School District. Event tickets are $150. For more information, visit www.ojaief.org or call Marty Fujita 805.646.4412.

 

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