COVER STORYOctober 2021

Unique and Extraordinary!

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Meet – 2021 Featured La Jolla Art & Wine Festival Seascape Artists

By Deborah Vietor

Join the fun and festivities at the 13th annual La Jolla Art & Wine Festival, October 9 and 10 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., live in the beautiful seaside village of La Jolla on Girard Avenue. Enjoy over 160 juried artists, from across the United States and Mexico. Magical color abounds with something for everyone as artists feature painting, sculpture, jewelry design, fine glass, ceramics, woodwork, mixed media, and photography.

Enjoy the ever-popular wine & beer garden, food court, live entertainment, a pet adoption center, and silent auction. All profits are donated to three local public elementary schools, the middle school, and the high school.

With many fine artists work to choose from, we celebrate two exceptional featured artists for this year’s show, Krista Schumacher and Joshua Serafin, both ocean and nature artists with unique works to offer, reflecting the artist colony La Jolla was originally well noted for.

Krista Schumacher was raised in the town of Niceville, Fla., along the stunning Emerald Coast and began her career as an emerging artist at the age of 16. Her mother is also an artist and has been her greatest fan and mentor. They collaborate as mother/daughter palette knife artists.

“My mom would say, ‘Paint like you own the paint factory!’” Schumacher said. “Without her, I wouldn’t be the artist I am today.”

Prior to becoming a full-time artist, Schumacher was an elementary school art teacher. She wrote and published a book, Lucy Loves Art. Believing every child is an artist this illustrated book is inspired by her cat Lucy and how Lucy sneaks into her mom’s art studio, encouraging all children to discover their inner artist.

“The vistas, cliffs, city lights and mountains [in San Diego are] an artist’s dream. I am not only captivated by the awe-inspiring natural beauty, but also the contemporary design and urban diversity of the region,” Schumacher said. “My work encapsulates the essence of San Diego, a major metropolitan city, interwoven with natural wonders. Though each of my paintings reflect my distinct palette knife style in oils, I vary color in each work to juxtapose the city’s grays and blacks, desert earth tones and iconic ocean landscapes that are unique to the west coast.”

She has developed a unique alla prima, palette knife style. As her paintings become more abstract, taking on a multi-dimensional form, their heavy-texture and bold colors resonate strongly with nature.

“La Jolla is an artist’s dream, filled with inspiration at every corner,” she said. “La Jolla’s natural beauty is accompanied by a community that is passionate about the arts.”

Schumacher was awarded the Southwest Art Magazine’s “Top 21 Under 31.” She was the 2018 Launch Pad Artist for Art San Diego. In 2019 Ferrari of San Diego hosted the first ever mother/daughter exhibition.

“The La Jolla Art & Wine Festival has an unwavering commitment to the La Jolla Community. Being a local La Jolla artist, I cannot thank my community enough for supporting the arts.”

Schumacher recently opened a pop-up gallery at 1113 Wall Street in La Jolla, hours are Thursday -Monday 9 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., and 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. She is most excited to have her own space and looks forward to new and exciting ventures in art.

With a brilliant smile and display of positivity, Schumacher is an enthusiastic swimmer and tries to be in the water daily. Capturing the beautiful coastline, one can feel her positive energy as she engages with nature.

Moving further away from realism and focusing on movement, she favors impressionism citing, “The looser the better.”

This year for LJAWF, Schumacher is excited to gather, celebrating art and community, believing this is a great time for us to come together.

Like Schumacher, Josh Serafin is an artist filled with passion for the ocean and the creatures within. A long-time surfer and fisherman, he feels blessed to be exactly where he is meant to be, with the warm sand, glowing sun, and the breaking surf.

In 1999, Serafin created Sunset Resolution, chronicling an entire year of daily sunsets through 35mm photography, developing each photograph. His visceral art creates a feeling of peace, reflecting the splendor of the coastline and all the sea offers. His work is displayed in the Serafin Gallery at the Waterfront Hilton in his hometown of Huntington Beach and along the California coastline and Hawaii.

His work includes areas of nature dear to him, such as surfing in various locations. He enjoys lake and stream fishing in the High Sierras in addition to exploring different beach in various states and overseas.

“I want to share the beauty of what I have with you, for you to see what I see, feel what I feel and know what I know,” he said of his work.

Many of his images are reflected in his book capturing the ocean and sea creatures, Art By Serafin. He has been successful as a photographer, painter and bronze sculpturer. Following 20 years as a painter, he culminated a new dimension to his art, as he developed a deep understanding of composition and the 200-year-old technique of reverse painting on glass, during the recession of 2008.

Utilizing tempered glass as a canvas, he paints with brushes, his fingers and palette knives, creating multiple layers on glass to form unique ocean life images. Standard pieces have grown from 30” by 40” to 30” by 80.”

From canvas to wood to glass, he uses oil paints and various mediums including gold and silver leafing, creating texture with brilliant color and shimmering reflective light. Sculpting in clay, he released a limited-edition collection of bronze art named Serafin’s Sea Creatures in 2018.

Serafin created his first underwater glass fish painting in 2009. A New Place illustrates the free movement of a jellyfish, creating the illusion of water, utilizing sparkling metallic copper as it gives life to the art. His pieces come alive as in nature, eliciting awe and wonder.

Serafin believes, “Everyone experiences ocean and sea life differently, so each person should create their own masterpiece.”

To this end, Serafin has created a limited-edition mixed media gallery series by combining bronze reliefs to the front of his acrylic face mounts. These are exclusive to galleries. Serafin created an app, allowing individuals to create their own masterpiece with over 35 amazing sea creatures to drag and drop onto a bronze seaweed canvas.

Of his advice to young artists, he says, “Show the world why you matter through your artwork. Don’t be intimidated by what people might think. Go with your instincts, stay true to your craft. Eventually you and others will connect with your art. Remember, not everyone will connect with what you create, but that’s ok because you made it happen and they didn’t.”

To view Krista Schumacher’s art, visit www.kristaschumacherart.com.

To view Josh Serafin’s art, visit www.artbyserafin.com.

For information on the La Jolla Art & Wine Festival, visit www.ljawf.com.

L'Chaim

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