Newport Beach Civic Center was a lively scene last Saturday when more than 100 Southern California artists displayed their creations during the annual Art in the Park.
For 20 years, the Newport Beach Arts Foundation has held the event, which also includes live music, food and a pavilion where wine and beer are served up.
Among the participating artists was Huntington Beach resident Edgar Allan Toh, who filled his booth with paintings of Parisian life.
“Everything that I paint is like a snapshot of an experience,” said Toh. Last year while visiting Paris he found his subject matter — people who were out socializing and dancing in Place Colette following a rain.
Mission Viejo artist JoJo Collins explained that because she likes to stay current in her creations, she has become a perennial art student. She explores the use of diverse mixed media in her collages, where she applies bold colors, layered textures and patterns, often combining acrylics and distressed pieces to her works.
Ruth Ibaraki, a Manhattan Beach retiree from a corporate job, is now happily engaged in her second career after taking up pottery and establishing her business, Kylo Pottery.
“I have no friends because I’m busy everyday,” Ibaraki said. “Pottery needs timing. If it’s too wet, it collapses, if it’s too dry, it cracks…so I always have to babysit the clay.”
Ibaraki is a functional potter. She creates handcrafted pieces with a Japanese influence for everyday use. Her style of stoneware and porcelain items are rustic and simple.
This year’s Art in the Park was deemed a success by its organizers. According to the Newport Beach Arts Foundation there were more than 2,000 visitors to the Civic Center between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Saturday