Outside the Roxiticus Valley: Roxy's Best Of...Laguna Beach, California

Art Galleries in Laguna Beach, California:

Pacific Edge Gallery has been a favorite since we bought our first Tom Swimm painting almost ten years ago. On this year's February break, we bought Oyster Bar (below) by Susan Cox and Rex found the perfect spot to hang it in our Roxiticus eat-in kitchen.

Across the street is the William Merrill Gallery, which I find to be a more "sophisticated," New-York-style gallery. We don't own any of their artists, but perhaps it is just a matter of time (and wall space).

I hope to take the girls to California one year in late July or August, in order to attend the Pageant of the Masters, a really cool event in Laguna Beach that I haven't been to in years, since we started our annual February break trips. The web site describes it as "ninety minutes of living pictures - incredibly faithful art re-creations of classical and contemporary works with real people posing to look exactly like their counterparts in the original pieces. An outdoor amphitheater, professional orchestra, original score, live narration, intricate sets, sophisticated lighting, expert staff, and hundreds of dedicated volunteers have won recognition for the Pageant as the best presentation of its kind." The first time I went, over 10 years ago, I was skeptical. I was picturing an Edward Hopper "painting" with a couple of actors hanging around a pool table, but the way to think about it is people as the pixels of the painting.

Restaurants in Laguna Beach, California:

Dinner at Sorrento Grille: Way too big delicious appetizers. The girls love the rack of lamb. We never save enough room for the Tin Roof Sundae dessert.

Sunday Brunch at Savannah Chop House

The Studio and The Loft at the Montage.

Where to Stay in Laguna Beach, CA:
Despite the fabulous restaurants at the Montage, the Montage is actually away from town, in Laguna Niguel, so our favorite hotel is the Surf and Sand in Laguna Beach. Visit Luxury Link and get a nice low rate for a room in the tower with a full ocean view. Perhaps most importantly, it is right across the street from Koffee Klatch.

Black River Music & Art Festival in Chester Tomorrow: Saturday, August 16, 2008

The Black River Music and Art Fest, coming to Chester, New Jersey on Saturday, August 16th, is a FREE all day event featuring some of the best local original musical acts as well as numerous visual artists displaying their work. Last year’s event drew an estimated 9,000 people, and they're expecting an even bigger turnout at this year's Black River Festival.

The Black River Music and Art Fest features music in many different genres, including rock, folk, hip-hop, and rockabilly. With the two electric stages, the two courtyards featuring acoustic music and small combos, plus the Original Music School Family Area featuring musical performances, clowns, artwork and other family-oriented activities, there is truly something for everyone.

Continue reading for the complete 2008 musical lineup (locations, bands and hour-by-hour schedules)

Parking: Plenty of street parking is available in downtown Chester.

Food: Chester has many different food establishments to serve attendees. A handful of food merchants will have booths throughout town, in addition to serving food in their usual locations.

Seating: Bales of hay will be provided by Plant Detectives, and attendees are encouraged to bring beach chairs as well.

Bathrooms: Additional portable bathrooms will be provided on Perry Street on the day of the event.

Date(s): This year's event will take place on Saturday, August 16, 2008, with a rain date of Sunday, August 17th.

Rex's Brother Jake and the Art of the American West

Rex's brother, Jake, is quite an unusual guy. After living in the city of Chicago for almost forty years, he and his wife, Connie, decided to retire to Fifty Miles from Anywhere, New Mexico. Last April on the girls' spring break, Rex and Grammy and the girls and I flew out to Albuquerque and drove a couple of hours to visit Jake and Connie in the beautiful house they built on 80 acres. He took us on a tour of the ruins pictured at the top of this post and regaled all of us with the culture that could be found in his "neighborhood" (if you included another two hour drive to Santa Fe)





Jake appreciates architecture, and he appreciates art. Jake and Connie like to travel, and Jake creates amazing photojournals to document their travel. Just after they moved out to New Mexico, Jake and Connie had driven down to Texas and spent several weeks touring the best of the art and architecture in the region, including the Stark Museum of Art (photo above) in Orange, Texas. Jake liked the way the Stark Museum of Art explores the art of the American West.



The Stark Museum of Art began as a vision of H.J. Lutcher Stark and his mother, Miriam Lutcher Stark, who was an enthusiastic collector of art, furniture, and decorative items from around the world. Lutcher Stark developed a similar passion for collecting, with a particular interest in nature and art depicting the American West. Both Miriam and Lutcher Stark shared the desire that one day a museum in Orange, Texas, would display the works of art they had collected over the years. Inspired by their shared passion, Lutcher and his wife Nelda founded the Stark Foundation in 1961 to enrich the quality of life in Southeast Texas through education and the arts. After Lutcher Stark’s death in 1965, the Stark Foundation, under Nelda C. Stark’s direction, built the Stark Museum of Art, which opened on November 29, 1978, and continues to acquire new works of art today.

The Texas trip photojournal that Jake shared with us during our visit included his take on the Stark Museum's collections of Western Art, American Indian Art, Decorative Arts, and Rare Books and Manuscripts. According to Jake, the Stark Museum's Western Art collection conveys the artistic interpretation of the western region over two centuries; their American Indian collection consists of objects created by members of the tribes of the Great Plains, Southwest, Eastern Woodlands and Northwest Coast; and the Decorative Arts collection features glass and porcelain, including numerous items by Steuben Glass.

I hope I didn't get any of the details confused, or when I see my brother-in-law at our family reunion this August at our beach house in Bay Head, New Jersey, I'll surely be in for an earful.