Inside arts

The full circle of the artist’s career will be on view soon.

Those with artistic — and voyeuristic — intentions will be able to enter the private studios of a variety of Laguna’s artists April 12, at the next Sawdust Art Festival Art Studio Tour.

Artists on the tour range from up-and-comers to longtime presences in town.

This year, the tour coordinators are offering the choice of morning, afternoon and full-day tours, which include guided transportation.

Each small group will have time to visit with the artists and view artist demonstrations.

There will also be an evening reception on the Sawdust grounds, where eventgoers can mingle with the artists.

“The Art Studio Tour offers a rare chance to meet artists in their studios and get a glimpse at what their creative processes — and lives — are like,” Tour Director Rebecca Meekma said.

Art royalty

Paulette Auster was one of the tour’s first guides; now her home is one of the tour’s stops.

She and her husband, Ken, also an artist, live in a hillside home with a stunning view of downtown Laguna.

Works on their home’s walls read like a Laguna art book: Obermeyer, Roberts, Caglayan.

Ken Auster’s own one-of-a-kind touches also are visible throughout the house: He used a Hawaiian trivet to sandcast more than 600 tiles that now bedeck a patio wall.

An archway in his wife’s studio is lined with tiles cast from a ukelele and a Balinese carving.

“Our house is an art project in and of itself,” Paulette said.

A longtime Sawdust exhibitor, her art has ranged from silkscreened work to wooden toys to earrings to gouache.

She studied at the Art Center in Pasadena, receiving a bachelor’s degree in illustration.

“I took illustration because I thought I would have the best opportunity to succeed,” Auster said. “It’s basically a trip around the world when you go to Art Center.”

In the past, Auster was the first model for Greg MacGillivray, of MacGillivray Freeman Films; she dated famous surf photographer Ron Stoner, and was friends with artist Rick Griffin, whose retrospective just closed at Laguna Art Museum.

Today, she paints nearly every day with friend and fellow artist Dedre Bickler, whose studio will also be on the tour.

“We support each other, because it’s hard enough being an artist,” Auster said.

Jack of all trades

“I grew up in a woodshop,” said mixed-media artist Jesse J. Miller.

Miller’s father makes custom, high-end furniture; that meant lots of scrap hardwoods for him to learn his craft while growing up.

Miller lives in Laguna Canyon; his apartment studio’s walls are covered with his work, a melange of leaded glass (learned from his grandfather), woodworking and painting.

Miller also has a hand-silkscreening machine, where he makes wooden postcards of his various designs.

Other than a handful of classes at Laguna College of Art & Design, Miller learned his trade through daily life. He formerly designed art for the area’s many major surf apparel companies.

Miller’s experience running a commercial silkscreening business left him with a desire to return to his family’s metier.

“My pops is successful and does well because he designs it all and makes custom pieces,” he said.

Computer equipment is conspicuously absent from Miller’s studio.

“I like doing it the old-school way,” he said.

Outside, a scattering of surfboards inhabits one corner of a verdant yard. In addition to all of his other activities, Miller follows the tradition of hand-chalked surfboards originated by his father in the ’70s.

This summer, he will debut at the Sawdust Art Festival as a new exhibitor.

“I’m excited to get more involved in the Sawdust,” Miller said.

“I’m stoked about the environment. It’s creative, and I’m sure it will inspire me to get in touch with people who may be interested in my work.”

Something for everybody

This year, Art Studio Tour participating artists include Brian Allan, painting; Paulette Auster, painting; John Barber, art glass; Randy Bader, woodcraft; Olivia Batchelder, silk painting and clothing; Dedre Bickler, painting; Marc Blumenfeld, ceramics; Donita Lloyd, painting; Jesse J. Miller, mixed media — surf art; Karen Petty, painting; Skip Roma, Chinese brush painting; Julie Setterholm, copper enamel jewelry and sculpture; Marsh Scott, encaustics and sculpture; Pat Sparkuhl, mixed media; Ralph Tarzian, sculpture; Rachel Uchizono, painting; Cliff Wassmann, photography and realism; and Sandra Weir, watercolors.

For more information, visit www.SawdustArtFestival.org.

IF YOU GO

WHO: Sawdust Art Festival

WHAT: Art Studio Tour

WHEN: April 12

WHERE: Meet at the Sawdust grounds, 935 Laguna Canyon Road

HOW MUCH:

Half-day tour $45; full-day tour $80

INFORMATION: (949) 494-3030 or www.sawdustartfestival.org