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Sawdust Artist Baruch Kaufman's Scoop on Winter Fantasy Fest - Opens Friday!
- 2024/11/20
- 再生時間： 52 分
- ポッドキャスト
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あらすじ・解説
In this podcast, I introduce my TOP TWO favorite holiday events and one of my favorite artists (and humans) at the Winter Fantasy Sawdust Festival – my in-studio guest, Baruch Kaufman.The Winter Fantasy - my #1 favorite event in Laguna Beach all year long – begins this Friday, Nov. 22nd, and we’re here to talk all about its extreme uniqueness. Winter Fantasy at the Sawdust is every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from Nov. 22nd through Dec. 22nd 10 a.m. - 7 p.m. 935 Laguna Canyon Road. Pay and park on the street or at nearby city lots. Tickets are available online and at the ticket offices onsite: $12 for adults, $10 for seniors over $65, $5 for kids ages 6-12, and free for kids under the age of 5. Locals are free on Fridays!Show Notes: We talk Baruch’s family custom jewelry business at the top of Legion Avenue since 1996, and Baruch’s first entry into the Winter Fantasy in 2011. Baruch explains the extended weekend Winter Fantasy season, from Nov. 22nd through Dec. 22nd, 10 am - 7 pm every Friday,Saturday and Sunday. Baruch offers multiple great pointers as to why this is such a “holiday Christmas magic vibe” including 180 unique artists, “biodegradable snow from the sky,” roving carolers and three live music stages every weekend day. I chime in with the differences between the Summer Sawdust Festival vs. the Winter Fantasy show and the focus on gifts. (Baruch actually created several individualized gifts for my own clients while I was standing there at the Winter Sawdust.) Baruch explains his upbringing in Seattle - one of 7 kids who participated in the family’s longtime jewelry business, and their eventual move to Laguna Beach. We talk about the gift Baruch brought me before our radio show, a “Laguna Wave” patented ring his Dad engineered. (It’s only sold at the Gem Mountains Studio at the Legion location). We then talk about Baruch’s own designs based on calligraphy and treble clefs with wire designs that showcase the hand-chosen gems. I mention the ability to talk with the artists at more length during the Winter Fantasy, and how I can ask Baruch anything about any gem … he knows the backstory on every one he displays. This leads to a most interesting explanation of how Baruch personally shops for and hand chooses the gems he selects. Baruch explains the increased variety of artists at the winter show. Turns out the Summer Festival is consistently always Laguna Beach Artists, but Winter Fantasy allows for about 50 Orange County artists. More variety! I then provide a litany of gift ideas that I always purchase for my own friends and clients. I mention the winter menu shifts that happen, too, in the restaurants on the Sawdust grounds. And on that note – I’m ordering a few dishes for Thanksgiving dinner, so I’ll remind you again, too! While uber-popular Chef Evan of Evan’s Gourmet is back in play for the Winter Sawdust Festival, she’s also offering Thanksgiving dinner to go - the full dinner or a la carte pick-and-choose for pickup at her restaurant (Evan’s Gourmet, 860 Glenneyre Street) the day before Thanksgiving. Order online at EvansGourmet.com) Baruch and I talk about the fabled “Lottery Pick Day” when Sawdust artists actually choose their booth locations. Baruch explains that, in the last lottery, he had 12 years of tickets “in the hopper” and waited until his first ticket came up at “Position #165” out of 180 artists. Baruch offers his perspective of the Sawdust grounds’ transformation from an empty, dirt Eucalyptus grove to a rabble of constructed (and approved fire department) customized, quirky, artsy booths. To add to the engaging “holiday village feel,” several Laguna Beach non-profit groups decorate their own holiday themed trees for the Winter Fantasy. The community tree lighting ceremony is this Saturday at 5:00 p.m. for the “auld lang syne” moment. Very uniquely Laguna Beach in our artists’ community. Then, I mention my 2nd most favorite holiday event in Laguna Beach - Ruben Flores’ Annual Holiday Decor and Wreath Making Workshop. This Friday, Nov. 22nd, 3:00 p.m.This workshop is an absolute hoot with Ruben Flores at the helm in the back lot workshop of Laguna Nursery. It’s this Friday, Nov. 22nd. It starts at 3:00 p.m. at 481 N. Coast Highway at Myrtle and North Coast Highway. Call (949) 494-5200 to let Ruben know you’re coming on Friday. It’s just $30 a person. (Bring your pruners, he says.) Then … back to my in-studio guest, Baruch We dive back into Baruch’s personal life as a world traveler. He talks about “the magic and cultures of the world” as he shares this year’s early autumn travels into Japan (Tokyo, Kyoto, etc. along with Michelin restaurant dining and the most amazing art installation he’s ever seen, “teamLab Borderless.” After a brief return to Laguna Beach, he then popped over to Dubai, then over to India’s Uttar Pradesh (where he’s working with ...