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Sawdust Art Festival's 51st Annual Summer Show
Sawdust Art Festival's 51st Annual Summer Show
Friday, June 30 - Sunday, September 3, 2017, open 10-10 daily
The Sawdust will feature the fine art and craft of over 200 Laguna Beach artists and is sure to be the highlight of your summer adventures.
Art enthusiasts, collectors, and novice artists have come to the Sawdust since our beginning in 1967 for our mix of fine art and craft. Media include hand-blown and fused glass, painting, jewelry, surf art, ceramics, clothing and textiles, wood and metal sculpture, scrimshaw, photography, and so much more.
Our artists are eager to share their creative process with you so please feel free to ask our exhibitors questions, take an art workshop, and enjoy our live art demonstrations.
Muffin is located in Booth #429 by the glass demonstration cage.
True Love Poem
The Sawdust Winter Fantasy Festival
COME AND VISIT US in LAGUNA BEACH.
Five Weekends: November 19 through December 18, 2016 open 10am-6pm
November 19th, 20th, 25th, 26th & 27th from 10am-6pm
December 3rd, 4th, 10th, 11th, 17th & 18th from 10am-6pm.
Our festival grounds will be transformed into a winter wonderland where 175 artists create, display and sell original creations over the course of five weekends. The Winter Fantasy offers the most unique holiday shopping in all of Southern California. Art media includes jewelry, clothing, fused and blown glass, ceramics, woodwork, forged metals, painting, photography, sculpture, clothing and textiles.
Experience unique artwork by 175 artists, live holiday entertainment, great outdoor cafes, art classes and demonstrations, petting zoo, Santa and much, much more! With amazing art gifts, thousands of holiday decorations and picture-perfect moments, the Sawdust’s Winter Fantasy will become your family’s holiday tradition.
The Sawdust is located at 935 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach, CA 92651.
From the Coast
– Take Coast highway/Route 1 into Laguna Beach.
– In downtown Laguna Beach at Main Beach, turn inland onto Broadway. In two blocks Broadway becomes Laguna Canyon Road. The Sawdust is on your right.
Cremation Is on the Rise, but Where to Put the Ashes?
As an article in the current issue of TIME explains, (“The American Way of Death” by Josh Sanburn,) by 2017, one out of two Americans will choose cremation over burial. The ashes of the deceased—funeral directors call them “cremains”—are mostly mineral, harmless, and highly portable.But finding a final resting place for them can be tricky. According to the Cremation Association of North America (CANA), one-third of people who receive cremains bury them, one third keep them, and the last third scatter them. It’s the scattering that can present the most challenges, since states, counties, and cities have stitched together an uneven patchwork of laws about where human ashes can end up.
Lots of people like the ideas of scattering ashes at sea, but boats and planes must be at least three nautical miles from shore before any ashes go overboard, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Note that only biodegradable objects, such as cremains, flowers, and wreaths, are permitted in the ocean—no urns or other objects—and pet ashes are prohibited. Scatterings are supposed to be reported to the regional administrator of the EPA within thirty days.
If you’re thinking about scattering on the beach, many states, such as California, have rules that prohibit seaside sprinklings. (Although if you’re willing to wade out a bit, California does allow scatterings five hundred yards from shore.)
The non-profit Funeral Consumers Alliance says that many states turn a blind eye to shoreside scattering into public waters, preferring to save their enforcement actions for big-time polluters. But that doesn’t mean it’s legal.
As for the great wide open, many national parks (including the Grand Canyon) allow scattering with a permit and permission from the chief park ranger. However, ashes must be finely pulverized and widely distributed to avoid leaving any potentially alarming chunks of tooth or bone.
The rules at national parks also require staying away from roads, developed areas, and bodies of water. In some areas, scattering is prohibited to avoid contaminating future archeological explorations.
Private lands require permission from the owner. Central Park is out, as is Disneyland, at least if you want to stay on the right side of the law. Ditto most stadiums. In 2005, a man ran onto Lincoln Financial Field during a game and began sprinkling the ashes of his late mother, who was apparently a big Philadelphia Eagles fan.
He was arrested, fined $100, and sentenced to fifty hours of community service. (Disneyland is reportedly a favored place for “wildcat scatterers,” people who distribute ashes without permission. The Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean are said to be the most popular spots for such dustings.)
The Federal Aviation Administration doesn’t prohibit cremains to be scattered from airplanes, as long as there’s no hazard to people or property. Many states prohibit scattering ashes over developed areas or bodies of water, and in some states, pilots have to be flying at a minimum altitude before they start scattering. But note that dropping ashes from a plane isn’t a job for amateurs, who can easily end up with a face full of grandpa.
Jeff Jorgenson, owner of Elemental Cremation and Burial in Seattle and a funeral director with a background in aviation, tells the story of a pilot friend who got more than she bargained for while scattering ashes. “She got out into the yonder and opened the window … A sizable portion of the person swirled back into the cockpit and covered everything. She ended up having to divert to the nearest airport to clean the plane out. I can’t even imagine what a mess that would be.”
Fortunately, if you’re just planning to transport the ashes by air—not scatter them—many airlines will give you the option of bringing the ashes in a carry-on or checking them in luggage. Mailing human ashes is legal, with the right forms, although only the US Postal Service will oblige. FedEx and UPS won’t be any help in this situation. All in all, says Jorgenson, “The costs of notifying authorities and getting a permit are minimal. Why would you risk the fines and hassle by not doing it properly?”
Source: Time Magazine
New Product from ASHinGlass.com
Ashinglass memory globes is an elegant way to memorialize the precious life of a family member, friend, or beloved pet.
Having an everlasting reminder of a loved one provides much comfort and closure.
We create everlasting memories from cremation ash.
The Memory Globes sparked a deep vision to create something magical.
A new product will be released the week of July 11th. The DOG BONE .
It’s you I turn to
when my heart needs a hug;
It’s you I look to
when my worlds come undone;
It’s you I can count on
to lend me strength when I have none.
It’s you I trust with my
deepest and wildest of dreams;
It’s you I trust with my
most cherished things;
It’s you I appreciatein a million ways;
It’s you I thank my lucky stars
for every single day.
Top Glass Artisanal Maker, Muffin Spencer-Devlin
Muffin Spencer-Devlin spent the better part of her formative years chasing a golf ball toward fame and fortune. She traveled and played and traveled and played on the LPGA Tour for twenty-one years. She won three LPGA events; the MasterCard International in 1985, the United Virginia Bank Classic in 1986 and the Ping Cellular-One in 1989. She crossed the million dollar mark in career earnings in 1999.
She retired to Laguna Beach, California in early 2000. Other than to support a yearly charity event for H.O.M.E.S. (Helping Our Mentally Ill Experience Success) at Mesa Verde C.C., she looked for stimulation beyond the realm of sport and professional golf. She spent a year as studio assistant to famed sculptor, Cheryl Ekstrom. She learned to weld at OCC. she tried the stone sculpting course at LCAD. She even tried a year of handymanning around town, yet nothing sparked her imagination or ignited her passion.
Until 2006 when she first watched her best friend, Megan Ekstrom blow glass. And she watched for a long time. The heat was intense and the fear factor high. When she finally dipped a hot pipe into the furnace and brought out some molten glass... She was hooked. Megan graciously agreed to teach and they embarked on a project of 160 wedding paperweights. It was Muffin's literal trial by fire.
Bitten hard by the glass bug, she showed up every week to stand in front of the fire and blow stuff with Megan. "Little bowls at first," she explained, " I was put off by getting anything bigger than a small bowl into the annealer by myself. And then I'd love what I'd made and realized I could put it in my pocket and gift it to a friend with great flair, as if I'd had a precious jewel to present.
In the summer of 2009, famed Laguna Beach glass blower, John Barber asked Muffin to assist him during his glass demonstrations at the Sawdust Art Festival. She was thrilled and scared poopless all at the same time. "I pointed out to John that I had no experience in the realm he was talking about, but he reassured me and let me know he'd tell me what to do as we went along. And he did and I learned 22 new things every time! It was an amazing summer."
Muffin spent 4 years as John's apprentice. In 2012 she went off on her own to pursue her own company, Trophy Glass. "Now I am my own Master and currently engaged in a fascination with bringing elements of my old life into this new one."
You may find more information about Muffin Spencer-Devlin’s golf career at www.lpga.com.
Remembrance Gift Cards
Are you searching shopping websites and store aisles this holiday season, captive to that frenzied, loving and exasperated hunt for perfect holiday gifts, here’s a little gift, of sorts, from researchers who study gift giving and receiving: Think gift card.
Because the less specific the gift, the more it will be appreciated.
You shudder, you recoil. But the sad truth is that while gift cards constitute a minority of holiday gifts, according to the National Retail Federation, they have been the most popular gift request since 2007.
ASHinGLASS will be offering a special Remembrance gift card for the holidays.