The Art of Topanga

You didn’t expect artists who make their homes amid the natural wonders and disasters of Topanga to paint mere still lifes with fruit, did you?

A wood engraving of a brain and a psychedelic self-portrait made of tiny colored beads are more their style. On a Wednesday tour of Topanga artists’ studios sponsored by the Calabasas Arts Council, about 30 people marveled at the ingenuity, beauty and occasional weirdness of the work on display.

“Are you involved with the brain in any way?” one woman asked sculptor Richard Oginz). “Because I notice a lot of things have the shape of the brain.”

Yes, Oginz acknowledged, he often uses images of the brain, as well as other body parts and the Earth. His garage studio featured intricate wood engravings of the heart, brain and intestines. Oginz also does pencil and ink drawings, often depicting his home and projects he would like to undertake.

“I think it’s very stimulating,” said Jeri Herman, a Calabasas resident, as she meandered through Oginz’s studio. “It’s something away from the mundane.”

The group also visited the studio of glass artists Dan and Eve King-Lehman, owners of Gaya Glass. There they found glass tableware, windows and lamps, all set off by glowing fluorescent lights wrapped in thousands of translucent beads. The tour also dropped by the studio of ceramist Karen Silton.

The King-Lehmans began working with fused glass about five years ago. It’s a technique that involves firing glass to melt pieces together. Before that, they made beadwork tapestries and sculptures for more than a decade, said Dan King-Lehman.

As he gently lifted the couple’s fragile creations out of their kilns, he said, “I feel like I’m a glass baker.”