There Was Something in the Plein-Air

In an art-packed social blockbuster, more than 500 guests jammed the Laguna Art Museum on Saturday to dine with 50 of America’s top plein-air painters.

Capping a plein-air competition hosted last week by the museum and the Laguna Plein Air Painters Assn., the gala featured an awards ceremony and the chance to buy works created by the artists.

The competition evoked the grand tradition of the Impressionists who brought their easels and palettes to Laguna Beach 100 years ago to capture the area’s picturesque canyons, beaches and overlooks.

Top prize winners: George Strickland of Parker, Colo., received $10,000 for his painting titled “Fifth Street Upgrade”; Mark Kerckhoff of San Juan Capistrano, $5,000 for “Blue Morning”; and West Fraser of Charleston, S.C., $2,500 for “Canyon Cottage.” The prize money was donated by First American Trust of Santa Ana, an event sponsor.

“I’m completely overwhelmed,” Strickland told the crowd. “I’m honored to be in an area where plein-air painting came to life . . . and honored to be with some really great artists.”

Observed show chairman John Cosby of Laguna Beach, a participating artist: “We wanted to finish up the century the way it began--with plein-air artists coming here to paint. The Laguna Art Museum was founded in 1918 by plein-air painters.”

Guests sipped cocktails and sampled gourmet tidbits such as filet of carpaccio on a waffle chip and grilled chicken brochette as they cruised the exhibition of 150 paintings.

“I love the idea of this event,” said Grace Boyd of Monarch Beach, widow of cowboy screen hero William “Hopalong Cassidy” Boyd. “I’m astounded by all of these beautiful paintings; it’s simply sensational.”

Artist William O’Donnell of St. Louis, Mo., said he wouldn’t have missed the competition.

“What you have here are the best plein-air painters in America--to be here with all this great talent is a tremendous honor,” he said.

The secret to successful plein-air painting? “The most important thing is spontaneity--the ability to interpret quickly what’s in front of you,” O’Donnell said. “And then to add that personal touch--that sense of poetry.”

Artist Jean Perry of Steamboat, Colo., fell in love with the plein-air style the day she took her first workshop more than 15 years ago. “We were in Steamboat and it started to rain,” she said. “And

the rain turned to sleet, and we stood there and painted--tilted our palettes so the rain and snow would run off the oil, tilted our easels, and I

thought, ‘What a kick in the pants!’ I’ve loved it ever since.”

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Retiring Diva: Internationally acclaimed mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne was the featured speaker at Opera Pacific’s annual Celebrity Luncheon held last week at the Irvine Marriott.

“I’ll tell you anything you’d like to know--except my weight,” Horne, 66, joked to members and guests of the Opera Pacific Guild Alliance. “I’ve really had a wonderful life and I hope to be around a little longer.”

Fans can forget the full-blown performances she did in the world’s great opera houses, said Horne, who made her debut at the Met with Joan Sutherland in “Norma” nearly 30 years ago.

It’s “lighter music” she wants to perform now. “I have a new recording of Irving Berlin songs coming out,” she said. And a recent appearance at the Hollywood Bowl was “great fun,” she added. “I got to sing Bloody Mary.”

Besides occasional singing engagements, Horne teaches at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, where she is director of the vocal program. To sing well, students must learn the art of “breath support,” Horne explained. “Singers must get their breath underneath them and then place the tone. . . . That’s the way to sing.”

Horne praised the opera buffs for supporting her favorite art form. “Thank you for making opera a part of the lives of people here,” she said. “Keep on giving to the arts. Music is our soul.”

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Star Turn for SCR: Besides headlining South Coast Repertory’s recent 35th-anniversary bash, Broadway star Douglas Sills has agreed to be honorary chairman of the Tony Award-winning theater’s upcoming Friends’ Campaign.

The annual drive seeks to attract donors who will give a minimum of $50 annually to the theater. The 1999-2000 campaign has a goal of $720,000--38% of SCR’s $1.9-million operating fund.

Sills--who has appeared at SCR in “The Philadelphia Story” and “She Stoops to Folly”--finished his Tony nominated role in “The Scarlet Pimpernel” in June.

Performing eight times a week at the Neil Simon Theatre was “exhilarating but exhausting,” Sills said during a recent telephone interview from his home in Los Angeles.

Appearing on Broadway is “like getting into a club that you’ve wanted to get into for a long time; every kid dreams about Broadway when his head is on the pillow,” he added.

Broadway not only lived up to his expectations, it exceeded them, Sills said. “It was as exciting as the greatest roller-coaster ride and as fulfilling as a conversation with the Dalai Lama.”

Watch for Sills--who resembles a young Harrison Ford--at upcoming SCR social events.

Friends’ information: (714) 708-5500.

Ann Conway can be reached by e-mail at Ann.Conway@latimes.com.