Local artists to paint Old Town red
By Michelle Knight knight@theacorn.com

It took awhile for Deborah Jarchow to find someone to teach her how to weave, but once she did, she knew the gentle art was her calling.

She'd always taken an interest in creating fiber art, having knitted and crocheted for years. But there was something so satisfying about the rhythmic looping of yarns as they crossed over and under each other on a loom into unified wearable works of art.

"This is what I'm supposed to be doing," Jarchow said.

The award-winning artist created and sold, over an 11year career, hundreds of wearable art pieces- wraps, ponchos, scarves and the like- which galleries exhibited across the country.

The Simi Valley resident recently completed a commissioned tapestry for St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church in Camarillo. The sixpiece panels, a design mingling shades of green with gold thread, hangs behind the church altar and range in height from 7 to 15 feet.

Jarchow's artwork, as well as that from dozens of other professional local and regional artists, will be featured at Camarillo Art and Jazz Festival's Art Walk on Sat. Aug. 11 in Old Town, including the work of Noble "Ace" Powell. For about 20 years, Powell made a name for himself painting realistic landscapes of famous golf courses, such as Augusta and Pebble Beach.

TEXTILE ART- Professional artist Deborah Jarchow enjoys sitting at the loom creating wearable works of art, including scarves and wraps. The Simi Valley resident will be among a number of local and regional artists whose work will be featured in the Camarillo Art and Jazz Festival's Art Walk on Sat., Aug. 11 in Old Town. The festival runs Aug. 10 to 12.

But Powell embarked on a unique idea with another venture- portraits of mothers and their special needs children.

He came up with the concept a couple of years ago, after painting a portrait of his wife and oldest daughter, who has Down Syndrome. Since then, he's produced and sold nine similar oil paintings, donating a percentage of the sales to charity.

"I'm trying to capture that bond and that closeness and also to show the love and respect these parents have for their children," said Powell, a Camarillo resident and president of Studio Channel Islands Art Center.

Powell said he has received good response to the portraits, which have been on exhibit at the Skirball Cultural Center and a Beverly Hills hotel. He said he'd like to feature them in an exhibit that criss-crosses the country to heighten awareness to the fact that special needs children have more similarities to other folks than differences.

Powell plans to produce several other portraits for a major exhibit scheduled for next summer at California Lutheran University.

Festival organizer Maggie Kildee said local professional artists like Powell and Jarchow were the foundation for the festival's origin and remain an important ingredient of the event.

"(The artwork) really helps to create the ambience that shows Camarillo is a cultural center," Kildee said.

In addition to giving the artists more exposure, the festival grants credibility to the artist's work because they are judged, Kildee said.

The second annual Camarillo Art and Jazz Festival will also feature popular local jazz performers and world-renowned jazz artists

Keyboardist Gregg Karukas will kick off the three-day festival on Friday with a free concert in Constitution Park. Karukas, who worked with the likes of Ronnie Laws, Richard Elliot, Kenny G and David Benoit, recorded 10 CDs over the years that illustrate the depth of his talent. His music ranges from eclectic jazz to smooth grooves, and his latest CD, "Looking Up," is a popular chart climber on radioandrecords.com.

On Sat. Aug. 11, Eric Marienthal will perform in the courtyard of Studio Channel Islands Art Center on the Cal State Channel Islands campus. A prolific and acclaimed saxophonist, Marienthal has performed in more than 65 countries and recorded 11 solo CDs, in addition to playing on hundreds of records, films and TV shows.

Two of Marienthal's songs reached number one on the National Contemporary Jazz Radio Charts and six skyrocketed to the top 10. He was voted one of three top alto sax players by Jazziz magazine readers several years ago and has performed with Barbra Streisand, Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, Dave Grusin and Lee Ritenour.

The festival draws to a close on Sunday with an afternoon performance by vocalist Christine Day. The Southern California native promises to bring soulful emotion to her brand of R&B and contemporary jazz songs.

Day has been influenced by the jazz and pop superstars of the 1970s and 1980s and performed with Michael Lington, Everette Harp and Ray Fuller.

For more information on the three-day schedule of the second annual Camarillo Art and Jazz Festival, which runs Aug. 10-12, please visit www.camarilloartandjazz.com.