Art in Bloom Holiday Festival will be held Dec. 9

At the Oct. 14 meeting of the LW Art League, featured artist Ian Desberg provided a scintillating watercolor demonstration. Desberg has created an extensive catalog of hundreds of Cliff May’s Rancho Estates homes in Long Beach, which were built from 1953-1954. His paintings can be viewed on Instagram @idesberg. Rancho Estates, part of the larger Lakewood development, was designed separately by May and his architect partner Chris Choate.

Ross Cortese—who also developed Seal Beach Leisure World—wanted to use May and Choate’s modern house designs in this 700-house tract to postwar buyers looking for their own piece of suburbia.

The league will sponsor a followup to its successful Art in Bloom Exhibition. The Art in Bloom Holiday Festival will be held Dec. 9 from 4-8 p.m. in Clubhouse 4. The exhibition will feature 2D and 3D works of art created by Leisure World residents in a festive, holiday atmosphere, with live entertainment by Abilene, and opportunities for attendees to purchase original artwork created by local artists.

The October meeting was the first time that artwork displayed by residents was not judged by category or expertise level. Attendees selected Jamilla Naji’s “The Calm Before the Storm” painting as the popular vote winner. This was her first time attending and displaying her work at an Art League meeting.

The LW Art League will meet Tuesday, Nov. 11, at 6 p.m. Southern California figurative and plein air artist Andrew Cortez will provide a hands-on gouache workshop. All supplies will be provided free of charge, courtesy of a grant from the Golden Age Foundation.

Jamilla Naji and her painting "The Calm Before the Storm," which won the popular vote.

October's featured artist was Ian Desberg (l), pictured with League President Ramayana "RB" Baba.