Artist/Art Examples of prior year vendors and their work.

	ARTIST		INFORMATION	BOOTH
		Ken Agren	I live in Washington State near the small community of Darrington. I was born a rockhound. My interest in jade began about 25 years ago after finding a beautiful stone while on a fishing trip. That first stone is possibly still the best one i have and it seems to have set my fate. I have been a vendor for the past 7 years at the Big Sur Jade Festival. It has been the only show I’ve gone to, until now. I’m more of a collector than a marketer, as it is difficult for me to part with my stones, but I’m getting better. Some of our stones from Washington look like many of the stones from other parts of the world. However, many of the stones are unusual, unique and unlike any others I’ve seen. We have a very high incidence of bot jade in most colors and all sizes up to hundreds of pounds. It has been my impression recently that Washington jade is becoming more popular and appreciated. Interestingly, this seems more true with the out of state collectors, but, the locals are starting to get with it. Interest in jade here seems to just be getting started these past two years. We are planning a jade festival of our own sometime next year. I'm encountering other collectors with stones just as remarkable as mine and that is good news for everyone.
		Aaron Appel	I was fortunate enough to be born and raised in Big Sur, and I have always had a deep connection to my favorite stretch of coastline. I began creating my woodwork 10 years ago. My woodwork is created out of salvaged and sustainable pieces. In the last few years I have contracted "Jade Fever." I love the ocean and all the excitement, beauty and treasures it brings. My whole life has been spent on, in, or near the ocean. I recently began free diving for the Jade that I use for my jewelry and that has been a magical discovery for me. I enjoy sharing some of these natural treasures with people through wood or stone creations. I try to leave a part of nature in my work using live edges and natural polishes whenever possible.
		Drew Arnold	Have grown up around and lived by the ocean as a surfer, diver, musician and beach picker most of my life. Always a bit of a rock hound, I tuned into Central Coast Jade about 4-5 years ago and was hooked by the hunt, beauty of the coast, camaraderie of small group of talented divers/artists and of course the Jade. My work consists of jewelry, hand pieces, massage stones, cabinet pieces and gallery pieces, careful to maintain the integrity and always mindful of how the ocean would naturally shape each stone unveiling its natural beauty. Am honored and awestruck to have this true blessing gifted to me in this phase of my life not just for the joy it brings but for the incredible people it has brought into my life who share a love for the ocean that I call friends.
	www.oceansartjade.com
		Greg Ballou	Creates art from sea shells of all kinds by combining them into sculptures along with Drift Wood, Palm Husks, Glass and other Media.
		Justin Barrett	Growing up in Big Sur, the Pacific Ocean just a stone-throw away, I was inevitably drawn to its wonders and treasure. Walking the beach and diving for jade was a natural progression in my boyhood years. Soon after came carving and sculpting the rare and beautiful stones I harvested from teh ocean floor. It is my belief that people from all walks of life should be able to appreciate these one-of-a-kind treasures, so my goal has become to create handmade objects of art out of Big Sur Jade as well as jade from all over the world, and bring to the public an alternative to the mass-produced carvings flooding the market. This would offer the public a glimpse into what the art of jade carving is all about.
		Bradford Blakely	Bradford Blakely is a native of Portland, Oregon currently living in Las Vegas,Nevada. Bradford's netsuke carvings are in private collections in the United States and Japan. His netsuke have been featured at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, CA in 1997 and the 2007 contemporary netsuke exhibition in the Museum of Arts and Design in Manhattan. He exhibited annually at the Arts of Pacific Asia Show in Santa Monica from 2000 to 2007. He has developed a passion for jade since 2009.
	www.woodstoneandbone.com
		Kirk Brock	My saga started in the early 80's when I was living on the Big Sur Coast during the first El Nino. Due to the large storm surge the ocean floor got deposited on the beach and some of it was JADE! With all roads closed due to mud slides, collecting Jade on the beach was the only entertainment in town, I went from cabin fever to Jade fever and no matter how much I had, I wanted more. I am now a confirmed Jade-aholic. We carry a full line of Jade from Rough, Slab, Cabs, Finished Gold and Silver Jewelry and Carvings... from Asia, Guatemala, Canada, California, Wyoming and Siberia. We also carry many other gemstone products including Fire agate, Charoite, Turquoise and many other stones.
	http://rocksolidjade.com
		Diana March Enscoe	Jewels of the Earth by Diana
	www.jewelsoftheearthbydiana.com
		Matthew Glasby	Born and raised on the Central Coast of California, Matthew began a loving relationship with his natural surroundings at a young age. A love for hiking and surfing coupled with the Big Sur coast as a backyard eventually led to the discovery of the local jade culture. What started as a hobby of looking for stones on the beach, eventually led to interest in transforming these treasures. Since then, countless hours of trial and error, a fine arts degree in sculpture, and recently an opportunity to work with some of the world’s master carvers have given Matthew the tools to explore what it means to carve jade in California. All his works are original, one of a kind, and produced by the artist. The inspiration for motifs are as diverse as the natural beauty of the California coast, as well as the melting pot of cultures that reside there. In the relatively short amount of time since carving became a full time endeavor, Matthew has been fortunate enough to participate in showing with the worlds top jade artists. He has also had works shown in Ornament magazine, and was featured on the Travel Channels Cash and Treasures show.
	http://matthewglasby.com
		Roger Merk	Roger has been building his jade collection since collecting nephrite from the jade fields of Wyoming in the mid 1960. He studied gemology and the identification of jade in the early 1980 and became a Fellow of the Gemmological Society in 1984. He was editor for the Friends of Jade for 12 years and president of the Geo-Literary Society for 5 years. For the past 10 years he has been organizing and hosting the John Sinkankas Gem Syposiums at GIA in Carlsbad California including one devoted to jade in 2006. He currently is writing a book on "The Jades of North America" to help folks separate jade from jade substitutes, to identify localities and to appraise specimens. He will be selling mostly Wyoming nephrite for the carvers and select specimen pieces for the collector, but will also be bringing numerous other jades from world-wide localities.
		Spencer Reynolds	The ocean has a deep influence on my art. It weaves itself into everything I create. Be it my representational wave paintings, of which I can attach, some of the deep wonder, delight and tragedy of life. Or finding creative inspiration in objects found on my local beaches, possessing nothing representational yet having the rugged quality of something that's spent time rolling around in the Pacific. Saltwater courses through my veins and brings the two passions of my life together, the ocean and my art.
	www.artandsurf.com http://artandsurf.wordpress.com
		Donn Salt	During the insatiable quest in the latter for relevant knowledge pertaining to jade carving in the latter 1960's and early '70's a passage from an old reprint describing ancient Chinese values made an indelible influence. Discovering these words in the mid ‘70s permanently altered Donn’s perspective toward carving and design. Recognition of the mystical energies stone age cultures believed of jade gave rise to a whole new appreciation for this ‘Stone of the Heavens’
	www.donnsaltjade.com www.donnsalt.com
		Stuart Scally	Stuart Scally is a resident of Santa Cruz ,California, and has been collecting and carving jade for about 15 years now. It all started by finding a nice pendant size piece of jade in Big Sur and wanting to drill a hole in it. After that, a 16 pound piece was found, and after about 100 hours of carving, with an old dremmel and a set of diamond bits, he was hooked in the world of jade carving. Today he is carving intricate pendant's, sometimes with various, precious stone inlay. He also does Jade sculpture's when the energy can be found. Although he also cuts other stones like opal moonstone, sun stone and ruby... Jade holds a very special place in his heart, as any jade carver hunter knows. There is just something magical about jade.
		Georg Schmerholz	Originally from Transylvania, Rumania, in the 90's Georg became a prominent sculptor in the Pacific Northwest working out of his Vancouver, (BC) studio. Relocated to California in 2001 and as a natural extension of his unique approach to fine art sculpture, he begun creating exclusive originals in Jade and combinations of Jade with Wood/Bone/Bronze and Precious Metals.
	www.jadefineart.com www.schmerholz.com
		Crista Smyth	Crista creates unique art from driftwood she collects on beaches in her native Southern California. Each piece offers its own shape, feel, smell and color, often mimicking other creations of nature. In addition to her hands-on work with driftwood, the artist enjoys exploring her artistic expression in digitally-created art, available as museum-quality greeting cards, post cards, and fine art prints.
	http://natureshand.us
		Jeff Spangler	Jeff "Jade" Spangler is a self taught carver and has been passionately transforming precious metals, wood, abalone and ivory for decades. Fate intervened twenty-five years ago when he discovered and fell madly in love with Jade. Having personally located over thirty new Jade deposits he is fortunate to use these unbelievable local treasures to create his exquisite art, and also offer California's finest to other aficionados. Currently Jeff is making a culturally historic tribute to Contemporary Jade, in a film called The Jade Hunter. He considers his work a prayer to honor,"The Bones of Mother".... Jade Jeff's original designs have been featured in prestigious galleries on the North and South Coast of California, Tucson Arizona, and Santa Fe New Mexico, Chicago, and New York. Jeff is currently opening a gallery in Santa Barbara, Jade Now. The gallery and website will display fine contemporary Jade art by a unique collection of the best contemporary carvers. In order to bring a true appreciation for this ancient sacred stone to our culture.
	www.jadehunter.com Jadeheart@earthlink.net
		Allan Spehar	I was born in Los Gatos, raised in Campbell, and currently live in San Jose California. I have always found myself at home in the outdoors. Eventually I found myself collecting stones, fishing, gardening and connecting with nature on many levels. I took a jewelry-making class back in high school which nurtured my creative interests. I've also been winemaking since 1999. I enjoy free-diving in almost all aspects and started diving for Big Sur jade 3 years ago. Naturally, I started making jade jewelry and embraced the art of "Bead Making". Making beads by hand, and not machine is very challenging and symetrically alluring. I have always loved a challenge and nephrite jade is definitely more difficult to work compared to other materials I use. I think all artists need an outlet and I am thankful for the opportunity to make and create jewelry and pieces that people will enjoy.
	www.jadedivers.com
		Jim Strand	I have been sand-carving symbols, calligraphy and other artwork from ancient cultures for more than 20 years, and have been part of the Big Sur Jade Festival since 1998. The first pieces I made were gifts for friends. I carved the Japanese characters for "Peace and Harmony" into scrap granite from a countertop job. Having the words in English, it would have been a sign. In symbols, it became ART and went onto the mantle. A stone gift is a vessel that carries intentions with sincerity and integrity. The symbols add a mystique and spiritual quality to the gift. Jade has a special quality to it that most people can sense. The majority of my babies become gifts, which means folks give my stuff to other folks to show them how much they love them! I am touched and honored and grateful.
		Deborah Wilson	Deborah began carving jade in the 70's when the idea of training Canadian artists was embraced by New World Jade Co in Vancouver. A move to B.C.'s Okanagan Valley in the 80's allowed her the opportunity to explore large scale works in Canadian jade, and small scale pieces in exotic jades from around the world.
	www.deborahwilson.bc.ca/ www.jadeartist.com/ www.jadesculptors.com/
			Festival Beneficiary The Ty Warner Sea Center (owned and operated by the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History) is located on Stearns Wharf and fulfills the mission of the Museum to inspire a passion for the natural world. At the Sea Center visitors of all ages can enjoy interactive exhibits, opportunities to work like scientists, a theater showcasing the wonders of the Santa Barbara Channel, hands-on close encounters with sea creatures, and a live shark touch pool. Children can crawl through a 1,500-gallon tidepool tank to see ocean life from a different perspective. The Sea Center is an engaging, interactive marine education facility that allows visitors to discover the fun in science and the wonders of the natural world.
	http://www.sbnature.org/twsc/2.html
		Blue Dolphin Alliance
		Ben Ballanger
		Mike Burkleo
		Julia CornBlatt
		Luck Curtis
		E Z Accessories
		Marco Farrell
		Fossil Flow
		Gilbert Julian FTS Artworks
		Gary Gowdy
		Christine Hausserman
		Lou Mariani
		Ric Moor
		Navajo Trading Post
		Jeff Nelson
		New York Times
		Donna Schaffer
		Signs of the Times
		Silvana K Designs
		Debbie Ward

2011 VENDOR BOOTH LAYOUT