Local art on display at Camarillo Art and Jazz Festival
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 had 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 awardwinning 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 six-piece panels, a design mingling shades of green with gold thread, hangs behind the church altar and ranges 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 Saturday, 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.

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 a crosscountry exhibit to heighten awareness to the fact that special needs children are more similar to other folks than they are different.

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 artists' works 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 has 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.