Posted on 01 March 2015 by La Habra Journal
By Taylor Engle
La Habra Journal
People from all over Southern California came to peruse the array of different art forms on display at the 55th Annual Hillcrest Festival of Fine Arts, held at the Hillcrest Congregational Church Feb. 19-22. 
The festival had three different rooms filled with glasswork, brass and ceramic sculptures, pottery, paintings, photography, hand-woven clothing, jewelry, mosaics and more. The two featured artists, Armando Baeza and Yosh Nakamura, hosted their displays in the main room. A band was playing music in the courtyard, along with a guitar player entertaining guests in the main room. Certain displays were accompanied by first, second, third place or honorable mention ribbons. There were nine different categories including photography, watercolor, graphics and acrylic, each prejudged and awarded for the event. There may have been nine categories, but there was an even larger variety of art within each category mentioned.
Art demonstrator Pam Fall’s display was actually a combination of two categories. Throughout the weekend, she demonstrated her work of painting over photographs for the guests. 
What started as photography evolved into a unique kind of watercoloring when she discovered that if she painted over her photographs, they appeared 3D. “When people describe my work, they say it’s like photographs appearing in HD,” Fall said. Laure Falter was demonstrating the making of a very unique kind of jewelry. “I call it ‘Jewelry for the Home’,” Falter said. Her display included intricate strings of beads and stones put together in theme to hang in your house. This kind of work comes naturally for Falter, as she began as a jeweler.
Aside from the displays, there was a café known as the “Starving Artist Café,” which served food and beverages from Lascari’s, and a child’s workshop. 
The parking lot was packed every day, so shuttles brought people to the festival free of charge. Guests enjoying the art displays were from all walks of life. Between demonstrations, the artists kept busy talking with the guests and welcoming them into their artistic process. For some guests it was their first time, but there were many who have been attending the festival for years. “I just love how I feel when I’m around art,” said Marian Schain, La Habra resident and longtime attendant of the festival. Schain enjoys coming to the festival every year because there is always a wide variety of art different from the last, she said. Guest Fanny Johnson said it was her first time attending the festival, and she loved every minute of it.
“It’s such a great opportunity for unknown artists-artists that probably should be known,” Johnson said. She was amazed at the extent of what the festival had to offer.
