The Enemy of Average! Wild Surfwear- USA Made

By Christian Franzen

This past weekend I visited the Sawdust Arts and Crafts Festival in Laguna Beach, California. Walking through the aisles of the festival I saw lots of different artists who's work I admired and was able to talk to them about their work as well as their life as an artist. Despite all of the beautiful paintings and pieces at the festival I found the works of cheerful female artist Hedy Buzan to be my favorites.

Hedy was born in Laguna Beach, California and exposed to its rich artistic community at a young age. She went on to attend the University of California, Santa Cruz to receive her BFA (Bachelors of Fine Arts) credential. Once out of college Hedy worked printing Lithographs for herself and other artists in the Santa Cruz area before joining the Peace Corps where she served in the West Indies. Her time in the Peace Core led her to pursue a job teaching drawing at the Edna Manley School of Art in Kingston, Jamaica. After spending several years abroad Hedy returned to the United States to receive her MFA (Masters of Fine Arts) at the George Washington University. Today Hedy is faculty at Saddleback Community College where she teaches several art classes in addition to spending many hours painting away in her Laguna Beach studio.

Hedy's work initially attracted me with her bold use of color and dramatic brush work. She really builds up the saturation of her blues and other various colors depending on the piece which i think is really special. Upon closer inspection and learning where Hedy studied I also really appreciate how many of her works pay tribute to the bay area painters of the mid 20th century and the "California Style" of painting. Check out her website at Hedybuzan.com

Hello and welcome back to the Bi-Monthly CRUNCH! Today’s adventure ended up at the classic Billy’s Deli. It’s located on Del Mar in San Clemente, a great place to grab a bite after a day in the sun. Here I am placing my order. You tell them what you want on your sandwich, and then you grab your drink and chips separately, and pay at the front counter. It’s an efficient process that avoids long lines when crowded (and it was pretty crowded).

Pictured here is Noah Foskett, one of Mowgli’s rad team riders. It was very refreshing to walk into the air-conditioned deli after shooting some pics around town.

Time to eat!!

I ordered a full turkey sub, toasted with lettuce, tomato, mayo, swiss cheese, and red onions.

Always got to take the time to selfie!

So far I have struck gold on the places I’ve reviewed. Unlike the others, I had never gone to this deli. Regardless, my reaction was the same. Great location, good customer service, fair prices, air conditioned, and the sandwich just hit the spot! Definitely going to be a returning customer. Thanks and hope to see you on the next Bi-Monthly CRUNCH!

By Christian Franzen

Bruce Nauman was born on December 6th 1941 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Nauman was part of a new generation of artists who work consisted of many different types of media from Sculpture and drawing to neon and video. Growing up Nauman's father was an engineer for General Electric and taught him a lot about construction and the inner workings of technology at a young age. After high school he went on to study mathematics as well as physics at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He then decided to study art at the University California, Davis where he initially studied painting but then turned fully to sculpture and performance art.

Graduating Davis with his MFA in sculpture he taught at the San Francisco Art Institute for two years while also securing a studio and signing with the dealer Leo Castelli. While working in his studio in the Mission District of San Francisco he had a strange epiphany that led to a new way of making and viewing art; "If I was an artist and i was in the studio, then whatever I was doing in the studio must be art". This view held by a handful of other artists led to the new concept that art is more about the activity or action of doing the task than the final product. Nauman began making videos of himself exploring these actions in the studio to push to potential of what art could be. He also began working with Neon signs which he became known for in the late 1960's. These neon works dealt with conveying moods through words and light, and also emphasized Nauman's interest on exploring language in playful and mischievous ways in his work.

In the early 1970's Nauman began constructing claustrophobic tight spaces and rooms that were to be entered by viewers to evoke feeling of being lost or encaged. This physiological series led him into working from his own dreams and in the 1980's he worked on a series he titled Dream Passage. This series dealt with the obscurity of dreams with underlying psycho sexual undertones and Fruedian Concepts.

From the 1980's up to the present Nauman has dealt with sculpture and video. The artists has also developed disturbing physiological themes into his work by incorporating disturbing images and body parts into his work. Now living in Pasadena, California Nauman is still producing art in various media and exhibiting shows throughout Los Angeles and New York.

Thrifting w/ Puppy Hey there!!! This week's "Thrifting with Puppy" I went to Crossroads Trading Co.in Costa Mesa!! I've only been there once so I was psyched to find some goodies!

Take a look at these adorable BDG shorts! They remind me of Alice and Wonderland or something haha!! You can never go wrong with some comfy pants! I probably will live in these for the rest of my life... Anyways, I also found this super cute Wild Fox shirt for 13$! What a deal!

I was thrilled at all my finds and will definitely be going back soon!