A dark cellar under the Mt. Elphinstone Lodge on a Saturday night was the location for one of the highlights of last weekend’s Roberts Creek Arts Festival. While the aroma of veggie burgers and meatball skewers drifted from the kitchen, Susann Richter crooned original tunes accompanied by super musicians including Tim Hearsey in his snarly blues voice.
Three of the four artists got off to a quick start; they were painting live, focusing intently on their creations while the audience milled around, chatting with friends, applauding and snacking. Marleen Vermeulen was painting a beach scene in meticulous detail; Dean Schutz worked on smaller images; and Ian MacLeod painted his abstract piece on the floor rapidly, changing its nature as he continued. Later, Mardi Ahmed joined them to work on her vertical panel while simultaneously dancing to the music. At one point several of the artists huddled together for a quick consultation along with painter Carol LaFave who had dropped in to see. It’s a supportive community — artists support other artists. All the paintings were auctioned off at the end of the evening to raise funds.
By the time that Sostenuto, a trio of Anna Lumiere, Serena Eades and Celso Machado, were on stage, the atmosphere had warmed up considerably with more audience and a funky Creek feel to the evening. Outside a bonfire burned brightly and attracted those who were not already dancing at the hall to alt-rock and contemporary music. A dozen people sat on hay bales to watch the short movies about bicycles — they are all well worth seeing.
It’s not for lack of organizing ability that this year’s event felt different — it was an efficient team involving Bon and Lee Roberts of Goldmoss Gallery plus many helpers. And some things were popular — particularly the children’s stage, where it seemed as if adults were having as much fun as the kids.
Although the festival provided some fine moments, it has lost some of the charm of previous years when visitors travelled around the area stopping in at studios and galleries for invigorating hits of art, performance and music. The journey made visitors appreciate the talent in the Creek. Thankfully, this year’s festival showed that the talent is still alive and well.
