By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO – Having attended most of the artisan festivals at Temple Emanu-El since 2014, I am looking forward to attending the next one from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 5th.
You meet so many interesting, talented people there who all seem to have plenty of time to talk about their techniques with you between making sales to customers.
At the first one I attended, Linda Hutkin Slade, who by weekday was a clinical social worker at a hospital, by night and weekends made what she called “healing gourds.” The idea was to write down your negative feelings and emotions and put them inside the highly decorated gourds, where those emotions need not bother you again. At the same craft festival, Ellen Berger repurposed old bowls, plates, and wine glasses and shaped them into unique Shabbat candle holders. Norm Lurie meanwhile showed his unique ceramic Shabbat candle holders.
In 2015, Marlene Parker Korey fascinated me with her colorful paintings of imaginary rabbis, and Peter & Joyce Luchsinger showed off their talent for making Judaica from wood. I liked their Tree of Life and their Noah’s Ark.
I haven’t been to the artisan festival every year. Sometimes travel or other commitments prevented me from doing so. But I like to go whenever I can.
In 2017, Harvey & Carol Korfin made clocks from computer boards, some of them cut into the shape of Magen Davids Lili Feingold, the daughter of a jeweler, showed her own talent for making period jewelry. Sarita Wosicki Segal fused regular glass and dichroic glass, decorating her creations with 22-carat decals.
In 2018, Enid Texler, a retired pit boss at the Sycuan Casino, showed greeting cards featuring reproductions of her drawings and paintings. Linda Moskovics, the former librarian at the Benjamin Branch of the San Diego Public Library, signed copies of The Fiber Rich Kitchen Cookbook. One recipe was for Linda’s Saucy Red Lentils and Corn.
Two authors sat side by side at the 2019 artisan festival. Holocaust survivor Rose Schindler signed copies of her memoir Two Who Survived, about her experiences and those of her husband Max. Both have since passed on. Marcia Berneger sold her book written for children: A Dreidel in Time: A New Spin on an Old Tale.
The artisan festival went on hiatus because of COVID-19 but returned in 2022. I was drawn that year to the wooden toys made by Charlie Pinkus, a former mathematics professor at Cal Poly. I also was quite taken with the watercolors of Sunny Borkat, a retired physical therapist, and a quilt by Ann Marie Bassing that featured a chanukiah, with candles that could be attached or detached with Velcro.
The cochairs of this year’s Nov. 5 artisan festival, Pat Libby, Barbara Braasch, and Beth Mann, say there will be more than 40 vendors, who in addition to paying a table fee, will each donate one creation for auction. Some will be first-time exhibitors.
“Our goal is to raise $5,000 which will be distributed to young people in our community for college scholarships,” Libby said.
Imitation being the sincerest form of flattery, the Men’s Club and Sisterhood of Tifereth Israel Synagogue plan a smaller exhibition of the crafts, photos, art, and books of their members on Sunday, April 7. The two congregations have long had a cooperative relationship. In fact, the organizers of this year’s Temple Emanu-El artisan festival have provided tips to the committee planning the event next year at Tifereth Israel.
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Donald H. Harrison is editor emeritus of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com