March 19, 2004

Port of San Diego's Urban Trees Exhibit Features Work of Two Del Mar Artists

By Harry Brooks

A brightly colored carrot and an eye-catching collage of tiles on a surfboard base add a splash of diversity to the Port of San Diego's Urban Trees exhibit, thanks to two Del Mar-area artists.

Soft Sculpture Carrot by Lauren Jackson and Cedar Survivor Surfboard by Betsy Schulz stand more than 15 feet tall in the display of 30 abstract creations that convey the connection of urban and natural elements in San Diego.

The one-year exhibit provides a zesty adornment to an 11 block stretch of the downtown North Embarcadero from Hawthorn Street to the Broadway Pier, taking in the San Diego Maritime Museum and the city's Cruise Ship Terminal.

After receiving compliments from a couple of sightseeing tourists, Jackson gazed at her car rot creation, saying: "I didn't have a game plan as I was working on it. I just went with the flow.

"I wanted to create something that would work with the setting of the blue backdrop of the ocean and sky. The orange pops right out;" she said, referring to the bright, high-gloss base color for her fabric sculpture.

Jackson constructed her carrot sculpture by sewing together a patchwork of sections, each with different designs that are mostly presented in green on the orange background.

"They are aimed at giving a feel of the urban environment in a juxtaposing way for a little humor;" she said.

A few blocks away stands Schulz's surfboard sculpture that features a green base color to depict nature. "So much of San Diego is surrounded by ocean;" she said, describing the key factor that inspired her sculpture. "What I wanted to do was blend the images of a Cyprus tree, a surf board and seaweed."

To combine the elements of a working waterfront, Schulz added machinery parts and other common metal objects to the surface of her tiled sculpture. Its name, Surfboard Cedar Survivor, relates to the ordeal she went through to make it.

The original work was competed and ready for delivery to the Urban Trees exhibit when it was damaged heavily by the Cedar Fire as it ripped through the Harbison Canyon area Oct. 24. Schulz and her helper, Hans Tegebo, had the damaged piece - which includes a 1,200-pound. 15 foot solid cement surfboard for its base - hauled to the Cruise Ship Terminal, where they were allowed by port authorities to reconstruct the art work. It was installed in one of the exhibit's planters on Nov. 14.

Both Schulz and Jackson are ardent supporters of public-art efforts like the Urban Trees exhibit. "Public art is such a benefit to the community and so satisfying for the artist because so many people see it;' Schulz said while glancing at the diverse images that comprise the Urban Trees exhibit on the San Diego waterfront.

Schulz, 35, teamed with other local artists to create the depictions for the wall that fronts the Del Mar Library. She now is working on city-entry monuments for Solana Beach. The monuments will be erected on the future Coastal Rail Trail's entry near the intersection of Via de la Valle and Highway 101.

While Schulz is a longtime artist, having earned a bachelor's degree in the field at Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, Pa.) in 1992, Jackson, 42, is a relative newcomer to artistic expression for public display. The five-year Del Mar resident was pursuing a career in financial services but turned to her natural artistic talent full-time after being laid off by a dot-corn company three years ago.

"It's been a refreshing change because I have a lot more freedom in my work and can be a lot more creative;' said Jackson, who used industrial-strength Tyvek fabric for the skin of her carrot sculpture. The carrot structure is filled with polyurethane foam and, like Schulz's sculpture, is mounted on a 12-foot steel pole in one of the large planters of the Urban Trees exhibit.

Jackson, who usually focuses her artistic efforts on painting, created one of 10 semi-abstract horse sculptures for the Payasada exhibit that was displayed last year in Del Mar. The colorful display was sponsored by the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club and the Del Mar Foundation.

An assortment of Jackson's works is presented on the Web site www.abstract-expressionist.com. Schulz's work can be viewed on the Web site www.adesigngarden.com. The Web address for the Urban 'frees exhibit is www.thebigbay.com/urbantrees.

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Photo by Erin Spry
Betsy Schulz and Lauren Jackson