John Maher’s a fine one to talk. Literally. Not only is he a native La Jollan, he’s a first-time exhibitor at the sixth annual La Jolla Art & Wine Festival, set for Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 11 and 12, on Girard Avenue between Prospect Street and Torrey Pines Road. That means he can speak to both the festival’s considerable growth and his own impressions as a novice vendor. It’s the latter part that sticks with the casual observer as Maher conveys his home-grown excitement over an equally home-grown festival. “I’m going into the fest – I wouldn’t say nervous and I wouldn’t say confident; it’s just more exciting,” the veteran fine-art ocean photographer said. Some of the excitement, he added, naturally comes for the prospect of more than 40,000 people looking over your work; the rest lies in the fact that Maher’s been in business for only about nine months, gingerly plying his trade in an area known for its sweeping vistas among generations of photographers. That’s the trick to his art – because that one special shot has been captured thousands of times before, he’s relied on not just his instincts but his method of capture.
“I’m a fan of digital, for sure,” the 33-year-old lifeguard explained. “The way that I shoot, I’m in the water, and my images are unique, and I offer a perspective that people wouldn’t get a chance to see otherwise. If I have a roll of film and I don’t have control of my settings, the chance of scoring a timeless image is minute compared to the ability that I have when I shoot in digital.”
So that’s what everybody can expect at Maher’s stall, even as he speculates on the crowd generation he’s witnessed over the last six years. “It’s interesting,” he said. “The different neighborhoods in San Diego are doing similar events, like the ArtWalk and [FESTA! in] Little Italy. I think the same clientele go to each of them. I think you get a large part of the city that’s moving around and following these artists and looking for them. In that way, I think the Wine & Art Festival ties San Diego together. A lot of the artists are from different parts of San Diego, so I think it brings San Diego together.”
It works in reverse, too.
“They call La Jolla ‘the Bubble,'” he explained. “A lot of people won’t leave La Jolla to go see other ones, but they will go to the La Jolla Art & Wine Festival. I think it’s great that way too for both the city and our growing town.”
In its six years, the festival has generated nearly $340,000 toward underfunded programs such as art, music, science, physical education, technology and on-site medical care at local public elementary and middle schools. More than 150 artists from Southern California, Baja and beyond will exhibit their paintings, photos and street performance techniques – meanwhile, the weekend includes two silent auctions, a gourmet marketplace, the family art center and a wine and beer garden that will feature fare from premiere area wineries and San Diego’s top breweries.
And of course, there’s always the prospective sale of that one ocean shot unique in all the world. Maher knows the feeling, and he’s set his sights on just the right event at which to showcase it. Festival hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. both days. For more, see ljawf.com.