Setting up for Arts

Artist Bradford Salamon specializes in finding the sublime in the ordinary.

Days before the Festival of Arts in Laguna Beach was set to open its doors to the public Sunday, Salamon was standing before a bare wall at the site, detailed to-do list in hand, deciding where to hang his artwork.

The act of designing his booth is old hat for Salamon, who has appeared in the festival for several years.

Salamon’s most recent realist figurative paintings have a classical aesthetic, with muted colors, symmetrical arrangements and austere moods. Some are narratives, inspiring a viewer to linger and ponder at their inherent symbolism.

But they are imbued with casual, unexpectedly contemporary touches as well; a woman with a transfixing gaze wearing flip-flop sandals, or a modern black speaker sitting unobtrusively on a painted bookshelf.

“It’s certainly an interesting juxtaposition, combining this classical approach with the casual behaviors of people in Orange County,” Salamon said.

He maintains a Fountain Valley studio. A longtime fixture in the Orange County art scene, he has run studios in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa as well.

A member of an artistic family, Salamon grew up at the knee of his father, also a painter, and his older brother, who also showed his work at the Festival of Arts for several years.

Salamon grew up near Bushard Street and Banning Avenue in Huntington Beach, where he learned to surf.

“Some of my fondest memories were of going to the post office downtown, when my mother went to mail a package,” Salamon said.

Salamon recalls that his father would paint expressionistic portraits of his children in the evenings, depicting them in wild colors.

“I thought it was something that everybody did,” he said.

His brother would always bring his hyper-realistic paintings and drawings to the dinner table to show his family.

“It was a huge inspiration to me,” he said. Salamon didn’t think his own efforts at art were as good as his brother’s, so he never developed the nerve to show them to his family, he said.

But since then, he’s developed a name for himself as well, with critically acclaimed landscapes and figurative pieces.

“I try to paint all of my paintings from life,” Salamon said, adding that when he was single and dating, his paintings were complicated, with an element of psychological examination drawn from his life.

But now that he is happily married and raising a young child, his priorities and his gaze have shifted.

“I’m more content, and my work reflects the more sublime aspects of life, not the psychology of it,” Salamon said. “I like to celebrate the simple things in life, the simple things that people often miss. I find everyday circumstances to be so extraordinary. I’m so fascinated with the everyday things that happen to me in life.”

Many of his collectors are fellow artists, which Salamon takes as a huge compliment.

“It’s always gratifying when someone who has been successful in the medium praises what you do,” he said.

But the weakening economy has changed the demand for art, Salamon said.

“The general feeling is that collectors want something special now,” he said.

To the artist, that means an increase in commissions. Rather than buy something off the wall, collectors want to spend the money they have on something with particular value to them.

“People who can afford art right now are asking for custom, unique, one-of-a-kind pieces,” Salamon said.

He has completed many such commissions, which he sees as learning opportunities.

“I feel that you get to become a better artist with new challenges,” he said. “I love doing commissions.”

But overall, Salamon remains optimistic about the future.

He will finish his booth and exhibit at this year’s Festival of Arts, the same as he does every year, and is planning a solo show this spring at the JoAnne Artman Gallery in Laguna Beach.

“I think we’re over the worst of it,” he said of the economy. “I think this year is going to be better than last year.”

For more information on Salamon and his work, visit bradfordjsalamon.com.

If You Go

What: Festival of Arts

When: 10 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Sunday to Aug. 31 (closed Aug. 29)

Where: Festival of Arts grounds, 650 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach

Cost: $7 for general admission; $4 for seniors and students; free for children younger than 12; all tickets are season passes

Information: foapom.com