Five resident artists form Arroyo Artists’ Collective with inaugural Open Studio event on December 10

By DIANNE RUSSELL

Sukhdev (aka Sukhi) Dail, a well-known artist, sculptor and philanthropist, who has lived and worked in Laguna for 30 years, announced the debut of his new studio, in situ, on Arroyo Drive. A longtime dream of Dail’s, his studio at 1685 Arroyo Drive will be open to the public on Saturday, Dec. 10. Collaborating with four other resident artists on Arroyo Drive, the group comes together as the Arroyo Artists’ Collective. This is the first of a series of open studio events for Dail.

Dail will have open studio hours from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. and the four other artists in the Arroyo Artists’ Collective – Siân Poeschl, Troy Poeschl, Monica Prado and Sandy Groves will have open studios from 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

Dail will debut his recent work in his new studio and will donate a portion of the proceeds from sales of his art to Laguna Greenbelt. 

Courtesy of the Dail family

Sukhi Dail with “Seabreeze” public art installation at Main Beach

As part of the festivities, The Den Laguna, a collection of privately curated vintage items, will have a pop-up on Arroyo Drive as well. (They are by appointment and available for events.)

Street parking is available at the beginning of Arroyo Drive in the dirt lot or ask the street attendant for a parking permit. For a link to the trolley schedule, click here.

Sharing the genesis for the open studio event, Dail said, “I wanted to have the feeling of the more informal way artists interact with the community, going back to the ‘70s when I first came to Laguna. This street is an enclave of creativity and we support each other as neighbors and artists.”

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Courtesy of Linda Arroz

“Crows,” one of Dail’s sculptures on display in his studio 

Inspired by nature and their surroundings, the Arroyo Artists’ Collective interprets five elements of the Universe: fire, wood, earth, water and metal in their various practices. Dail sculpts with bronze, steel and concrete; Siân Poeschl focuses on glass; Troy Poeschl is devoted to photography, while both Monica Prado and Sandy Groves work with clay. 

A sculptor and painter, Dail’s life-long need to create sent him on an epic journey across the world to experience art. After graduating from the Delhi College of Art, in 1965 he found himself traversing Europe from India, where he was born, via the Orient Express. Settling in Bruxelles (Belgium), he attended the Royale Academic des Beaux Arts. Not one to stay in one place long, Dail crossed the Atlantic to Canada where he began working in animation. 

In 1968, Bill Hanna of the iconic Hanna-Barbera studio invited Dail to Hollywood as the art and animation director. This led to work at Warner Brothers and Universal Studios where he became known for his work on such epic cartoons as the Flintstones, Scooby Doo, Casper the Friendly Ghost and Rugrats, to name just a few. Continuing to paint and sculpt, he’s participated in solo and group shows in American museums and galleries.

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Photo by Mary Hurlbut

Glass art by Siân Poeschl 

Dail’s work is currently at New Masters Gallery in Carmel and Nikko Gallery in Palm Desert. Dail’s statue, Seabreeze, a figure holding aloft a canopy of colored glass, was installed at a Main Beach overlook in Heisler Park adjacent to the Inn at Laguna Beach. 

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The Arroyo Artists Collective Artists:

–Siân Poeschl works in fused glass, and she experiments with light, form and texture creating functional and non-functional artworks. Poeschl exhibits at the Sawdust Art Festival and the Laguna Art Museum store. 

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Courtesy of FOA

Sculpture by Troy Poeschl 

–Troy Poeschl is a mixed media artist whose sculptural and photographic works are inspired by the natural environment. Poeschl exhibits at the Festival of Arts and Sawdust Art Festival in addition to being featured at Yosemite National Park Museum and the Natural History Museum in San Diego. 

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Courtesy of pradoceramics.com

Monica Prado exhibits at the Sawdust Festival 

–Monica Prado, a ceramicist for the past 25 years, enjoys working in porcelain to express the movements of nature. 

–Sandy Groves specializes in functional pottery, bas relief and small-scale sculpture, with a studio on Laguna Canyon Road. Groves exhibits at the Winter Sawdust Festival and other venues in Laguna Beach and has shown at galleries in Southern California and New Mexico. 

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Courtesy of sandog.clayworks.com

Pottery by Sandy Groves 

Laguna Greenbelt, Inc. is a grassroots organization that has worked ceaselessly to protect the wildlife habitat in Orange County since 1968. Founder Jim Dilley sought to preserve a “greenbelt” of open space around Laguna Beach. Their efforts have preserved a coastal wilderness area that is now almost four times the size that Dilley envisioned – 22,000 beautiful acres. They continue to defend this iconic landscape for the sake of its wild inhabitants and the people who love it. The organization also champions the completion of the Irvine-Laguna Wildlife Corridor – an ecologically essential connection between the coastal wilderness to the Santa Ana Mountains. 

The specific purposes of Laguna Greenbelt are to engage in and otherwise promote for the benefit of the general public the preservation and acquisition of natural resources of the County of Orange, including but not limited to, open spaces, fresh and sea water resources, marshland, swamps, woodland slopes, ridgelines and open spaces and the plant and animal life therein. For more information, go to https://lagunagreenbelt.org/.

For more information on Sukhi Dail, go to https://mail.sukhdevdail.com/Site/Home.html.

For more information on Siân Poeschl, go to www.siansartglass.com.

For more information on Troy Poeschl, go to www.troypoeschl.com.

For more information on Monica Prado, go to www.pradoceramics.com.

For more information on Sandy Groves, go to www.sandogclayworks.com.