Triumph of the spirit

Mike Swanson

Ceramics artist Mark Blumenfeld was throwing pots in his studio on

Canyon Acres Drive, preparing for his annual Christmas show, when a

friend in North Laguna told Mark’s wife, Beverly, that the canyon was

on fire. That was at 11:30 a.m. Oct. 27, 1993.

By 4:15 p.m., Mark was standing on the roof of his studio with a

trickling hose, trying to save it and the rest of his family’s

property from flames bearing down the brushy hill that serves as

their backyard.

It didn’t take long for Mark to realize he had no chance against

the blaze, but it took the insistence of then-14-year-old son Daniel

to convince Mark and Beverly to leave.

“It was a good thing our son yelled at us,” Beverly said. “We were

in shock and should have left a lot earlier than we did. I started

packing at around noon, so we ended up with a lot of stuff, but that

studio and everything in it was how we made our living. It was hard

to leave behind.”

Mark and Beverly, married for 36 years, have been exhibiting and

selling their ceramics at the Sawdust Festival since 1968, a year

after having moved to Laguna. They paid $40,000 for their half of the

lot on Canyon Acres, which had three houses and three artist’s

studios. Nikki Grant, Mark’s sister, and her husband, Jay, paid for

the other half. The fire claimed all six structures.

Nothing in Mark and Beverly’s studio but their kilns and the

pottery that was inside them survived the fire. Some of their work

was naturally raku’d by the flames, but Mark didn’t like any of the

remains enough to keep them. Even their cast-iron stove was reduced

to a black puddle, he said.

“It was like a tornado of fire,” Mark said. “Trees were blowing

up, the sky was gray, embers were falling all over the place. I’d

seen fires on TV before, but it’s nothing like being there right in

the middle of it.”

It took almost two years before their studio was rebuilt, and the

Blumenfelds lived in it another two years before they had a house

again. Because their first studio wasn’t insured, they used the

insurance from the third house which they’d rented out to pay for it,

deciding to decrease their lot by one structure and pour more money

into the studio.

Before anything on their lot was in livable condition, however,

the Blumenfelds depended on friends and loyal customers to keep them

afloat. Several people, including a ceramics company, donated their

time, supplies and money to sustain a family that had depended on its

artwork and rental income to stay out of the red.

It helped that the fire had hit right after the Sawdust Festival,

Mark said, as sales from it account for about 75% of his income.

Their focus in the aftermath of the fire was getting their studio

back to resume making their living.

“We didn’t even think about the house until the studio was up and

running,” Beverly said.

Mark, with the help of architect Daniel Martinez, used about the

same floor plan as the original studio, but built up, raising the

ceiling from 9 feet to 22 feet. The large hill behind their lot made

city view ordinances moot.

“The old studio was built one piece at a time by a bunch of

hippies, including me,” Mark said. “I got to build my new one the way

I wanted it. I always wanted a barn, so I built my studio like a

barn.”

Mark and Beverly’s dream studio, complete with a kitchen, is 1,700

square feet, and their rebuilt house -- which they also built much

higher -- is 3,200 square feet including the garage, about 1,500

square feet larger than the old house. They didn’t worry much about

fireproofing the buildings, sticking primarily with wood and stucco.

“If a fire like that came through again, nothing could stop it,”

Mark said.

About 65 houses on Canyon Acres were destroyed, and after new

houses started popping up, some on the street who didn’t lose their

homes wished they did, Mark said.

“The fire ended up being really fortunate for us,” Mark said. “It

didn’t seem that way for a while, but now, we have this valuable

property instead of just valuable land. We have no intention of

selling it, but it’s nice knowing you have something valuable.”

Beverly agreed, adding that the new house and studio are far more

comfortable to live and work in.

“It used to be hot in the summer and cold in the winter,” Beverly

said. “Now it’s comfortable year-round.”

Other than some boxes still full of the heirlooms Beverly packed

in 1993, there are no traces of the fire at the Blumenfeld home.

“I never even think about it anymore,” Beverly said.

Beverly credits much of their quick recovery to community support

when times were toughest, extending as far as the television, which

kept victims informed about where they could find aid, even sites

that housed pets.

The Blumenfelds had four cats, and they all found homes at no cost

for a month until the couple rented a house in Arch Beach Heights.

“It was amazing how fast everything came together,” Beverly said.

“One of the most incredible things about this country is how quickly

it supports disaster victims. You always hear about earthquake

victims or fire victims being helped when they need it most, but we

felt it firsthand.”

Now, 10 years later, shortly after receiving a 2003 Sawdust

Festival award for being the best ceramics artist, Mark is throwing

pots again -- this time in a high-ceilinged studio -- preparing for

his 20th annual Christmas show.