BY THE BOOK- Calabasas resident Alva Sachs reads from her new children's book, "Circus Fever," by Three Wishes Publishing Company.

Jessica, a 9-year-old with a wild imagination, is dying to go to the circus. She dresses up as a clown and dreams of entering the tent as part of the show, jumping from burning houses and becoming the star. During her years as a teacher, Alva Sachs developed the protagonist of her first children's book, "Circus Fever."

"I wanted to write about something that everybody could relate to at some time in their childhood," Sachs said. "My life revolves around kids. I'm a sucker for a kid. It's our legacy; it's all we have left to carry it on."

Sachs was born and raised in Chicago, graduating from the University of Illinois with a bachelor's degree in elementary education. She taught for 16 years, mostly fourth and fifth grade, while pursuing a master's degree. When Sachs and her husband, Paul, began having children, she decided to put teaching on hold.

"I wanted to be home with my children," said Sachs, whose children Justin, Jessica and Julie are now grown. "But as soon as I had time, I started subbing. I missed it."

She also volunteers as member of the Angels of the Alliance at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, Kiwanis Club Calabasas-Agoura and Spotlight the Arts.

A meet and greet with Sachs at Barnes and Noble in Calabasas is planned from 1 to 5 p.m. Sat., May 31.
For more information about Alva Sachs, visit her website, www.alvasachs.com.

There are many ways to describe Patricia Krebs. As a painter, she creates emotion-filled art, often while swaying to the beat of African drums. As a musician, she incorporates her Argentine background to write and perform songs. But regardless the platform, Krebs says the core of her work is influenced most by her experiences as a woman, as evidenced in her exhibition "Enchanting Ladies and Other Peculiar Characters," currently on display at the Cactus Gallery.

"What I came to realize is that [even for] women from different places-it doesn't matter whether they are Latina, American, African, Asian- there is something that connects us," Krebs, 31, says. "Even though we may be very different we share something: discrimination, being treated as a minority because the world is still governed by men, and at the same time this feeling that you can empower yourself."

Look closely at some of Krebs's paintings, and you'll notice an optical illusion, a technique the artist has used since she was 11 years old (she began drawing at age 3). What may seem like a solid image is much more than that when viewed close-up; it is a whole other world. "Everything depends on where we are standing, and to have a complete view of things we have to make an effort," Krebs explains.

While many have credited Krebs's childhood in bustling Buenos Aires for inspiring her complex creations, the painter points to the work of artists Salvador Dalí and M. C. Escher as strong influences. But what really motivates her are people, especially fellow women.

And those women are the stars of Krebs's first solo show in Los Angeles, a series of paintings at the Cactus Gallery in Eagle Rock. Krebs says she aims to empower women through her art and bring out a different kind of beauty. "I think it is about creating a fantasy in somebody else or inspiring or getting in touch with a beauty that is different than what we are used to seeing."

The exhibition continues through June 26, and then Krebs will take part in the show "Bustin Out" at the Rock Rose Art Gallery in Highland Park, where artists are given a challenge to create something different than what they normally do. For Krebs that means creating something with less detail-something silent or abstract. In the end, it takes a true artist to accept such a challenge.