Holiday spirit fills the air at Gallery Saratoga
By Shari Kaplan
Despite the proliferation of special-interest shops in malls and dozens of online gift and toy stores complete with "virtual wish lists," there are still some things that Santa and his helpers can only find in quaint, out-of-the-way places.
One such place is Gallery Saratoga, now holding its aptly named Holiday Show 2000, to which many of its member artists--and a few guest artists--have contributed arts and crafts with a festive theme. Some items are especially geared toward giving as gifts.
The latter include woven decorations of natural mediums by Saratogans Jane Garrod and Dori Phifer. Garrod, in her Christmas tradition, crafts angels and intricate fans from woven shafts of wheat and other grains harvested from Bird Flat Ranch, her family property on the shores of Honey Lake in Lassen County. Wheat-weavings, a centuries-old European art form, symbolize abundance, good fortune and Thanksgiving. Phifer takes plain wreaths of woven branches and vines and adorns them with gold ribbon, dried flowers, pearl-like beads, angels and gilded pine cones.
Guest artist Anna Stout of Sunnyvale also enjoys working with her hands, as is evident in her cute homespun stuffed dogs and cats, sewn of soft fabrics with simple patterns. Stout also takes what were once ordinary paper gift bags and turns them into festive gift-stashers by tying generous amounts of red and beige raffia around their handles and gluing fabric on them with patterns that bring to mind a country Christmas.
Joan Foster of Los Gatos knows that good things come in small packages, especially when they are the whimsical, hand-sewn miniature stockings she calls "Gift Holders for Very Special Little Things." She also crafts dainty snowflake and bell ornaments from rigid lace. Saratogan Margaret Magill's creations require larger packages: hand-painted tiles with holly/berry motifs and hand-appliquéd vanilla pillar candles.
Palo Alto resident Stephanie North's contributions are petite nests warmed by tiny artificial birds nestled in straw. Jean Bonnette of San Jose grows and dries her own fragrant lavender that she bundles into colorful fabric swatches to create potpourris. Her lavender basket also provides information on modern and old-fashioned uses for lavender to benefit the body and mind.
Collectors of wall art will also find much of interest. Guest artist Kristi Argyle of Capitola uses several mediums--including glitter and stickers--in Hugging Meditation, a brightly colored painting in which she brings together two religious greats: Jesus and the Buddha. Religious metaphors are also scattered about the painting, but it takes a little while to notice them all.
Holiday Show 2000 runs through Dec. 29. Gallery Saratoga is at 14531 Big Basin Way, Unit 3. Hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Art unrelated to the holiday exhibit is also on display. For more information, call 408.867.0458, or visit www.geocities.com/artsite.geo/saratoga/ on the Internet.
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