PLEASANT HILL — Amid handmade scarves, knitted gloves and holiday decorations sits “Garrop’s Gallery” of paintings.
While it was Barbara Garrop’s first time exhibiting her paintings at a holiday boutique, she said her art fits right in among the crafts on display at the seasonal showcase at the Pleasant Hill Senior Center last weekend.
“It’s like having a little gallery,” said the Pleasant Hill artist who’s exhibited work at venues such as the Blackhawk Gallery and Pleasant Hill City Hall.
In addition to Garrop’s realistic paintings of local scenes, portraits and still lifes in oil, watercolor and acrylic, the artist showed abstract paintings featuring an acrylic pour painting technique. These pieces, she said, drew a lot of interest from visitors to her booth.
“Art is the gift that keeps on giving,” Garrop said. “You buy one for yourself and some for others. Art is a feel-good gift. It makes you feel good whenever you look at it.”
Each year, more and more artists are exhibiting work at holiday boutiques.
Dita Basu of Walnut Creek has been showing her handmade jewelry at local craft fairs in the Lafayette, Orinda, Concord, Martinez and the San Ramon area since 2009. In addition to the one at Pleasant Hill Senior Center, she will be Santa’s Bag in Lafayette on Dec. 1-3, and at Shadelands Ranch Historical Museum in Walnut Creek.
Basu said meeting fellow artisans and crafters who love what they do makes exhibiting at these fairs worthwhile.
“I meet people who appreciate my work and buy from me. Jewelry is tactile,” she said. “It is important for buyers to touch it, feel the style of the artist, check the tone of the particular color of a stone or crystal.
“Jewelry buying is impulsive,” she said. “We all have enough earrings. Yet we buy them because it makes us feel good. It may be just the right one for a particular occasion, or a new season or a new dress. I get to experience that wonderful energy in craft fairs that I miss selling online.”
The buyers get a unique, one-of-a-kind handmade article that they may not get in the big box stores, she said.
“By supporting local entrepreneurs, they help the local economy,” Basu said. “The buyer can see the person she or he is buying from. Her style, her passion, her love of art are things they are taking home or giving someone as a gift. This nice feeling is absent when you buy from a mass produced store.” ”
Rodgers Ranch Heritage Center will be featuring 12 vendors from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 2, in the 150-year-old farmhouse offering handmade items such as jewelry, knit ware, culinary treats, lotions, soaps, natural perfumes and succulent arrangements.
Anna Zakaria, one of the vendors at the Rodgers Ranch boutique, said she likes to reuse, recycle, repurpose. Her garden is built with this 3R concept, which can be seen at her Facebook garden page, 4 Surya Garden. For the Holiday Boutique at Rodgers Ranch, she will have succulent arrangements in repurposed items.
“Succulents are hardy, resilient and drought tolerant, plus they come in many varieties, colors and textures,” said the Pleasant Hill resident. “The public can benefit from purchasing at the boutique as we offer one-of-a-kind items.”
Walnut Creek painter Paula Boas is supportive of the local artists participating in the Valley Art Gallery’s Artful Giving show, which runs through Dec. 23, and features items created by local fine craft and jewelry artisans.
“By selecting such gifts for friends and family, you are giving a unique gift and supporting your art community,” Boas said.
Additionally, Valley Art Gallery artists have created and donated popular 4×4-inch paintings for sale in support of the Gloria Marshall Art Education Award. Each year, the award money goes to a deserving public school art program in Contra Costa County. Numerous elementary, middle and high school arts classes have received it over the years, Boas said.
Other local venues holding holiday boutiques include:
- The Martinez Arts Association hosts the sixth annual holiday boutique at the Old Train Depot in downtown Martinez. The boutique showcases 20 local artisans and craftspeople from Dec. 1-17; hours are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays; 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday; closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Visit martinezarts.org.
- Shadelands Annual Holiday Faire: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Nov. 25-Dec. 10, http://walnutcreekhistory.info/wchs/
- Santa’s Bag: 11 a.m.-7 p.m., Dec. 1; 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Dec. 2; 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Dec. 3, Lafayette Community Center, 500 St. Mary’s Road.
- Hacienda Holiday Faire: noon- 8 p.m., Dec. 1; 11 a.m. – 6 p.m., Dec. 2-3, at Hacienda de las Flores, 2100 Donald Drive, Moraga.
- Super Holiday Boutique: 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Dec. 2, Pleasant Hill Community Center, 320 Civic Drive; and 11 a.m.-3 p.m., Dec. 3, Centre Concord, 529 Clayton Road. One-of-a-kind holiday gifts and stocking stuffers. Free holiday arts and crafts activities allowing kids to make keepsake presents. superholidayboutique.com.
- Diablo Valley College Art Department Holiday Studio Sale: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Dec. 4-5, Diablo Valley College, Art Department Building, 321 Golf Club Road, Pleasant Hill. Ceramics, photography, print sales. http://www.facebook.com/dvcartsholidaysale.