Kelseyville >> For more than a decade, a group of Kelseyville artists have been holding their very own Holiday Boutique, a weekend-long arts and crafts sale to promote Lake County artists and usher in the holiday spirit. For this year’s boutique, 12 artists gathered to showcase and sell their work at Gaylene McComb’s studio at her Buckingham home.
A long-time tradition, the artists had many customers who waited all year for the boutique to come around, just so they could buy some handmade, local gifts — gifts that couldn’t be found elsewhere. And from jewelry to paintings to postcards, the holiday gift sale had something for everyone.
There were hats made by Jan Hambrick, greeting cards printed with Lake County images by Karen Magnuson and painted wine bottles by Betty Glenn. “We are painters first and foremost, but at Christmastime we turn to crafters and stretch our art, because people like handmade things,” said artist Jeanne Landon-Myers. “We adapt because we’re artists and we can adapt, we know how to do that.”
The boutique has changed over the years. In the beginning the artists held craft sales multiple times a year, but they found the Holiday Boutique was by far the best received. And because creating work for the sale is so time consuming, and because quantities are so limited, one weekend is plenty long for the event. Anymore than that and the women wouldn’t have the time to keep up with their own lives.
This year’s Holiday Boutique was indeed successful. The artists were busy enough that sometimes the studio became overheated due to the customers packed inside, Landon-Myers said.
Though the Holiday Boutique has been occurring for roughly ten years, the artists involved have been meeting weekly for twice as long. Twenty years ago McComb was teaching pottery in her studio, and as she invited more and more people to attend, it eventually turned into what it is today — a group of women coming together not only to create art, but to share conversation and friendship.
“We have evolved, the ladies in this group, because a lot of the ladies are dealing with things to do with their husbands or things happening in their lives,” said Diane Stawicki, an artist in the group. “We are really a support group for each other.”
While some of the group members see each other every week, others can’t make it to regular meetings. The Holiday Boutique is one of the only opportunities the artists have to catch up with one another.
“It brings us all together,” said artist Barbara Funke. “It brings artists together.”
And the group places more importance on fostering friendships and nurturing creativity than making a buck or two. The Holiday Boutique is about camaraderie, community and spreading holiday joy. “Most all of us do it for the love of doing artwork,” said Landon-Myers, “because we’re not making any money out of this.”
Though the Holiday Boutique may have come and gone, it’s just the beginning of the shopping season. Those looking for local art can check out LakeWorks in Lakeport and Upper Lake Mercantile, among other locales.
Jennifer Gruenke can be reached at 900-2019.
