Posted on: Sunday, December 11, 2005
Here's a look at the artists and their creations
Baubles that Benefit
| • | Creations for a Cause Bid for your favorite tree ornament online and help the Advertiser Christmas Fund. |
Advertiser Staff
'The Miracle Also Gazes Into You'
By Kate Lopez, Kailua
Both collages incorporate mirrors.
"Within all this I wanted to depict our existential essence, that which is an undeniable accountability we each hold for the choices we make in the world," she said. "So the mirror in the middle reflects us."
It also adds a personal touch.
"When you're reflected in it, you become a part of the ornament," said Lopez, who spent two weeks on the piece. Lopez, a 39-year-old elementary teacher, has been painting for years and became interested in making collages five years ago. Her collection includes 40 collages and paintings, worth $100 to $500 each. At this year's GiRLFeST art gallery, L—pez exhibited six pieces, including one she sold for $150. For more information, reach Lopez at kwood53280@yahoo.com.
Media: Decoupaged prints, cut-out pictures and mirrorsMedia: Koa, maple, mango, mahogany, ebony, cherry, purple heart and walnut woods 'Year of the Dog Christmas Dog'
By Philip Markwart, Kailua
Markwart, a textile silk-screener, created an ornament to match the sausage-shaped pooches of his "2006 Year of the Dog" dish towel designs. (Bonus: He's throwing in a set of these towels to the winning bidder.)
He made the quirky canine carving out of hau, a lowland tree, and left it in its natural finish on purpose.
"This is a wood I've loved," said Markwart, who spent nearly eight hours on the project.
Markwart, 55, studied textile design at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa, and ceramics in Japan.
Through his company, One By One, which he started 28 years ago, Markwart creates and sells silk-screened dish towels ($6) and T-shirts ($16), among other items. He and his wife, Mieko, a ceramic artist, primarily do business at art and craft fairs.
Markwart's products — including items featuring his new "2006 Year of the Dog" designs — will be available at a pottery sale, 3 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday and 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday at the YWCA on Richards Street, as well as at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai'i's New Year's 'Ohana Festival, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Jan. 8 at the center and Mo'ili'ili Field.
Details: 262-8242 or onebyone@hawaii.rr.com Medium: hau wood"Year of the Dog" dish towels are an added bonus. 'Candy Cane and Christmas Tree Merry-Go-Round'
By Mieko Markwart, Kailua
Markwart, who is a designer and does ceramics, spent nearly six hours on her wind-chime-like holiday decoration. She started out by making candy cane and Christmas tree ornaments — three each that she shaped with cookie cutters — out of dark brown stoneware clay. She hung the ornaments from a metal ring she wrapped with a holly garland, then embellished the piece with red ribbons and tiny gold bells.
Markwart, 56, is from Japan, where she graduated from a clothing design school. She has been working with ceramics for seven years. She and her husband, Philip (another Creations for a Cause artist), sell their creations via their company, One By One.
Her products — including individual ornaments ($3 to $4), votives ($7 to $10) and vases ($10 to $16) — will be available at a pottery sale, 3 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday and 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday at the YWCA on Richards Street, as well as at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai'i's New Year's 'Ohana Festival, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Jan. 8 at the cultural center and Mo'ili'ili Field.
For details: 262-8242 or onebyone@hawaii.rr.com
Media: Dark brown stoneware clay, ribbons, garland, bellsMedia: Koa, maple, mango, mahogany, ebony, cherry, purple heart and walnut woods 'Crystal Keepsakes'
By Sheila Ortiz, Makiki
Ortiz, 42, owns and runs Sequin Keepsakes, a company that specializes in holiday ornaments; the trio is just a sampling of her collection.
"In as many ways as you can wrap a gift, I can make an ornament," said Ortiz, who's also a receiving clerk for the state recording office.
The baubles start off as styrofoam forms that she covers with colored sequins. Each sequin is held in place by a pin anchored by a silver-lined seed bead or Swarovski crystal bead; ornaments are available covered with seed beads or crystals, or a combination.
Ortiz spends two to five hours creating each ornament, studding them with 300 to 450 beads or crystals; the stockings require even more. Prices range from $10 to $40 for each piece. A set like her "Crystal Keepsakes" would typically go for about $100.
Ortiz's Sequin Keepsakes ornaments are at Craft Flair at Ward Warehouse and the Little Craft Shack, 727 Kina'u St. She donates a percentage of sales to the American Liver Foundation, Hawai'i chapter.
For information, call 781-6476, fax 536-5739 or write anangelsdream@aol.com. Media: Colored sequins, Swarovski crystal beads 'Christmas Plum Pudding'
By Katherine Love, Makiki
Her show, titled "Molded," explored traditional women's roles in society and the expectations for domestic work placed on women.
"My latest body of work was about food, basically, like food preparation techniques and fancy kinds of Jell-o molds and desserts," said the mixed-media painter, 38. "I thought I would do a little offshoot of that."
Love's ornament features one of the most traditional of molded holiday desserts. No, not fruitcake: plum pudding.
On a circular wooden piece with scalloped edges, Love photo-transferred an image of a plum pudding dish. The other side is fabric with a Christmasy design. She painted the piece with festive gold, green, red and pink embellishments.
Love spent about two weeks on the piece, which she values at about $100. In the past her artwork has sold for $700 each for two 16-inch-by-20-inch oil paintings, up to $1,000 for an 11-by-11 embroidered piece.
Love, the exhibitions coordinator at the Contemporary Museum, earned her master's degree in fine arts from the University of Hawai'i-Manoa.
To see samples of her artwork, visit katherinelove.com; reach her at katherine_love@hotmail.com. Media: Wood, fabric, acrylic paintsMedia: Koa, maple, mango, mahogany, ebony, cherry, purple heart and walnut woods 'Star of Lanikai'
By Gerhard Osterberger, Kailua
He was a journeyman by the time he was 17.
"It's all I ever wanted to do," said Osterberger, 43, a professional woodworker and owner of G O Fine Woodworking & Custom Furniture in Kailua.
Osterberger's love of beautiful woods inspired him to create "Star of Lanikai," an original piece using a mix of koa, maple, mango, mahogany, ebony, cherry, purpleheart and walnut woods.
The snowflake-type ornament, valued at about $90, also features inlay work of the Mokulua Islets off Lanikai — a common design in many of Osterberger's pieces.
"It's a beautiful place," said Osterberger, who has been kayaking to the Mokuluas for years. "People know the islands. Everybody knows 'the Mokes.' "
Osterberger's pieces — from $28 bottle stoppers to furniture pieces worth thousands — are at Martin and MacArthur, Island Treasures Art Gallery, Nohea Gallery, and King and Zelko Hawaiian Woodworks, among other places.
Learn more about Osterberger at finewoodworkinghawaii.com. See or purchase some of his pieces at an art show, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at 1045 Mokapu Blvd. Call 254-9381.
Media: Koa, maple, mango, mahogany, ebony, cherry, purple heart and walnut woods
There's something ethereal about Lopez's colorful creation.
Her shadow box-like ornament, wrapped with classic images of artist Albrecht Durer's Adam and Eve, features two collage scenes. The first is of the Madonna nursing her child, accented with images of white lilies. On the flip side: children in a garden of dragon blossoms staring into the heavens, and an angel looking upon them.
Size: 4 1/4 inches by 4 1/4 inches by 3 1/4 inches
Here's one especially for dog lovers. Or anyone born in the year of the dog. Or fans of hau wood.
Size: 2 inches by 7 inches by 2 inches
"Year of the Dog" dish towels are an added bonus.
Markwart's festive piece is a tad bigger than your traditional Christmas tree ornament, but it serves its purpose: to spread cheer.
Size: 15 inches by 7 inches
Ortiz offers bidders a sparkling three-fer. Each ornament in her hand-crafted set — a wrapped gift box, a star and a stocking stuffed with presents — is covered with Swarovski crystal beads.
Sizes: 2 inches by 2 inches by 2 inches (present), 3 3/4 inches by 3 3/4 inches by 1 1/4 inches (star), 5 1/2 inches by 2 1/2 inches by 1fl inches (stocking)
For a solo exhibition last June at thirtyninehotel, Love featured 13 pieces — oil on canvas and embroidery thread on fabric, among others — influenced by cookbooks and homemaking texts from the 1920s to the 1960s.
Size: 5 1/2 inches in diameter
Osterberger grew up in a tiny village nestled in the Bavarian Alps. It was there that he began his woodworking apprenticeship at just 14 years old, learning traditional woodworking methods from Bavarian master craftsmen.
Size: 6 inches by 5 1/2 inches
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| HOW TO BID
Visit here to bid on your favorite ornament or track the latest bids; ornament details and profiles of each artist will remain on display on the Web site throughout the bidding. Bidding begins today and runs through 1 p.m. Dec. 19. Winners will be notified Dec. 20. Bidding starts at $10 for each piece, but keep in mind that some artists' works have been valued up to hundreds and thousands of dollars. Consider these ornaments to spiff up your tree or give to a loved one. It's an opportunity to donate to the Advertiser Christmas Fund while joining in a good-spirited bidding for a work of art. And even if you're not the highest bidder, you can still make a donation (see box below). |
