Placitas Holiday Sale keeps getting better

—Jon Couch

The Placitas Holiday Sale is one of those events, like the state fair and the balloon fiesta, that mark the passing of the seasons in our area. For twenty-two years residents and visitors have enjoyed the transition to the holidays while shopping, talking with the artists, and meeting old friends amidst the creative wonders of the Placitas Holiday Sale. It is on the weekend before Thanksgiving, making it the perfect way to put yourself into the holiday mood and find something for everyone on your list, including yourself.

Patrons enjoy the quality and variety of the arts and crafts as well as the relaxed, casual atmosphere. With fewer than seventy booths, the number of artists does not overwhelm visitors as it does at some other shows of the season. The artists and artisans at the Placitas Holiday Sale are cheerful and friendly. They’re happy to be in the Holiday Sale because it has a long history as a fun show with a great reputation that keeps getting better.

Beginning in 1982 as a small arts-and-crafts event with twenty-four artists, it has grown into one of the premier shows of the holiday season, attracting artists from around the state and the Southwest. This year a panel of jurors selected sixty-seven of the very best artists and artisans from the hundred who applied. While four are from neighboring states, one out of five artists this year is from Placitas, and nearly a third of the exhibitors are new to the show.

The Twenty-second Annual Placitas Holiday Fine Arts and Crafts Sale will be held at the Placitas Elementary School, the heated Big Tent east of Las Placitas Presbyterian Church, and Anasazi Fields Winery—the same three locations as last year.

Jewelry, ceramics, woodwork, etchings, glass, paintings, pastels, baskets, batik, quilts, tiles, teddy bears, photographs, painted gourds and drums, metalwork, handmade clothing, and much more can be seen. Everything is handmade and many of the artists have created special gifts for this holiday season.

Anasazi Fields Winery will be offering tours of the winery and free wine tasting. Wines that are available by the case, bottle, or glass, are the 2000 raspberry, 1999 peach and apricot, and 1998 strawberry. They will be featuring their 2001 American Cranberry Wine, continuing what has become a local tradition to serve with holiday dinners. Vintner and artist Jim Fish invites you to enjoy a hot drink of mulled cranberry wine by the kiva fireplace.

Adding to the festivities, plenty of food and beverages will be at each site. The winery will have mouth-watering smoked-brisket sandwiches and smoked-turkey legs from Bob’s Bodacious Barbeque and marinated organic goat cheese from Nancy Coonridge of Pie Town. At the Big Tent, Eddie Montoya will be serving a variety of tasty sandwiches, including hamburgers and hot dogs. At the Placitas Elementary School, the Piñon Café will offer an assortment of delicious sandwiches and hot green-chile stew. All the food vendors will have soft drinks available.  

The Placitas Holiday Sale is once again sponsoring a raffle of artwork to benefit the art and literature programs at the Placitas Elementary School. The public can purchase tickets at $1 each for the chance to win a piece of artwork, and all of the proceeds will go to the school, where the donated art will be on display. The Elementary School will also offer bake-sale goodies, and Las Placitas Presbyterian Church will sell their popular frozen green chile.

Warm hospitality and high-quality arts and crafts will be found at the juried art show.

This year the Holiday Sale has gone on-line with its own Web site. Artists and their work, locations, maps, and more can be found at www.PlacitasHolidaySale.com.

 Mark your calendars for this fun and festive holiday art event. The fair runs from 10:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, November 22 and 23. The fair is 6 miles east of I-25 on Highway 165 (take Exit 242). Colorful signs and banners will mark the way through the scenic hills to the village of Placitas.

The Placitas Holiday Fine Arts and Crafts Sale is sponsored by the Placitas MountainCraft and Soiree Society, a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving the community, the arts, and artists.

Meredith Edward's whimsical creations always
bring a smile to visitors at the Holiday Sale.

Nancy Coonridge's marinated organic goat cheeses are one
of the many wonders to be tasted at the Holiday Sale.

Nancy Wood Taber shows her beautiful and detailed
colored-pencil art to visitors at the 2002 Holiday Sale.

Last year the Holiday Sale raffle of donated art raised $1,000
for the Placitas Elementary School's arts and literature programs.

Lisa Chernoff admires Bunny Bowen's batik at last year's Holiday Sale.

22nd annual Placitas Holiday Fine Arts and Crafts Sale artists and locations

SITE 1: Placitas
Elementary School

Amy Adshead—original etchings - Grants

Jeanine Allen—pastel paintings - Albuquerque

Joan Reeder Babcock—jewelry - Santa Fe

Sue Bason—religious folk-art crosses and plaques - Hillsboro

Bunny Bowen—matted and framed batik landscapes, silk scarves - Placitas

Annette and Shawn Caffrey—home and office accessories - Pecos

Andi Callahan—silver jewelry and glass sculptures - Placitas

James and Greta Cannon—contemporary jewelry and stone sculpture - Santa Fe

Gareth and Lin Davies—original mohair teddy bears - Los Lunas

Allan and Judith Edgar/Young—inlayed and mixed-metal jewelry - Corrales 

Meredith Edwards—collectible dolls, ornaments, fun jewelry - Albuquerque

Debora and Michael Geiger—hand-painted art tile - Santa Fe

Renee Gentz—silk wearables and fiber constructions - Albuquerque

J. Waid Griffin—original oil paintings - Rio Rancho

Susan Gutt—traditional and contemporary baskets - Rio Rancho

Mario Hinojo—carved gourds - Albuquerque

Mary and Karl Hofmann—functional pottery - Placitas 

David Reed Johnson—wooden cutting boards - Placitas 

Sandy and Michael Kadisak—art pottery, little people, animals - Cochiti Lake

Maria Kenarova—ceramic wall plaques with Southwestern motifs - Santa Fe 

David Lewis—photography - Placitas 

Angela Lujan de Escala—glass jewelry - Glendale 

Pat Marsello—brushwork on clay and paper - Albuquerque 

Adrian Martinez—natural wood inlay pictures - Albuquerque

Maris Mason—quilts - Placitas 

LaMoyne McCaulley—decorative and functional pine needle baskets - Corrales

Randy Miller—jewelry and inlay knives - Bernalillo 

Lynn  Pomeranz—black-and-white photographs, hand-tinted image transfers - Corrales 

Jim Sacoman—tinwork - Albuquerque 

Andrew and Turza Shows—colorful inlay stone jewelry - Ramah

Barbara Woods—lamps and sculptural lighting - Santa Fe

SITE 2:
THE BIG TENT    

Terry and Margaret Adams—wall art, lamps, home decor, candleholders - Cuba 

Jerry Barnett—fused and kiln formed glass - Albuquerque 

Elaine and Michael Bolz/Murphy—ceramic artwork - Corrales 

Jacky Canton—fine handmade jewelry - Aurora

Paula Dimit—wood sculptures - Albuquerque 

Shirley and Stanley Giser—intricately inlaid wooden boxes - Grants 

Edward Gonzales—original paintings and graphics, posters, books - Rio Rancho 

Molly Hart—jewelry - Santa Fe 

Lynn Hartenberger—oil, pastel paintings - Placitas 

Joan Hellquist—painted drums - Placitas 

Susan Jordan—gourds - Placitas 

Elzbieta Kaleta—paper cutouts and collage - Albuquerque 

Peach  Malmaud—garlic oil, direct prints - Placitas 

Peter and Pat McKay—feather art - Silverton 

Ginny Neumann—beaded and mixed-media jewelry - Silver City 

N. J. Searcy—steel work - Bernalillo 

Diana  Stetson—fine-art printmaking - Albuquerque 

David Strong—color photography - Fort Worth 

Patricia Wyatt—paintings and mixed media - Santa Fe 

SITE 3:
ANASAZI FIELDS WINERY    

Norman and Danna Aufrichtig—ceramic pieces for floral decorating - El Prado 

Nancy Coonridge—organic goat cheese - Pie Town 

Nancy and Jon Couch—glass water prisms, boxes, mandalas - Placitas 

Vangie Dunmire—watercolor paintings - Placitas 

Jim Fish—wooden sculptures, walking sticks - Placitas 

Colleen and Joshua Franco—white-earth clay painted with acrylics - Albuquerque 

Cay Garcia—cut-paper miniatures set in silver to wear or frame - Albuquerque 

Sylvia D. Gormley—oil and watercolor paintings and beaded jewelry - Corrales 

Kevin McDermott—acrylic on watercolor paper - El Prado 

Tim O'Lear—animal-shaped and hand-painted mirror frames - Carrizozo 

Renee Rector—handwoven, one-of-a-kind items - Tijeras 

Denise Robertson—handmade archaeological jewelry - Santa Fe 

Nancy Wood Taber—colored-pencil paintings - Tijeras 

Steve and Wanda Thompson—coffee, chocolates - Bosque Farms 

Kathy and George Toya—hand-screened clothing - Sandia Park 

Tai A. Vautier—jewelry - Albuquerque 

Fred and Kristen Wilson—raku masks and pottery, jewelry - Albuquerque

Mailing list for Placitas Holiday Sale

To receive advance notice of the 2004 Placitas Fine Arts and Crafts Sale, please send your name, address, and comments to our Web site at www.placitasholidaysale.com or to:

Placitas Holiday Sale, P.O. Box 1084, Placitas, NM 87043.

Many thanks...

—Nancy Couch
member
Placitas Holiday Fine Arts & Crafts Sale Committee

I would like to thank all the people in our community that help to make the Placitas Holiday Fine Arts and Crafts Sale happen.

Special thanks go to the committee, which has donated valuable time to organize this fun event and make it a quality art show. The committee members are Andi Callahan, Lisa Chernoff, Bunny Bowen, Mary Hofmann, and Jon Couch.

Others whom I wish to thank are Jim Fish of Anasazi Fields Winery; Christine Werenko, the new principal of the Elementary School; and Las Placitas Presbyterian Church, which has generously allowed us to use their facilities.

There are many other people who have helped us get ready for the show. Among them are John Roth, who helps us furnish the tent with electricity, as well as Sharon Krachunis and Julie Walsh, who take care of the art raffle. Special thanks go to Chuck Callahan for organizing the great food and being our show photographer.

It’s impossible to mention everyone, so I want to say thank you to all who have volunteered their time to make this the best show ever.