New venue for the Placitas Holiday Sale

—BUNNY BOWEN

For twenty-six years, people from Placitas and the surrounding area have marked the beginning of the holiday season by visiting the Placitas Holiday Sale. Always held the weekend before Thanksgiving, this year it will be Saturday and Sunday, November 17 and 18, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at three locations in the Village of Placitas.

The show has added a new venue: a “Big Tent” at Rio Sierra Realty. The other two locations will be familiar to faithful customers: Anasazi Fields Winery and the Big Tent east of Las Placitas Presbyterian Church. Colorful signs and banners will mark the way.

Please note that the Elementary School will not be a venue this year, due to construction.

Many of the artists are from Placitas, but others bring work from studios all around the state. Ceramics, jewelry, woodwork, prints, paintings, batik, leather, photographs, glass, baskets, metalwork, clothing, gourd art, books, and more will be offered. Look for many special items created just for the sale at affordable prices.

A jury selected the exhibitors from an ever-growing number of artists who submitted images of their work. The organizers feel that by maintaining the number of artists at about seventy, they can assure high quality and variety.

Twenty-six years ago, Placitas was a small village. Ranchos was just beginning to develop. Spec houses were appearing. Artists and craftsmen had moved to the area for the inspiration and quietude it provided. This combination gave birth to the Placitas Holiday Fine Arts and Crafts Fair. The artists needed a venue for showing and selling their art. The new houses provided space for the artists and an opportunity for the builders to showcase their houses. In those early days some artists found themselves displaying their work in bathrooms and kitchens. Eventually, the number of artists outgrew the houses and the show moved to bigger locations.

Anasazi Fields will be featuring a new release of their American Cranberry Table Wine, the perfect complement to the holiday dinner. They will also be serving cups of hot, mulled cranberry wine. Other wines available will be their two grape-based wines, Blanco Seco and Rojo Seco, and three wines produced exclusively from fruit grown in Placitas: Apple, Peach, and Plum. More information about the wines and the winery is at anasazifieldswinery.com.

Across the road at the Big Tent, the Presbyterian Church will sell their own delicious frozen chile, “Just Coffee,” and handmade Christmas gift bags to benefit Habitat for Humanity and other mission projects.

Tempi and Kevin Sewell, residents of Placitas since 1990—known now as Full of Bull, their barbeque and catering business—are providing food for the Placitas Holiday Sale. In the morning they will be serving hot coffee, breakfast burritos and cinnamon rolls. Lunch will include their famous home-smoked meats, Philly cheese steaks, hamburgers, and barbeque ribs. Come try out their food.

The Placitas Holiday Sale is once again sponsoring a raffle of artwork; this year it will benefit the outreach program of the Placitas Artists Series (PAS). The public can purchase $1 tickets for a chance to win. People are encouraged to visit the Winery, where the donated works will be on display. The PAS outreach program brings art and music to schools throughout Sandoval County.

Because the fair isn’t at the school, be sure to look for your favorite artists in other locations. At the Winery will be Barbara Woods with her beautiful sculptural lamps and sconces, Mary and Karl Hofmann with their pottery, and Bunny Bowen with her silk scarves and batik. Also returning to the Winery will be Vangie Dunmire with watercolors and Bill Dunmire with his new book, Mountain Wildflowers of the Southern Rockies. You will also find Cay Garcia’s exquisite cut paper and Amour Chocolates. New to the show this year will be longtime Albuquerque artist Mary Sharp-Davis showing her clay shrines and spirit vessels.

Among the artists at the new Rio Sierra Tent will be LeMoyne McCaulley with pine needle baskets, Jeannine Allen with pastels, David Reed Johnson with cutting boards and trays, and Nancy and Jon Couch with their water prisms and glass lamps, mandalas, and boxes. New to the show will be Marjie Bassler with her delightful, whimsical animal art.

Artists returning to the Big Tent by the church will include Diana Stetson with prints, Phil Sonier with stunning wildlife photography, Russell Mott with raku pottery, Judith Young and Allan Edgar with sterling inlay jewelry, Joan Hellquist with wildlife images on drums, and another new artist from Placitas, Karen Melody Shatar, with braided freeform bowls.

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. Maps and information about the artists and locations can be found at PlacitasHolidaySale.com.

SPECIAL THANKS

The board of the Placitas Holiday Fine Arts and Crafts Sale would like to express its appreciation to all the great people in our community who help make this event happen.

Many don’t realize that this event is organized and put together by local artists. Special thanks go to the committee members—Bunny Bowen, Mary Hofmann, and Jon and Nancy Couch—who have donated their valuable time to organize this event and make it a quality art show.

Since the fair couldn’t use the school this year, it had additional costs, which have been met by the generous support of sponsors from the community. Special thanks go to gold sponsors Diamond Tail Ranch (Dan Dennison), La Puerta Real Estate Services (Lucy Noyes), Placitas Dental (Dr. Rachel Tingen), The Range Café (Matt DiGregory), Pharmacy Plus, and TP Pump (Allan Taylor), and to silver sponsor Heartland New Mexico (Wayne and Nancy Ullery).

The Placitas Holiday Sale also thanks the gracious hosts Jim Fish and his partners at Anasazi Fields Winery and Tony and Joan Lucero of Rio Sierra Realty, who have generously offered space for a new tent this year, as well as the members of Las Placitas Presbyterian Church, who annually prepare their tent site.

Special recognition goes to the following: John Roth, who furnishes the tents with electricity, Dee Christmann, who organizes the art raffle, and to the Signpost and its publishers, Barb and Ty Belknap, for their help and support in publicizing the Placitas Holiday Fine Arts and Crafts Sale.

It’s impossible to mention everyone, so the board wants to say, “Many thanks!” to all who have volunteered their time to make this such a great show.

During the Placitas Holiday Sale, Lazaro Gutierrez from San Ysidro will display jewelry with contemporary designs at Site #3 Tent next to the church.

Last year’s Placitas Holiday Sale art raffle at Placitas Elementary School. This year’s art raffle will be on display at Site #1 Winery. All proceeds will go to the Placitas Artist Series, and will be used for children’s art education programs.

2007 Placitas Holiday Fine Arts & Crafts Sale Artists

SITE #1
ANASAZI FIELDS WINERY
26 Camino De Los Puebilitos

TERRY ADAMS • Cuba, NM • wall art and sculpture

NORMAN & DANNA AUFRICHTIG • El Prado, NM • hand-thrown high-fired porcelaneous clay ikebanas

SUE BASON • Hillsboro, NM • folk art & saints

PAUL BIRCHAK • Espanola, NM • sculptural ceramics icons, imagery in plaques, vases, wall sconces

BUNNY BOWEN • Placitas • matted & framed batik landscapes, silk scarves

AMOUR CHOCOLATES • Albuquerque • chocolate covered nuts, cherries, coffee beans

HELEN & JOSEPH CORIZ • Santo Domingo Pueblo • inlaid turquoise jewelry, necklaces & slap earrings

CAROLE DEVILLERS • Albuquerque • photography, cards, photo magnets

VANGIE DUNMIRE • Placitas • original watercolors of local landscapes and flowers

BILL DUNMIRE • Placitas • author, books, photography

JIM FISH • Placitas • wooden sculptures, walking sticks

COLLEEN FRANCO • Albuquerque • white earth clay, hand stamped & painted

CAY GARCIA • Albuquerque • knife cut paper images,wall art, minatures & pins

MARY & KARL HOFMANN • Placitas • functional pottery

MARY SHARP-DAVIS • Albuquerque • clay shrines, altars & assemblages, spirit vessels

NANCY WOOD TABER • Tijeras • colored pencil drawing of animals

FRED WILSON • Albuquerque • 2- & 3-dimensional clay sculptures & pots

KRISTEN WILSON • Albuquerque • art to wear jewelry

GINNY WOLF • Silver City, NM • beaded & mixed media jewelry

BARBARA WOODS • Santa Fe • sculptural lamps & scones handpainted silk and ceramic

SITE # 2
THE BIG TENT NEXT TO RIO SIERRA REALTY
623 Highway 165

JEANINE ALLEN • Albuquerque • pastel paintings on paper & board

MARJIE BASSLER • Albuquerque • whimsical animal art

ANNETTE & SHAWN CAFFREY • Pecos, NM • metal home & office accessories

KATHERINE CHAVEZ & SHARON CANDELARIO • Chimayo, NM • handbags from authentic Chimayo weavings & black- etched tin

SONYA COPPO • Placitas • fine gourd art, vessels, masks, figures

NANCY & JON COUCH • Placitas • glass water prisms, pyramid lamps, mandalas, boxes

SYLVIA ORTIZ DOMNEY • Albuquerque • pastel paintings

RENEE BRAINARD GENTZ • Albuquerque • hand-dyed cotton & silk turned into wearables and wall art

MARCIA GLENN • Albuquerque • hand-crafted fine & sterling silver & beaded jewelry

LYNN HARTENBERGER • Placitas • landscapes & still lifes oil & pastel paintings

MARGUERITE HOULE • Bernalillo • traditional Native American beadwork & quillwork (Huron/Metis)

DAVID REED JOHNSON • Placitas • wooden cutting boards, trays, & clip boards

SANDY & MICHAEL KADISAK • Cochiti Lake • handmade, handpainted fine art pottery & sculpture

ELZBIETA KALETA • Albuquerque • freehand scissor paper cutouts/collage

LAMOYNE MCCAULLEY • Corrales • decorative & functional pine needle baskets

MICHAEL MCCULLOUGH • Placitas • acrylic & watercolor paintings

DANA MCDANIEL • Corrales • kiln worked glass & silver

PETER & PAT MCKAY • Silverton, CO • feather art, jewelry

KATE NILSSEN • Taos, NM • handwoven clothing

PAM SLIPYAN • Santa Fe • eclectic jewelry & custom leather belts, handbags, hatbands

JEFF & MYAN SORENSEN • Crestone, CO • naturally shed deer, elk & reindeer antler jewelry with semi-precious stones

BILL TONDREAU • Albuquerque • new historical photographs of Northern New Mexico

DORIS WAGNER • Corrales • handcrafted art jewelry, semi-precious, fine silver

DAWN WILSON-ENOCH • Placitas • desert talismans made from unusual components

PATRICIA WYATT • Santa Fe • paintings & mixed media

ANNETTE WRIGHT-GONZALES & JAMES WRIGHT • Santa Fe • contemporary sterling silver, pendants, necklaces, belts

SITE # 3—THE BIG TENT NEXT TO PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
On Highway 165

AMY ADSHEAD • Grants, NM • hand-inked, hand-printed copperplate etchings

JITSUDO ANCHETA • Albuquerque • printmaking linocuts & woodcuts

JERRY BARNETT • Albuquerque • kiln formed glass

JOLENE & GLORIA BIRD • Santo Domingo • silver pendants, rolled turquiose necklace, earring

SALLYJANE BOLLE • Santa Fe • wire wrapped stones in sterling & gold-filled jewelry, handpainted silk scarves

DONA CALLES • Santa Fe • image transfers of my photos on metal, paper, cloth,objects

CHARLES CHRISTMANN • Placitas • digital color photography of southwest landscapes, sunsets, animals

H. CORDOVA • Alamogordo, NM • primative fired clay sculpture

ADDIE DRAPER • Mountainair, NM • oils on board & canvas

CLAUDIA FLUEGGE • Albuquerque • hand painted silk scarves & paintings

LAZARO GUTIERREZ • San Ysidro • jewelry/contemporary designs

MOLLY HART • Santa Fe • mixed media non-precious wearable art jewelry

JOAN HELLQUIST • Placitas • wildlife images handpainted on drums

MARIO HINOJO • Albuquerque • intricately carved gourds by hand using images of the Southwest

ADRIAN MARTINEZ • Albuquerque • all natural wood inlay pictures

DAWN MCINTYRE • Albuquerque • handpainted silk scarves, wraps, ruanas

RANDY MILLER • Bernalillo • mosaic inlay jewelry

RUSSELL MOTT • Las Cruces, NM • raku fired and stoneware classically shaped

KAREN MELODY • Placitas • porcelain woven and braided/ freeform bowls

PHIL SONIER • Albuquerque • wildlife/nature photography

DIANA STETSON • Albuquerque • fine art printmaking, monotypes, collographs & etchings

HOLLY STULTS • Santa Fe • designer gold & silver jewelry using gemstones & pearls

DEB SUESS • Las Vegas, NM • rugs, wall hangings, scarves, shawls

JUDITH YOUNG & ALLAN EDGAR • Corrales • fabricated, stone mosiac, sterling/inlay jewelry