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Shoppers who fear the crowds at craft fairs and shopping malls were treated to a more homey experience at the Artists' Christmas Sale at Beth Andrewes' Kailua house, where instead of the usual tangle of baby strollers and oblivious aisle blockers, the worst they confronted was a wayward 5-year-old pig. Crafts sale at Kailua home
had patrons in hog heavenBy Nadine Kam
Nkam@starbulletin.comThe Andreweses' family pet, Pua, took the crowd in stride, reserving her enthusiasm for the brownies, chocolate-dipped cookies and fruit punch that had been set out for guests, while shoppers squealed with delight in spying the ceramic sculptures and boxes (in the shape of bunnies in magician hats or rabbits, dogs and monkeys wrapped in duckie inner tubes) by Rochelle Lum; the Harry Potter-style wooden wands and feather-and-paper bowls by Lori Uyehara; and wares by Jeff Berenberg, Kathy Cowan, May Izumi, Ed Love, Sally Murchison and Jim Winters.
The sale on Dec. 1 was a fund-raiser to help the group stage an installation in 2003. It's not easy raising funds for the arts, and Andrewes said she wanted to help by providing a place for them to sell their wares.
Pua was intrigued by all the action but got cranky once she found out the brownies were off limits. (You would be, too, if you had to settle for chewing on ice and pellets.)
"To us (Pua's presence) looks like attention, but to her it's all about food. My friends call her Kalua Pua," Andrewes said. "She's kind of a menace in our family, but it's funny because she's become an inspiration for the artists. They're all making pigs in different media, and she's like the mascot of the group."
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Lum has created several happy-pig sculptures, Uyehara has made wooden flying-pig Christmas tree ornaments, and Berenberg offers for sale dozens of ceramic pig sculptures/whistles in several sizes.Berenberg was entertained by the shoppers, studying their impressions of the work presented. An oncologist in his other life, he considers art his medicine.
"When I do art, it restores me," he said. "I'm not a doctor or anything like that; I can get away from it."
Berenberg has always had an interest in art, but he didn't pursue it until meeting a patient who was studying paper-making.
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"I did whatever I could to help her achieve what she needed to do at the end of her life, including encouraging her to take an art tour in Japan, reassuring her friends that even though she was in a wheelchair and on oxygen, that this was something she wanted and they should do everything to support her."After she died, her spirit kind of went into me; I don't know, that kind of encouraged me," he said.
Meanwhile the spirit of Christmas inhabited shopper Di Henderson, who walked out with one of Uyehara's wands and a chubby pig by Izumi.
The wand is going to her friend Patty in Santa Cruz, and the pig is going to her sister in Colorado, "and this time I'm really going to do it instead of keeping them," Henderson said. Never mind that the surprise is now spoiled because they read the Star-Bulletin online.
"It's OK to run the picture; I think they'll be thrilled because then I can't renege."
Andrewes also showed up Saturday at the "We've Wigged Out -- Pre-Christmas Art Sale," this time a helping to bag works by Donna and Esther Shimazu, Vicky Chock, Jo Rowley, Cora Yee, Kay Mura and Bev Creamer.
The event started at 9 a.m. at Mura's Kailua home, but patrons started lining up at 8 a.m. to get first dibs on the artists' wares.
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Coffee and cider kept the natives from getting too restless, and the lucky ones knew what they wanted and got out before the lines started forming to pay for purchases.It was slow going as customers circled tables featuring jewelry, miniature sculptures and prints.
Overheard was many a discussion of collectors' woes. One gentleman was looking for a big piece of sculpture as miniature pieces have a tendency to become clutter. He noted that his significant other hates clutter. A friend tried to help, saying, "Jewelry's safe."
One woman, having bought a Yee print last year, was a returnee, telling her friend, "My husband hates it, but I don't care.
"I love it," she said as she eyed a new print.
Imagine the surprises Christmas morning!
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