by Noella Noelophile®
Tomorrow evening, and all day Saturday, Irvine is hosting a unique Christmas shopping experience.
Don’t expect a crowded mall, lines in the food court or clerks asking, “Are you a member of our (insert the name here) Special Group?”
But what you can expect: hand-blown glass, folk crafts, jewelry and music. More than 100 gifted artists will be on hand. And, based on previous experience, the food will be excellent.
All this and a duck pond, too.
Where? The Irvine Fine Arts Center, as they host their 36th Annual Holiday Faire.
(Image courtesy of Freda Nelson Evans, and used with permission.)
Festivities start at 5 pm on Friday, and run till 9 pm. Then, on Saturday, they’re open from 9 am to 4 pm.
We attended Irvine Fine Arts Center’s summer “Studio Arts Festival” last year, and fell in love with the setting and the variety and high quality of work on exhibit. There were both indoor and outdoor exhibits of just about every creative medium imaginable: pottery, dichroic glass, silver, gold, mahogany and cherry wood… (Yes, I came home with a bunch of new favorites!)
And on the subject of wood, here are two artists we’re looking forward to seeing again.
(Photograph courtesy of Freda Nelson Evans, and used with permission.)
Self-taught wood artist J. Michael Evans crafts some luminous bowls, warm-looking pens and unique plates which he offers through his small business, Ozarks Wood-N-Stuff. I especially like his satiny “Supele” square lidded bowl, which you can see in his “Gallery Slideshow”. And his wife, fellow artist Freda Nelson Evans, emails that he’ll have a number of new items available for the Holiday Faire.
Freda, meanwhile, is an accomplished actress. Both she and Michael perform in the “Shepherd of the Hills” annual outdoor drama in Branson, Missouri. In addition, Freda portrays Mrs. Santa Claus at one of the local Missouri shopping areas, as well as a hotel.
(Here is a link to my 2017 interview with Michael, about his work!)
Now, unlike many of the other artists’ events and festivals mentioned on this site, the Irvine Holiday Faire does have an admission charge of $2.00 per attendee. That’s if you’re a “big kid”, as we are. Ages twelve and under get free admission, and parking is free.
And I can’t think of a better way to support our local artists while picking up some gifts that are going to wow everybody at Christmastime!