Recently, I set myself a last-minute holiday shopping challenge. What could be found in the way of interesting, preferably handmade, gifts without driving more than half hour?
Luckily, we live in an area that is enriched and enlivened by artists and artisans. From my home in Leyden, I could have driven to Greenfield, Shelburne Falls (more like 40 minutes) or up to Brattleboro, Vt. I chose Turners Falls as my destination because it’s an easy, back roads shot from Leyden, down Bernardston Road to Lover’s Lane, through the industrial park and over the bridge. Also, frankly, Turners intrigues me. There’s a scrappy, by-your-bootstraps quality to the town’s art and food scene. And for such a compact downtown, there are a lot of choices.
Art, crafts, jewelry
I stopped at Nina’s Nook at 125 Ave. A, because I know shop owner Nina Rossi, and I know she’s always got something interesting going on.
The walls and shelves were packed with art, crafts and jewelry, much of it created by Rossi herself, but also many items gathered from other local artists and craftspeople.
At a small table set up at the back of the narrow shop, Rossi was painting a hipster on the largest doll in a set of wooden nesting dolls. She’s been working on a series of figures called “Wee the People,” Rossi said. The series includes these “Demographic Nesting Dolls,” as well as assemblages she calls “Flag Rippers.”
The hipster Rossi was painting will be joined in its set by other cool characters from various time periods, such as a punk, a beatnik and a hippie. Another set called “Downsizing Debbie” is darkly humorous. It begins with a plump woman who loses weight on each successive doll until the last one is a skeleton.
The nesting dolls, each a set of five detailed paintings nestled one inside the other, sell for $50. Other items, such as handmade ceramic mice, were only $5, and there are plenty of items in the shop in the $25 to $35 range.
Rossi’s Flag Rippers, assemblages that form a figure tearing a piece of an American flag, are meant to express our right and our ability to protest our government.
“The flag rippers are just part of an idea of re-imagining the flag and what freedom means and looks like,” Rossi explained later in an email. “Are we heading into a process of destruction from which emerges something new and better? The ripped flags are symbols of divisiveness, but also a willingness to re-invent.”
Leatherworks
Just a short stroll up toward the 3rd Street light is Luis Felipe Gonzalez Perez’s shop, Mariachi Shoe Repair and Leatherwork, at 111 Ave. A. Gonzalez Perez was at work repairing a zipper on a fleece jacket when I poked my head in but stopped working to show me around.
Handmade wallets at the front of the shop were $25 or $35. Most had a pocket on the outside for a driver’s license, a new feature he’s added. There were also belts, key chains, pouches, and exquisite small shoes and sandals sized for American Girl dolls.
He likes to recycle leather, Gonzalez Perez said, and uses the various colors and textures to create interesting combinations. He took a beat-up leather jacket from a shelf and stretched the shoulder area out to show me a beautifully worn section just large enough to shape into a wallet.
While I was in the shop, a woman I knew came in and picked up a pair of boots she’d had re-soled with new Vibram soles.
“This is my son’s Christmas present,” she said.
Gonzalez Perez said that many people had brought in sentimental items to be repaired as gifts for their family members. On one shelf, a satchel that had belonged to a woman’s grandmother was waiting to be repaired. Gonzalez Perez can also do alterations to shoes or boots to accommodate bunions or a wider calf.
Jewelry, paintings and more
Tangible Bliss, at 38 3rd Street, was closed on Monday when I stopped by. A sign on the door reminded customers that they were always open on their Facebook page, where a quick look revealed earrings made from semi-precious stones wrapped in silver wire made by Jae Roberge, paintings by Kara Lynne and other items. The shop is running a holiday promotion in which a purchase of $40 or more entitles you to a free $10 gift certificate. Check out the Facebook page for more information, or call 413-834-3663.
Found and made items
Around the corner, back up on Avenue A, is one of my all-time favorite shops, LOOT Found & Made at 62 Ave. A. The shop sells all manner of funky found industrial items — such as circa 1989 combination locks from Greenfield High School lockers — furniture, scavenged wooden boxes and type trays, plus handcrafts and art.
Owner Erin MacLean said the shop has a local focus but she sometimes finds items by small artisans from farther afield that fit with the personality of LOOT’s other offerings.
She showed me small paintings and magnets on wood by Casey Williams of Athol. Magnets were $12; paintings $30. Williams has also created a line of beautifully illustrated graphic maps of the area, available as postcards or prints, and has some paintings on burlap on display in the shop.
Other items made by local folks include Linocut prints, candles and notebooks by Luke David Mechem, hand-stitched notebooks bound with geological maps of Greenfield and Turners by Vermont artist Eric Drzewianowski and handmade glass candy canes, icicles and stirrer sticks by Dillon Stoltenburg.
“This is a great host or hostess gift,” MacLean said, lifting one of the candy canes from the tray. “Each one is unique” just about sums up what’s so great about buying handcrafted items or art.
As Rossi said to me earlier, “In a world that is so often ‘same-same,’ there’s room for a gift that brings originality and creativity into someone’s life.”