Butler sponsors American Holiday show

December 4, 2011 at 12:08a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

If you ask Ruth Jennings how she feels about Christmas, she might say that the holiday is more than it’s cracked up to be.

“I just fell in love with it,” said Jennings, owner of Alcraft Egg Artistry LLC of Brookfield, referring to her passion for decorating real eggshells. “It’s addictive.”

Only strategically placed cracks, however, can be found on Jennings’ decorative eggshells, numerous sizes and shapes of which she uses to make everything from vases on rotating stands to a ballerina.

She also is one of more than 100 local, regional and out-of-state artisans, crafters and other vendors taking part in the 41st annual American Holiday Fine Arts and Crafts Show and Sale, which got under way Saturday at the Butler Institute of American Art, 524 Wick Ave., on the city’s North Side.

The two-day event continues from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today at the Butler.

The show, which is a fundraiser for the museum’s education department, also kicks off Christmas in the city and is intended to give vendors a chance to show and sell their work, noted Kathy Earnhart, the Butler’s public-relations director.

Jennings, who started her business in 1971, recalled a friend persuading her to attend a three-day egg- decorating seminar in Cleveland in the early 1970s. From there, her passion grew, she said.

Jennings noted that she uses an air tool, a diamond cutter and an egg marker designed by her husband, Carl, to convert infertile eggs from hatcheries all over the country to art pieces that include tree ornaments, a small purse and mirror and a vase that opens on three sides. Some pieces are equipped with energy-efficient light bulbs on a timer.

“Sometimes I buy patterns and improvise on them,” said Jennings, adding that her merchandise sells for $10 to $2,000.

Assisting Jennings, who teaches egg-decorating classes three days a week, were friend Brenda Edwards and Jennings’ sister, Mary Anna Evans.

Also selling rather unorthodox items were Pamela M. Hughes and her daughter, Breanne, 16, who assemble and decorate small Christmas trees with thistles.

“Art comes very easily to me,” explained Hughes, who works from her Columbiana home. “Divine intervention helps.”

Also helping Hughes develop her talent was making and selling such trees with her mother when Hughes was a teenager. Hughes and her daughter also have a large backyard that provides many of the necessary art materials, she continued.

Mother and daughter assiduously glue thistles to Styrofoam cones before using white spray-paint to give the appearance of a light snow cover on the trees, which come in several colors. The paint takes two to five days to dry, and thistles are trimmed so as not to injure anyone, Breanne explained.

“Finding the right size [of thistle] is hard,” she added.

Another of Hughes’ specialties is using No. 2 and other pencils, pastel chalk and ink pens to draw landscapes, animals and American Indians, all of which she says are based mostly on her faith in God.

Those looking for hand-painted cypress knees and personalized ornaments needed to look no further than Debbie Phillips.

Phillips, owner of Greenville, Pa.-based Ornaments and More, paints Christmas and other themes on cypress knees derived from bald cypress trees that grow in swamps and bayous in the South.

“I’ve been painting for 20 years, mainly for family and friends,” said Phillips, who started her business six years ago.

Rather than stashing them away to collect dust, Phillips used several of her children’s baby utensils to design Santa Claus faces and many other designs.

Area sports fans probably will find an ornament to their liking because several are decorated with colors depicting the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Browns, Youngstown State University Penguins and Ohio State University Buckeyes.

Providing Christmas carols and patriotic songs Saturday was the Youngstown Connection.

Today’s show will feature a visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus from 1 to 3 p.m. as well as free artwork and antique appraisals. Each participant can bring up to two hand-carried items for appraisal.