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Get a unique last-minute gift
YOUNGSTOWN
Christmas Eve is three days away and you still have to shop, so off you go to the crowded stores for mass-produced, boring gifts.
Doesn’t that sound great? Maybe you can find one of those pictures of the dogs sitting around the table playing poker — usually a big hit.
Oh, let’s face it. Christmas shopping is not always easy. You’re so busy with work and housework. There are always people who are so hard to shop for. Time slips away, and before you know it, it’s the dreaded Last Minute.
Well, this year we can give banality the brush-off. Artists of the Rustbelt’s Last-Minute Art Market is here to help us.
Gathered at the B&O Station, 530 Mahoning Ave., 41 renowned regional artists, most from the Mahoning Valley, are offering original, affordable work for sale.
They were selected from 65 applicants for the annual Christmas sale, said Tony Nicholas, the event’s main organizer for Artists of the Rustbelt.
“It’s tough to turn that many people away, but we just didn’t have the space,” he said Saturday as people strolled through the main floor and also browsed upstairs.
Nicholas’ own work features a series of photos, each tied in with a historic image of Youngstown. They are available unmatted, in 11x17 prints for $20, and in larger, matted prints for $75.
He captures the industrial history of the city that “for a long time, people didn’t want to talk about,” he said.
“It’s done a 180,” he continued. “Now, people are embracing it.”
Youngstown themes are featured at the hands of another prominent area artist. Tucked away in the back room upstairs is a display by Bob Barko Jr.
Barko, who lives in Boardman, does fine graphic art — original pencil sketches, with larger ones printed from a lithograph and smaller ones digitally printed.
“The first piece I did was a Youngstown skyline celebrating Youngstown’s bicentennial, and then was approached to do an Idora Park piece,” he said. “And it just took off.”
A lot of his work has been customer- driven, he said: “Every piece begets another piece.”
His artwork features historical and contemporary Youngstown, and his collection is extensive. His work was drawing a lot of interest from people who sifted through unframed prints that range in price from $5 to $20. Framed prints are available as well at $40, and a small original illustration is available for $250.
On the first floor, Eric Alleman has his prints available for $20.
“I paint, and also work in print making,” he said, explaining he has hand-drawn and hand-cut stencils.
“I apply paint through different mediums — brushes, paint rollers, sponges — for different textures.”
Mary Learman, a ceramic artist from Boardman, has her Clay Creations available. They include beautiful bowls with hand-carved designs to coffee mugs with sculpted funny faces.
Learman makes all her pottery in a studio on the second floor of her home.
The show includes plenty of choices for the jewelry lovers on your Christmas list.
Jill Davis of Warren offers Larimar, a gemstone found only in a volcano in the Dominican Republic. It’s the color of the Caribbean sea. There are rough stones for the budget-conscious, and polished stones if you can spend a little more. Prices range from $43 to $325.
She also has water-buffalo bone carvings from a Tibetan tribe and hand-poured pewter designs.
Even flowers have been pressed into service as art. Make sure to stop on the second floor to see the delicate creations of Deanna Gueieri and Sarah Moynihan of Austintown. Their pressed-flower pendants range from $20 to $30.
The show continues today from noon to 5 p.m. Admission is $1.