Among the dozens of items on offer at the Featherstone Holiday Gift Show — from ceramics and knitwear to jewelry and ornaments — you’ll also find works of art by a number of different participants. If you want to give someone something truly unique, there are smaller-scale paintings, photos, and sculptures to be found among the treasure trove. Here are just a few selections.
Rebecca Everett is known for her masterful oil paintings, a number of which she has created in smaller sizes just for the show. Along with some petite botanicals and vegetable paintings, Everett is also offering a number of Vineyard landscapes. “I’m particularly drawn to the shorelines,” she says. “I love the interplay between the sky, land, and water.”
Everett’s little gems are all framed, and priced between $150 and $300. “I’ve selected smaller pieces for the holiday show in order to offer affordability,” she says.
David Joseph’s little found object assemblages combine his passion for art and his background in the sciences. Having for many years worked as a physician and inventor (Joseph continues in that capacity, mainly designing medical devices), and previously earning a degree in engineering from MIT, the Florida and Vineyard resident has equally demonstrated his creative side in his travel photography and, more recently, his found object art.
“I’ve been involved in art all my life,” says Joseph. “After high school I was offered a scholarship to the Art Institute of Chicago, but I realized that it would be easier to be a scientist and do art on the side than to be an artist and do science on the side.”
Joseph first began creating witty little assemblages after undertaking the task of cleaning out his garage during the pandemic. “I was going stir-crazy,” he recalls. “I decided to organize, and as I was doing that, I started looking at the possibility in random objects, and I began putting things together.”
After some early success with sales, the scientist-turned-artist began scavenging flea markets, garage sales, and thrift shops searching for more materials, using everything from plumbing and electrical supplies to old tins, to kids’ toys to create a fanciful world of robots and fantastical birds and beasts.
Vasha Brunelle knows a lot about birds, especially seabirds. For the past dozen or so years, she has worked with Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary, monitoring coastal waterbirds. She also served as secretary for the sanctuary committee, and painted several signs and murals for the popular Island preserve.
It’s not surprising, then, that Brunelle has turned her sights on seabirds for a series of small paintings featuring egrets, sanderlings, and other local inhabitants. Her colorful little oil paintings on boards show a real appreciation for Island wildlife.
Bricque Garber has also recently turned her attention to birdlife. Best known for her collage work combining handmade paper, paint, and bits of fabric, a few years back Garber started creating a colorful series of mixed-media “winter birds” for the Featherstone show. “The first year I did chickadees, followed by cardinals, owls, blackbirds on rock walls, woodpeckers, and mourning doves,” she says. “This year there are a few of each.”
If you’re looking for something really unique, you can browse Deborah Black’s selection of colorful painted tiles featuring flowers, fruit, and small scenes, or check out Kathy Poehler’s fun collages made from Vineyard seaweed styled into flowers and figurative images.
There’s plenty more artwork to explore, along with handmade gifts of every variety. Kick off your Christmas shopping at Featherstone this year, and you may not have to look anywhere else.
Featherstone’s Holiday Gift Show is open 12 to 4 pm every day through Dec. 17.