{"id":23514,"date":"2015-12-17T00:01:32","date_gmt":"2015-12-17T08:01:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/?p=23514"},"modified":"2015-12-17T00:01:32","modified_gmt":"2015-12-17T08:01:32","slug":"fun-funky-fiber-art-woolly-scarves-and-down-and-dirty-angels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/fun-funky-fiber-art-woolly-scarves-and-down-and-dirty-angels\/","title":{"rendered":"Holiday Gifts: Fun, Funky Fiber Art — Woolly Scarves, and Down and Dirty Angels"},"content":{"rendered":"
\""South<\/a>
“South Beach Gizzy,” $300, by Cordelia De Vere, a glass artist who took up fiber art after\u00a0cancer struck in 2009. Photo by Barbara Newhall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Barbara Falconer Newhall<\/em><\/p>\n

More funky gifts from the artists and craftspeople of\u00a0Berkeley, California.\u00a0This time we celebrate fiber art in the form of in-your-face\u00a0dolls and woolly felt scarves.<\/p>\n

\"Cordelia<\/a>
De Vere’s “Vintage Angel #3.” As she healed from cancer, her dolls became more light-filled. Photo by Barbara Newhall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
In-Your-Face Fiber Art Dolls<\/h5>\n

Either you’ll love them — or they’ll give you the willies. They’re intricate, multi-layered works of fiber art up\u00a0from the unconscious\u00a0of East Bay cancer survivor Cordelia De Vere<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Cordelia’s dolls will set you back a bit — 300 bucks or so — even though they’re made from\u00a0much-used, much-battered materials, including (some of them) petite gloves that once belonged to the artist’s grandmother and great-grandmother.\u00a0Originally a glass artist, Cordelia is not against tacking a glitzy sprinkling\u00a0of Swarovsky crystals to her otherwise\u00a0earthy dolls.<\/p>\n

The more you look at these dolls, the more they get a hold on you — and creep into your unconscious.<\/p>\n

Funky Gifts: Miriam Abramowitsch’s Hand-Made Felt<\/h5>\n

They’re one-size-fits-all, cozy, warm — and cool, cool, cool.\u00a0They’ll dress up a plain outfit, and keep the winter chill off your neck.<\/p>\n

Miriam Abramowitsch\u00a0was wearing one of her\u00a0whimsical\u00a0scarves during a visit to Open Studios at Berkeley’s Sawtooth Building earlier this month. She makes the the felt herself — by combining wool, soap, water and pressure. (Wool’s the only fabric that transforms into\u00a0felt, she tells me.)<\/p>\n

Her scarves are\u00a0one of a kind, funky but sophisticated. Hmm. Maybe one will be coming my way this\u00a0Christmas.<\/p>\n

To learn more about the artisans’ studio hours and outlets, check out their websites. If you can’t visit them\u00a0in person, I’m pretty sure you’ll be able to order by email or phone.<\/p>\n

The annual Berkeley Artisans Holiday Open Studios\u00a0with its\u00a0self-guided tour and sale featuring\u00a0more than 100 local artisans\u00a0continues December 19-20.<\/p>\n

More handmade gift ideas at “Bernie Sanders Earrings, and Clocks Made of Vintage Books.”<\/a>\u00a0Also,\u00a0“Sue Johnson’s Lamps and Shades — Works of Art in Berkeley.”<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0Booklovers . . . it’s not too late to download an ebook copy of my book, “Wrestling with God”<\/a> — in plenty of time for Christmas and Kwanzaa.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Miriam<\/a>
Miriam Abramowitsch wore one of her scarves of hand-made felt during a visit to\u00a0Berkeley Artisans Holiday Open Studios. Photo by Barbara Newhall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"Cordelia<\/a><\/p>\n

Funky Gifts: Fiber art gets earthy these\u00a0days in Berkeley, where even angels can get down and dirty. Read more.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23541,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[1602,653,1603,1604,1605,34,1606,1600,1607,1004],"class_list":["post-23514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-a-case-of-the-human-condition","tag-angels","tag-arts-and-crafts","tag-berkeley-artisans","tag-cordelia-de-vere","tag-dolls","tag-dont-miss","tag-fiber-art","tag-gifts","tag-miriam-abramowitsch","tag-open-studios"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23514\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}