Members of the Hillsborough Gallery of Arts present their annual holiday show, The Art of Giving, from November 14^th through December 31^st with an Opening Reception on November 24^th from 6 - 9pm.
Each holiday season the members of the Hillsborough Gallery of Arts transform the gallery to showcase original holiday ornaments and hand-made gifts. The gallery's 21 members work in a variety of media, providing a wide array of fine art and fine craft for holiday shoppers. The glass art includes hand-blown vessels, ornaments, hummingbird feeders and paperweights. The jewelry in the show covers a variety of styles and techniques, from copper and bronze to sterling and fine silver necklaces, earrings, bracelets and rings, some with gold accents and stones. Visitors will also find metal sculpture, figurative sculpture, pottery, and hand-made furniture. Oil, watercolor, and acrylic paintings, scratchboard, collage, fine art photography, digital art, photomontage and mixed media work festively surround the three-dimensional pieces on pedestals.


Holiday ornaments and other decorations are an annual specialty. Painter Chris Graebner creates small scratchboard ornaments. Starting with a 2” square of clayboard she covers the clay with black ink, then scratches through the ink creating the image of an individual flower, a tulip, an orchid, a poppy, a lily, etc. Each one is different. She paints the scratched image with colored inks, scratching and inking repeatedly to achieve the desired depth and color. Then she covers the back of the ornament with gold leaf. Each ornament is different, and each is an original piece of art.
Artist Lynn Wartski creates small, felted wool ornaments of polar bears and puffins. She uses a wire armature covered with quilt batting and colored wool which she needle-felts to achieve the desired shape and fullness. This year Lynn has some larger one-of-a-kind ornaments, including a bear on skis and a coffee drinking mouse. Lynn also has needle-felted trees in various sizes.
Furniture maker Pete Rodrigues made ornaments by cutting thin slices of hardwood with an interesting grain and filling any voids in the wood with transparent colored epoxy. He also has charcuterie boards and coasters.
Potter Evelyn Ward has created hand-built, raku-fired bird ornaments in many sizes and colors. Jude Lobe has more southwestern themed shaman ornaments this year. As always, glassblower Pringle Teetor has made many beautiful blown-glass balls in many colors, patterns and textures. She also has her lighted fairy orbs for the second year.   

Come in and explore all the original art on display at the Hillsborough Gallery of Arts and find a perfect gift for that special person.

The Art of Giving runs from November 14^th through December 31^st with a reception during Hillsborough’s Last Fridays Art Walk on Friday, November 24^th from 6-9pm.

About the Gallery
The Hillsborough Gallery of Arts is owned and operated by 21 local artists and represents these established artists exhibiting contemporary fine art and fine craft. The gallery's offerings include watercolor, oil and acrylic paintings, metal and figurative sculpture, ceramics, photography, digital art, photomontage, jewelry, glass arts, metals, encaustic, enamel, and handcrafted furniture. 121 N. Churton Street, Hillsborough, NC 27278. Phone: (919) 732-5001. The gallery’s hours are 10am-6pm Monday – Saturday, 12-4pm on Sunday. More information can be found on the HGA website: http://www.HillsboroughGallery.com