'Artful Giving' show presents handmade pieces

As the holiday season approaches, FRANK Gallery’s latest show “Artful Giving” offers a collection of handmade pieces to those who are looking for unique gifts and looking to support local artists during their holiday shopping.

Torey Mishoe, the gallery manager, said every November and December, the gallery usually does a holiday-inspired show to celebrate the time of year and focus on some of their artists who create giftable jewelry, ceramics, textiles, paper goods and other artwork.

“We have some scarf makers who do woven and silk scarves, and we have a ton of ceramicists and some really great invited jewelers just to really inspire people to not only shop for unique gifts but to shop locally and to purchase from your local craftsmen instead of seeking out something that’s a little bit more commercial or mass-produced,” she said.

“Artful Giving” will be on display for two months from Nov. 5 to Jan. 5. Most of the gallery’s 90 artists and 18 member artists will be represented in the show, Mishoe said.

Gordon Jameson, board chairman at the gallery, said two paintings that he created during a summertime trip in France will be on sale during the show.

“When I was on this trip, I was staying someplace that had a fish pond, and I did a lot of sketches dealing with the reflections and the objects that were floating in the water and under the water, so that’s where the paintings came from,” he said.

Jameson compared buying pieces from the gallery to shopping at a farmers’ market because it supports local artisans and allows money to stay within the local economy.

“If you are going to spend money on a gift for yourself or somebody that you care about, what better way to do it than buy something that’s unique and made by a local craftsman or artist,” he said.

Mirinda Kossoff, a FRANK member artist and organizer of the show, said each handmade piece has all of the passion and energy in it that the maker used in its creation.

“When I say handmade, we’re talking about really high-end but affordable work that you might find in a major craft show that’s juried, so there’s a very high standard to fit in with the paintings and the other two- and three-dimensional work in the rest of the gallery,” she said.

As a jeweler, Kossoff said she gets inspiration for her edgy but elegant work from both nature and the man-made world.

“I love going into hardware stores, looking at all the screws and washers and things like that,” she said. “My jewelry is kind of a reflection of both the nature-inspired and tool-inspired, hardware store-inspired kinds of things translated into fine and sterling silver.”

Kossoff said “Artful Giving” is a way to bring people into the gallery who might not normally visit and provide them with some affordable but beautifully handmade gifts to purchase for the holiday season.

“We are going to be offering a wide range of really beautiful, one-of-a-kind items, and they’ll be right there available for people on Franklin Street,” she said. “We just hope a lot of people will think of us as a gift destination.”

arts@dailytarheel.com