Don’t discount how holiday presents may shape the future of someone you love
By Lele Galer, Columnist, The Times
When we search for that perfect gift for our children, do you ever wonder what gift they will remember the most? Whether it is the gift of an experience or something purchased, a gift can be the catalyst to discovering a life’s passion. I asked some local successful artists what gift they received when they were young that inspired them creatively, and what gift they would like to receive now.
Unionville’s Doug Mooberry.
Renown furniture maker Doug Mooberry recalls his most inspirational gift, “My first grade teacher gave me a bag full of different color construction paper and lots of extra art supplies she had around the classroom. 45 years later I was able to thank her and tell her that I was still making use of my creative energies that she had helped. She lives at Kendal. It is the little pushes that you never know where they will lead…” Doug’s incredible furniture showroom and studio are located in the small town of Unionville. Make an appointment or stop in to walk through the gallery of fine furniture; a one on one encounter with timeless craftsmanship.
Jeff Schaller, internationally famous for his encaustic paintings of beautiful women, said that the gift he desired most as a child was an airbrush.. “Growing up, I always attended car shows with my dad. I would spend countless hours watching Big Ed Daddy Roth pinstripe a car or a vendor wield an airbrush with such precision and grace.
It was the gift of an airbrush that helped spark Jeff Schaller.
At the age of 12, I wanted Santa to bring me one of those tools of air accuracy. It was like a hand held graffiti pistol but legal and better yet if you used it on a t-shirt so you could get money for it. (Remember, this was the early 80’s so there was no photoshop, so if you wanted to highlight a photo you had to use an airbrush to do all those fancy angular fades in the neon colors of the 80s.) I wanted in!
Christmas morning I ran to the tree to spy any box that was smaller than a shirt box and wide enough to house my airbrush…nothing. I tore through my presents ungratefully and came upon the last wrapped box that my mom had handed me. It was definitely a shirt box (at the age of 12 you have this keen sense to decipher between clothes and fun stuff). I reluctantly grabbed it and started to unwrap it, clearing the tissue paper aside, there it was, disguised as clothing – my AIRBRUSH! …Many jean jackets have been adorned with that magical instrument, and many t-shirts were painted to help pay my way through college. Recently I took it back out to add as under-painting in my encaustic work.
Local architect, Wayne Simpson, remembered receiving a set of wooden blocks in his childhood. “I was given wooden blocks as a child after I threw a fit in Kindergarten because it wasn’t my turn to play with the blocks!” On his wish list for this year is, “I am getting excited about all the new software allowing digital sketching right on your handheld device…”. Examples of Wayne’s beautiful, unique houses can be seen throughout the East Coast.
Painter David Katz would really love “Quality brushes that actually last and work as promised”, and he says that the best gift of childhood advice was when his Kindergarten teacher told his mother, “Put a pencil or paint brush in David’s hand.” Artist and Delaware Valley Art League President Jeanne Gunther remembers being inspired by a gift of praise, “I received a gift of praise from my teacher regarding my drawing/painting skills when I was just in the fourth grade (my class was working on a “Under the Sea” mural at the time). Mr. Orlando’s kind words made me feel very special – which in turn inspired me to continue to make art every chance I had. Of course at that age my medium of choice was Crayola Crayons!” Assemblage sculptor Brian Marshall, best known for his Adopt-a-Bots, has “vintage spice tins” and “aluminum measuring spoons” on his holiday wish list. Brian says that “legos” were his hands-down favorite, “Legos would be the toy that started my creativity when I was a kid.” Brian is a Middle School teacher at Charles F Patton Middle School and has a strong following for his one-of a kind robot creations; which can be found at The Merchant of Menace re-imaginers gallery in the historic village of Marshallton, in West Chester.
Painter David Oleski would like a gift of “A Mac Pro with a 12 core processor and 40 gigs of RAM, because only then will I know true happiness.” David recalls a wonderful gift from his father, “My father sat me down with a straightedge and taught me all about one-point perspective. Ever since then I’ve been a master of everything I see. I think I was 7 or 8 at the time.” David regularly shows in exhibitions all over the country, heads up the new Downingtown Fine Art Festival, and will be a featured studio on the Chester County Studio Tour this Spring.
Sculptor Jill Beech would love to have a new wooden mallet. Currently she is working on creating large sculptural “pods” made from steel frame and pulverized Kozo root. I would like “a really good mallet for pounding/hammering Kozo – my current sledge hammer is rather heavy and the wooden “hammer” is not the best- though both ensure a great arm workout!! (or maybe just degeneration of the joints)” she adds. Looking back on childhood gifts, Jill remarks, “nothing specific stands out except seemingly always having pencils and paper available for drawing… children’s books with wonderful illustrations and time for imagining and drawing/doodling.” Jill recently finished her extremely popular studio open house, and has work at Mala Galleria in Kennett Square.
Rhoda Kahler
Ceramic artist Rhoda Kahler said that the “gift I would love to receive this Christmas, would be new elements for my kiln…..my kiln is firing so incredibly slow that I know the elements are shot. I would love if they would magically appear on Christmas morning!” The most important gift for her as a child was a ball of yarn, “I realized that if I had a ball of yarn I could knit or crochet all my Barbie doll clothes and create everything for my doll houses (at the early age of eight)… I knitted and crocheted all their clothes too…..legwarmers, skirts, hats, chaps, rugs for the floor of the dollhouse (which was actually just a bookcase) and I took the books off and created it into a dollhouse… with hanging curtains, room dividers, chandeliers… All knitted and crocheted and some sewn…” Rhoda’s fine ceramic work is currently showing at the Red Raven Art Company in Lancaster, the upcoming “Contrast” show at The Art Trust in West Chester, and in Harrisburg at the Pennsylvania Governor’s Mansion Invitational Exhibition.
Echoing the desire of a few other 3-D artists that I know of, wood sculptor John Rush would most like to receive a forge. He writes, “The art supply that I would like to receive now would be a forge. I started working in metal three years ago and I want to twist metal as I do wood. “Think sculpture Stan Smokler” I love metal and wood!….My ah hah moment hands down was in 1984 at The Wharton Eshrick Museum. It was when I understood I could actually manipulate wood into any shape I could imagine. Thank You Bob Davis!” John Rush recently had a wonderful co-exhibit of wildlife inspired sculptures with metal sculptor Jeff Bell at The Delaware Museum of Natural History.
John Rush, Jeff Bell, and hundreds of others including me, can all credit steel artist Stan Smokler with inspiring us to create in metal. Stan said that what he would like most this year is “Any book related to Sculpture – I keep on investigating and learning how or what is done in the world of Sculpture…” Stan wrote that his most inspiring childhood gift was an “Etch a Sketch” because of its “….unlimited variations of space and line….!!!” Stan Smokler‘s fabulous show at The Delaware Art Museum, “Reconstructed Elements” closes January 3, 2016. Bring your family to the Delaware Art Museum over the holidays and who knows what painting of sculpture might change their lives forever.
Great article Lele.