From Pins to Pots--They’ve Got the Goods

‘Tis the season for holiday shopping, and the Contemporary Crafts Market, returning to Santa Monica’s Civic Auditorium this weekend, may be just the place to get started.

The market will feature 240 national artists, chosen from a pool of more than 600 applicants, who will display their wares, from home furnishings to wearable art, to woodwork, sculptures, jewelry, glass art and more.

Founder and director of the market, Roy Helms, says this weekend’s show will offer a fresh look and many new faces. “We’re seeing more sculpture this time, some very innovative. One artist, Phillip Glashoff of Suisun City, Calif., makes wonderful metal sculpture from found objects. You might call it junkyard sculpture, but it’s so whimsical.”

Another of the featured artists is Carole Belogus-Shearer of Rancho Mirage, who creates papier-mache vessels, bowls, plates, mirrors and vases. Within her work she incorporates paper created from plants and fibers collected from across the country, including the California desert.

Ceramist Pati Lee Holly specializes in piggy banks. Her banks have taken such fanciful forms as giraffes eating jelly beans and frogs with backpacks.

Also at the show is Beverly Shamana, a gourd artist from Eagle Rock. Shamana became interested in gourds as a collector. Now she designs both gourd vessels and figures incorporating found objects. Shamana’s work is also influenced by her faith; she’s an ordained minister who considers gourds to be “God’s first pots.”

Now in its 14th season, the Contemporary Crafts Market stops twice a year in Santa Monica and once in San Francisco.

This weekend’s schedule will offer two artist lectures: Saturday at 1:30 p.m., Belogus-Shearer will discuss the origins of papier-mache in ancient China and India. Stoneware artist Laurie Hennig will deliver a talk, “Clay: A Sticky Sense of Possibility,” Sunday at 1:30 p.m. A winner for a $500 shopping spree will be drawn at 7:30 p.m. Friday, and additional door prizes will be awarded Sunday.

* Contemporary Crafts Market, 2-8 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, 1855 Main St. Adults, $5; children under 12, free. (310) 285-3655.