Local artists working well off the beaten path offer a unique approach to holiday shopping. You may be running behind on filling your gift list, but these local crafters can help you out:

Donna Angelo

Hand-strung jewelry for sale

The self-described “bead stringer” opens her home once a year for holiday shoppers.

When and where to get her stuff:

I’ll have my open house, open studio on Sunday, December 16, from 12-8pn. There’ll be food, drinks and all that good stuff. I send an invite out to all the people on my mailing list, and anyone else is welcome, too.

What she does and how she does it:

Because it’s such a competitive industry, especially here, it’s really hard to define yourself and to be something unique and different. I’ve been trying to do things like cold connections, and making mosaics. For instance, if I can’t find the right bead for something, I’ll make my own by making a mosaic. And in addition to that I’ve been forming my own hand-formed accent beads, which really sets it apart from what other people are doing, too.

And I’m hoping this winter…I’m gonna collaborate with Aaron Krehbiel, who works with metal, and I’m gonna break out the saw and start silversmithing. Color is really what I want to do. I love the semi-precious stones, so I don’t want to be just a metal artist. It’s definitely always a work in progress, because you have to keep changing things because styles change. I’m trying to use chains, too, in different ways. But the mosaic is really the cool thing. And I have a love affair with tourmaline, too. It’s a problem, actually.

The other direction I’m going is with raw stones, things that are really organic in shape, and unfinished, and you combine those with real shiny things, and it really brings a depth. It’s the textures and the colors together that I think make what I do different from what other people are doing. It’s really about color. And I think what I try to do is something a little more funky, a little more contemporary.

On what sells:

Coin pearls. Anything with coin pearls. People love coin pearls. And necklaces, two or three stranded necklaces. Styles that combine the chain, with the mosaic, with the beads. And it’s all semi-precious. There’s no glass. There’s no crystal. It’s just pearls and stones. But I can’t wait to get in there and start drilling holes in things and making more crazy weird stuff. And with implementing these new ways of doing things, I’m going to try to get into some really good shows next year. I want to go to Connecticut, I want to try and do the Hudson Valley..

On making a living:

I would say in the last two years I’ve really invested a lot of money. It’s very competitive, that’s the thing. Buffalo is a huge city of jewelers. And I have to give kudos to Wild Things (Where the Wild Things Are) because I really believe that they are supportive, and they opened the doors for a lot of people. You could go there and take a class, and they show you the skills and I think it’s because of them that we have such a huge community of jewelry people. I took my class there, and I did sell my stuff up at Wild Things when I was doing clay work. Making barrettes with car parts and lock parts and stuff.

I’ve been doing this 14 years, but until more recently it wasn’t so much of a commitment. I made jewelry for fun. And I had another job to support myself, at Cybele’s Cafe. And then four or five years ago I broke my leg and I couldn’t work at the restaurant. So after that the jewelry started being full time, and now it’s what I do. And I’m making a living at it, along with the personal chef thing I also do.

I cook for a few families, and I have a huge wedding I’m catering next August. And I cook at home all the time. Tonight we’re having venison chili, with Mexican chocolate, and smoked chorizo, and Mexican oregano, and Ancho chilies that I rehydrated. If the beads don’t work, if it doesn’t work for me in the long run, I’m selling out and doing a taqueria. It would be hot pink and Jalapeno green. Again, it’s all about the color.

On working at home:

I’ve tossed around the idea of a studio. I like working at home, I like being at home, but I think a lot of times it’s hard to self-motivate. If you have a space that you’re paying for, you’re gonna go there. And maybe it could be open a couple days a week and then people could come then. Because I don’t always want to tell people to come to my house. I haven’t really pursued that yet. But also, I’m getting a website up, and it will have a whole new look, with a redesigned logo: “DNA Designs—Wear What’s Inside.”

Her philosophy:

I’m not interested in replicating things. That doesn’t interest me. It’s like a purging, once it’s out it’s out, I’m done. I’ll do different things, different combinations in a style, but I don’t make the same exact thing twice.

Colors, textures, the hand forming of the beads. The key is to try to do something that other people aren’t doing. Basically, I’m taking it up a couple of notches. Breaking out the torches, breaking out the saw, breaking out the drills, breaking out the tools. And I’m gonna start implementing silversmithing techniques in combination with all the colors. The more I do it, the better I get at it, and I find, in that process, the more I get a thrill. It’s exciting. And if I stop feeling like that then I’m selling the beads and I’ll open up a taqueria. That’s all there is to it.

And her own, personal style? (I point out that she, herself isn’t wearing any jewelry).

You know, I really don’t. If I were going somewhere really important, I’d probably put a piece on. But I’m happy at home. I live in Buffalo. I live on the West Side. And I’m kind of a tomgirl.

And what does she like better—cooking or beading?

Whatever makes me more money. [She laughs.] I would definitely say jewelry.

To get on her mailing list or for directions to her open house this weekend contact 885-3012 or dnajewelrydesigns@aol.com.

MATT QUINN

& SCOTT SWIEZY

T-shirts for everyone, handmade in Buffalo

Scott Swiezy started silk screening T-shirts years ago out of a studio in his home. The likenesses of such heroes as Mr. T and Gilligan—and anti-heroes like Dick Cheney (picture the vice president’s visage with one word‚“DICK,” underneath)—were soon gracing the chests of those lucky enough to know Swiezy personally. Then he struck a note through a fortuitous collaboration with a friend, Matthew Quinn, and their jointly designed “Let’s Go Buffalo” Sabres T-shirt. The shirts flew when the duo started selling them at games during the 2006 playoffs, and the success cemented Quinn and Swiezy’s partnership. They now print only on American Apparel shirts—a recent upgrade in quality—and are more committed than ever to creating Buffalo-themed designs. The newest features a sketch of the Buffalo skyline on the front, and the phrase “Love It Or Leave It” printed on back. If this smacks of an aggressive, civic-minded patriotism, it’s spawned from certain ideals. The inspiration for the shirts, Quinn and Swiezy say, came from “seeing a lot of good friends leave the city. And either thinking about doing that or even leaving for a while ourselves.” But instead, they agree, “we decided to stay in town and raise our kids here.”

So it doesn’t mean that if you left Buffalo you can’t love it, or that if you don’t love it you should necessarily leave. It just means that if you do live in Buffalo, then you really ought to love it.

A website will be up soon where people will be able to customize their own shirts. For now, they are available in all sizes at Stache (611 Elmwood Ave.) through Christmas. Sabres’ shirts will be sold at the “Ice Bowl” on New Year’s Day. E-mail quinn@artvoice.com for more info.

CARLA LAVORCHICK

& MARK FREELAND

Silk-screened items, postcards, books and CDs by a local legend

“Mark touched a lot of lives. I like to compare it to the rock thrown into the water—Mark Freeland ripples are passing through generations of people,” says Carla Levorchick. “There are Freeland fans who consist of three generations. And I’ve met people who only met Mark at his funeral and were inspired by him and passed that inspiration on to their children. I think why Mark is so inspirational is because of his message: ‘Be your best and be yourself.’ Mark didn’t just say these words, he lived them. We can hear, see and touch his creativity by reading his books and listening to his CDs.”

Long-time girlfriend and life partner to the late, great Mark Feeland, Carla Lavorchick is making it possible for everyone to have a piece of his work this holiday season.

“When I was trying to organize some stuff in the house I found a stencil Mark did, a cardboard cutout, and my idea for a T-shirt was so I could be wearing Mark’s art, or wearing Mark—either his face or his artwork. And I found this stencil that actually was Mark’s face in his artwork, so it worked out perfect. I got that, made a copy and brought it to Planet Love and they made a silkscreen and we printed the shirts from there. We had them first available at the Mark Freeland tribute, which made it pretty special…Recently I got that made into a tote bag too. It’s real handy and a great size. Mark’s original artwork won’t be available until I get it all catalogued. But it will be.”

Carla says one of Mark’s goals—along with “to be famous”— was “for everyone to have something ‘Freeland.’”

He’s already famous to us, and almost anyone who ever met him, saw his artwork or listened to his music came away with something “Freeland.” As to Mark’s third goal, “to make it so I work for him instead of going to my job,” Carla adds, well, that could happen, too. Especially if everyone buys something “Freeland” this Christmas.

Postcards from $1-25; short-sleeved T-shirts $12; long-sleeved T-shirts $14; tanktops $10; posters $5; totebags $12; books & CDs $10. Available on-ine at www.markfreeland. com and at New World Record. Books are at Talking Leaves.

URBAN ROOTS

Plants and flowers, outdoor furniture, and stuff for the birds...

Urban Roots Community Gardens has turned itself into an unexpected holiday store this shopping season. A year-round place to buy plants, flowers, shrubs, trees and vegetables, gardening tools, soil, mulch, organic products and gifts for gardeners, Urban Roots has “wintrified” its selection and is offering wreaths, poinsettias, amaryllis, living potted Christmas trees, Christmas cacti, garlands, holiday decor and more. Gifts for gardeners including bird baths, bird houses, ergonomic tools, exceptional pots, weather gages and thermometers, T-shirts, wind chimes and a host of locally made artisanal gifts. Any purchases help benefit the community-owned cooperative that works with local growers in order to bring regional products to the area and support our local economy as much as possible. They also host neighborhood workshops to get the community invloved in planting and growing. So stop in to buy something for the gardener on your list, or to decorate your own home for the holidays. And keep in mind, items like those pictured here are durable enough to be outside year round. It’s not just a summertime store!

Urban Roots Community Garden Center, 428 Rhode Island Street, around the corner from Richmond Avenue (362-8982/www.urbanroots.org). Extended hours through Christmas: Monday, Wednesday, Friday 10am-5pm; Thursday, Saturday 10am-7pm; Sunday 11am-5pm. Closed Tuesdays.