The holidays mean different things to different people. In a new art exhibit in Boscawen, artists use the holidays as inspiration for their creations centered around connecting to home, family and celebration.
Twiggs Gallery is showcasing works surrounding the theme “Comfort and Joy” from several New Hampshire artists through Dec. 18.
Laura Morrison, the gallery manager at Twiggs, organized the exhibit and has art pieces in it, too.
“My idea for the theme came from the refrain from the Christmas carol, ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,’ ” Morrison said in an email. “I think we all seek comfort and joy during the holiday season by trying to connect to home, friends and family.”
Artists were invited to submit works that they felt fit the theme. Morrison also reached out to artists she thought would be a good fit.
Participating artists also include Mary Bates, Anne Boedecker, Paulette Brace, Donna Catanzaro, Elizabeth D’Amico, Betty Glass, Flo Parlangeli, Marcy Pope, Carolyn Rordan, Adele Sanborn, Gail Smuda, Joan Tierney and Sandra White.
Jackie Hansen, a student at Belmont High School, will also display her work in the student corner.
Morrison worked with Smuda on four collaborative books that recall the feeling of home.
“We created a small edition of artist’s books inspired by vintage images of our town, Concord,” Morrison said. “We found the images in the Concord Room at the library. We combined vintage and contemporary photos we took ourselves around four themes: Snow, Daily Work, Water and Our Town. Each accordion book comes nestled in a wool wrapping inside it’s own box.
“Some books are all vintage photos, some are contemporary photos that have a vintage feel, others have a mixture. We love how you can look at old photos of Concord and instantly recognize the locations since so many of the historic buildings have been preserved. We wanted to meld together old and new. We originally started the project in honor of Concord’s 250th anniversary, but did not finish until earlier this year.”
Since this is the gallery’s holiday show, it asked artists to submit additional unframed or small works that could be displayed in bins or baskets. For art gifts, Twiggs has small artist quilts and vests, quilled ornaments, cards and blank books.
“The work is lovely and quite affordable,” Morrison said.
Twiggs Gallery is open Thursday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday noon to 4 p.m. or by appointment; call 975-0015.