Holiday fun abounds at arts open house

Santa Claus himself hosted a lapful of puppies, dogs and even chickens during the Sisters Art Works Holiday Open House on Saturday.

Proceeds from the picture-taking portion of the event benefit Furry Friends Pet Food Drive.

Inside, local artists and craftsmen displayed tables of holiday goods for discriminating buyers looking for the charm and originality of handmade Oregon Christmas gifts.

Volunteer Kandia Cross of Redmond shuttled pooches to the "Red-Suited One" and helped fill out order forms.

"We've had a lot of dogs so far, over 20, and Christine Cole even brought three of her chickens for a photo with Santa," she reported. "They all sat really good for him."

Dan Vetter came with his two dogs, Styx and Snax, for a holiday greeting-card shot.

"We recently adopted Snax from the Humane Society in Bend, and he loves his new family," he said, trying to capture the dog's attention for the camera.

Noted artist and Sisters Art Works owner Kathy Deggendorfer welcomed all guests from her studio and commented on the importance of this yearly celebration of the arts.

"We have the standard people here who participate every year in addition to the tenants," she said, trying to help Erin Borla tune in the Civil War football game on her radio. "Al Krause has his photography studio open and Lauren White has her amazing freshly made Christmas wreaths for sale. It's a festive crowd and it's snowy outside. I love it when people bring their dogs, and seeing all the artists and old friends."

Ladies clustered around a coffee table piled with empty pie boxes containing a custom-made pie server, quilted potholder and a gift certificate for a pie at Sisters Bakery.

"It's a great idea I do with Tonye Phillips," said Deggendorfer. "See, you can give away the server and potholder and eat the pie yourself. Life is short."

Sandy Goodsell loved all the artists and their wares.

"It's a perfect place to go to find special unique gifts. And they've incorporated some of the children's artwork and I think that's so great," she said, picking out a pie gift box with a gold bow.

Hogan Warner, 11, presented her line of hand-drawn doggie greeting cards and notepads.

"I just love to draw dogs and have sheets and sheets of them from Central Bark where my mom works," she said. "She thought it would be a good idea to make into cards and sell some and helped me print them."

The smell of cold-processed soaps wafted from across the room at Dawn Mead's La Petite Savonnerie where fragrant bars in scents of balsam, evergreen and rosemary-spearmint awaited.

"People like the natural colorants and high-quality essential oils in these soaps. The Solace and Saint-Tropez bars seem to be the favorites today," said Mead. "My Dragon's Blood soap cake is made with crystalized tree resin and blood orange extract."

A steady flow of gift buyers and friends mingled upstairs and down, sampling food items and artwork from more than two dozen artisans. Football fans of Oregon and Oregon State huddled around smart phones during the big game, shouting out current scores and plays over Rebecca Hilary Smith's holiday harp playing.

Pat Kearney was out searching for local crafts for presents and was amazed at the diversity of items for sale.

"We try to come to this event every year," she said, cradling a live miniature rosemary tree. "We have friends here selling and like to try and come out to support them. I just got back from the Deschutes Land Trust Tree Hunt and it was a lot of fun."

Upstairs, Jan Drum and Lauri Turner of Gourdtastic offered a colorful assortment of artistic containers and vases made from various hard-shell gourds in shapes named canteen, cannonball or pear.

"We cut them first, then burn designs in them and do all the hand-painting," said Drum. "There's a lot of time and good therapy

in every one."

Holiday pan dulce and confections from south of the border were for sale by Jorge Garcia of Bend who brings his cakes and cookies to Sisters Bakery every week. Roscas De Reyes is a traditional Mexican pastry ring eaten on January 6 in Hispanic communities for the Day of Epiphany.

"It is only available for the Christmas season and through special orders. There's a tiny baby Jesus inserted into the bread and whoever finds it is blessed for the new year," Garcia explained. "It's a special item for a very special time of year."