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Christmas shoppers go ‘Home for the Holidays’

Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette Leanne Cota of Houghton talks with artist Synthia Marsh during Saturday’s Home for the Holidays Gift Market at the Rozsa Center.

HOUGHTON — As the Christmas season kicks into gear, shoppers sought out the best in local goods at the annual Home for the Holidays Gift Market at the Rozsa Center Saturday.

Thirty-two vendors took part Saturday, said Hannah Rundman, audience manager for the Rozsa Center. Apart from the League of Women Voters of the Copper Country, all were local crafters and artisans.

“The main thing we’re looking for is that something is handmade and it has good quality,” she said. “We were really impressed with the vendors who submitted applications. There’s a lot of artisanship and different types of work we were able to see.”

Once the vendors are set, the work goes into figuring out spacing to ensure similar artists aren’t bunched together.

After the rush of the first couple of hours, a steady stream of customers kept coming in, Rundman said.

Many community members and artists had told Rundman they appreciated the mask requirements in place as a Michigan Technological University facility.

“This was an opportunity to have more safe shopping for the more vulnerable members of our community, as well as some of our artists,” she said.

Kenyon Hansen has been making ceramics for 20 years, starting as a Finlandia University student. The hands-on nature of the work drew his interest, and also the versatility of clay and being able to shape it into functional things.

His booth Saturday had a range of pieces from cups to tableware.

“The utilitarian, the functional aspect just sort of guides what I make, and then I allow my own creativity to come into it to allow everything to be different,” he said.

Pieces can take an hour or several days, depending on size. To decorate, he layers a semi-matte surface with a glossy surface, then creates patterns with an eye toward articulating the form and placement of things like handles.

“I’m just trying to give myself freedom to try new things,” he said.

Hansen said the show had been going well so far.

Synthia Marsh of Calumet began making jewelry about 10 years ago when her college-bound daughter told her she needed a hobby. She took a class on metalsmithing and decided she “finally figured out what I wanted to be when I grow up.”

She primarily uses Michigan stones. The silver and copper pieces are fashioned into Michigan nature scenes, such as a series of greenstone sterling and copper pendants depicting Isle Royale.

Marsh was doing the show for the first time this year after receiving an invitation to apply.

“I do Copper Harbor and Eagle Harbor, and I thought, ‘Well, I’ll give it a try.’ It’s been a nice day and a lot of nice people. It’s been a lot of fun.”

Gisela Shonnard of Chassell was making a return trip to Home for the Holidays, where she’s picked up gifts in past years. So far Saturday, she was just browsing. But that was subject to change.

“I did see some vases where I bought some before … maybe that, and maybe some gifts for friends,” she said.

One of the people browsing at Marsh’s booth was Leanne Cota of Houghton. She thought it was important to support local artists.

“It’s great,” she said. “There were a lot more vendors than I expected.”

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