Female artisans showcase their goods at Needham show

Needham - Sonya Masur’s Thornton Road home was transformed into a showroom for three days late last week,
as women artisans from in and around Needham showed off their crafts.

Giant cement leaf sculptures greeted visitors on Nov. 14, as they walked through the front door. There were
other quirky items, such as purses made of recycled books and clothing all made from recycled sweaters.
There were also large, elaborate drawings, jewelry, ’70s-style belt buckles, designer t-shirts and porcelain pottery.

“I typically look for different artists,” Masur said. “It is a Needham draw. And when you go to the show, you
want to see new work, fresh work.”

Masur, who sells homemade jewelry out of her home year-round, has been putting on the boutique twice a year,
in April and near the holidays. She began the showcase 11 years ago as a way to promote her business,
Amazing Finds, and others in her shoes.

“I wanted to do a show to promote other women artists, get the word out,” Masur said.

One of those artists is Masur. She makes her jewelry out of “vintage components.” She made one piece out
of balls of vintage thread a woman in New York rescued from a warehouse, where it had been sitting for 38 years.
The balls were intended for upholstery, but Masur had a different idea.

“I bought them, drilled holes in them and use them as beads,” Masur said, who noted her jewelry business has
been her main occupation for 15 years. “I’m self-taught. It’s a love of jewelry that drives me — texture, color and antiques.”

Masur wasn’t the only Needhamite at the show. Fannie Gilarde of Fay Lane runs Fannie’s Tees. Gilarde’s husband,
Vincent, runs a screen-printing and embroidery manufacturing company. Gilarde, who works part time as a teacher,
makes the designs for the T-shirts and her husband’s company prints them.

“I always wanted to do something creative with his business,” Gilarde said, noting she always had a penchant for drawing.

“I’ve always been a sketchy type of person,” Gilarde said.

The T-shirts range in price from $24 to $38 and are mostly designed for girls.

One of the quirkiest items at the showcase was the “biblio purses” Wellesley potter Elizabeth Cohen put together.
Taking the binders of old, discarded books, the former high school English teacher used them to decorate purses.

“I think the covers are so great that I couldn’t bare to see them as trash,” Cohen said.

The covers included a drama theater textbook called “The Stage and the School.” Cohen’s pottery, which she
 makes out of her Wellesley home, was also on display. She has been doing pottery professionally for eight years,
calling it “mostly functional tableware.”

“My work is mostly functional tableware,” Cohen said. “Together they form an organic floral work.”

Gerda Maaskant’s Sudbury-based business “Turned to Stone” was also at the showcase. Maaskant takes
real leaves from people’s yards and casts them into the cement sculptures, which people use as birdbaths,
bird feeders and decorations.

“My inspiration has been leaves in general,” Maaskant said. “It’s the natural look I’m after, and no leaf is the same.”

Other artists were Tiffany Brown and Melanie Peddle of Foxboro, and their business, Look at Me Designs,
which recycles the old sweaters into other clothing, such as scarves, purses and booties.

“We take sweaters from throw shops, wash them, shrink them into a fine cut,” Peddle said.

Marissa Spada of Medford has her belt buckle and strap business, Lucy’s Sister, at the show. She designs her buckles
to look like they were made in the 1970s, while giving them a girly look reflecting her style.

“People always liked my buckles, so I wanted to replicate them,” Spada said.

There was also Jesa Damora of Somerville, a former architect, who uses her drawing skills to make enormous,
mostly floral, drawings on drafting film. Her business is The Drawings of Jesa Damora.

“I realized I liked drawing the bushes more than drawing the buildings,” Damora said.

Gail Giarrusso, who owns the Meridian Gallery in Marblehead, had mostly black and white photographs on
display, showcasing “urban landscapes from Revere Beach to Tuscany.”

“Nothing matches the beauty of silver print black and white,” Giarusso said.

Debbie Brennan, who lives down the street on Thornton Road, makes the showcase a bi-annual tradition. The
next one is expected to take place in April.

“It’s a casual atmosphere to showcase something different than you find in a mall,” she said.

For more information, go to sonyamasur.com.