BRIGHT {GIFT} IDEAS

During the holiday season, frenzied buying at crowded shopping centers is part of the package. Some tough souls proudly call Black Friday a family tradition. But, come on — everyone needs a break from the mall madness to uncover that truly one-of-akind gift. Turns out, you can find it from hardworking artists right here in East Dallas.

Both Hands STUDIOS

Many people travel the world looking for something — food, art, love, God, themselves. When East Dallas neighbor Lynn Armstrong travels, either with her husband or by herself, there’s one thing she’s always on the lookout for: textures.

Textures have been a defining part of Armstrong’s pottery ever since her wrists gave out and she couldn’t paint the surfaces of her ceramic pieces anymore. But the change has been a positive one in her artistic journey, she says.

“Styles change, things change; I’m sure it’ll change again before it’s all said and done,” she says.

To create texture, she uses patterns such as lace or knit and presses them into a piece of clay to make a mold. Then, she presses the mold into a new piece of clay to make the surface of the clay look like pieces of lace or knit.

“So it’s almost like I’m printmaking with clay,” she says. “When I get the clay rolled out into big, blank slabs, I start to get excited about what impressions to put into it.”

Some of her favorite products are vases she calls “dress-up vases.” She uses lace to create texture, and then fashions the textured clay into a dress-shaped vase. Recently she began making small heartshaped vases, which she sells along with a

GIFT IDEA

Pottery, airplant holders, “dress-up” vases

PRICE RANGE

$12-$100+

WHERE TO FIND IT etsy.com/shop/ bothhandsstudio tillandsia or “air plant” from her husband’s greenhouse. Her husband, Chuck, has been gardening for decades, so combining their talents was a natural fit. Armstrong always has been an artist. She was in the first graduating class at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. She began working with ceramics at the University of Texas at Austin, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in ceramics.

“It’s been ceramics for me for a long, long time,” she says. “I like the way it transforms into something functional and permanent. That it changes from wet clay into something you can drink your co ee out of; it’s magical to me. Opening the kiln is like Christmas for me, every time.”

JulieAnn Bever