So, it’s with that philosophy, combined with her big heart for the holiday season, that MacFadyen, the owner of Art & Invention, turns the back room of her East Nashville gallery into a Christmas crafts workshop with bottles of glitter in every color.

It’s the rare opportunity for non-artists and closet artists, alike, to get elbow deep in art supplies and decorate, glitter, paint, adorn, glue and sculpt handmade Christmas creations.

People can choose from wood ornaments cut as evergreen trees, guitars, snowmen, gingerbread men and wreaths; wooden pull toys shaped as penguins, rabbits, dogs, elephants, turtles; picture frames; stockings; and cards. (The wood pieces are handmade by MacFadyen’s husband, Bret, an artist and furniture builder.)

There’s every imaginable art medium and trinket ? think the art supply closet of your elementary school teacher ? with which to decorate: red, green, white, silver, gold, pink, purple and blue glitter; classic- and metallic-colored paint; felt; cotton ball strings; feathers; buttons; beads; yarn; sequins; foam shapes; puzzle pieces; pipe cleaners; fuzzy balls; and confetti.

“You are free to make whatever you want ? you are only limited by what you can come up with your imagination,” MacFadyen said. “It’s a glitter world for most little children. There is not a kid who doesn’t want glitter on what they’ve created. Adults come and play, too. People laugh a lot. It really is a lot of fun.”

MacFadyen welcomes groups of people who want to come in together and make a party of the occasion, and spirited decorators are free to bring wine and edible treats, too, she said. Groups of four or more are asked to call ahead.

Lisbeth Jones and a handful of her girlfriends have made MacFadyen’s workshop a yearly tradition of chatting and decorating together, but this year, the East Nashville mother decided to slip in alone, as well, to steal a moment of seasonal respite all to herself.

“I wanted to stop from all the hustle and bustle and take time out and enjoy the holidays and I knew going to [Art & Invention] was how I could do that,” Jones said. “It let’s you tap into your creative side, and brings out the child in you when you are doing it.”

“I did a gingerbread man ornament. I glued buttons. I painted ? I mixed some metallic paint with the gingerbread colored paint, and used craft glue and sprinkled on glitter to look like sugar. And, I put jingle bells on each of the limbs.”

The workshop isn’t just for adults. Some of 4-year-old Riley Verner’s earliest memories are of making art inside Art & Invention, where, for the past three years, her father, Steve, has taken the youngster to make original Christmas gifts for her grandparents and friends.

“She goes in and paints and glitters and puts on buttons and stickers, and it’s a lot of fun for her to do that in an art gallery,” said Steve Verner. “They have the space to do it ? if I did it in my house, I’d have glitter all over the place. And, there’s usually another kid in there and they are looking at each other and people come in and comment them on their work.”

The father and daughter form an ornament manufacturing team.

“I am picking up paint colors and saying, ‘Do you want this?’ and helping her keep her paintbrush clean and trying not to get paint all over the place. There are blow dryers to dry the paint fast, so I am designated dryer ? she’ll paint one side and I’ll be drying it while she starts painting another,” Verner said.

Without an extra pair of hands to dry her ornament, Jones said she took the opportunity to shop around the art gallery for gifts.

Art & Invention is filled with an assortment of original and unique fine art and artisan craft pieces by local and national artists.

“[MacFadyen] is so warm and welcoming. Everyone who walks in there picks up those vibes, so it’s about the whole experience,” Jones said. “It should be called Art & Inviting.”

The gallery will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Christmas Eve, or, “until the last desperate person comes through the door,” and people donning their pajamas will receive a discount, MacFadyen said.

Art & Invention
1106 Woodland St.
226.2070
artandinvention.com
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nashvillecitypaper

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