Shop local in Phoenix, where you can support Arizona artists when you buy desert-themed charcuterie boards, cactus maps, rattlesnake rattle rings, and other holiday gifts with a creative twist.
A silver rattlesnake rattle ring. Charcuterie boards with desert designs. Soy candles in cactus-theme tins. Textile cat art. They’re all fabulous holiday gifts made by Arizona creatives, which you can snag online or in shops around Phoenix when you want to show the local love and support the amazing artists in our midst.
Radial Meditation Jewelry
That shrink art you made as a kid has come a long way, baby, especially in the hands of artist Kyllan Maney, who uses the material to make necklaces and earrings for her Radial Meditation series featuring whimsical symmetries of line and dots that reflect her mural art gracing the Phoenix landscape. Available from Art One Gallery, 4130 North Marshall Way, Scottsdale. 480-946-5076. Also available at Practical Art, 5070 North Central Avenue, Phoenix. 602-264-1414.
Casually Elegant Dinnerware
Everything tastes better served on a pretty plate, especially when it features art by Christopher Jagmin, who delivers strong elements of graphic design. His porcelain dinnerware includes small plates, dinner plates, and platters/chargers with imagery culled from the ocean, the forest, and the language of numbers. Available on Christopher Jagmin’s website.
Embroidered Artworks
Colored threads create compelling stories in small embroidered artworks by Cindy Dach, whose work often centers community, the natural world, and feelings of love and joy. From playful monsters with potty mouths to cats chilling amid cactus, her pieces are exceptionally well-crafted and imbued with charm. Available at MADE Art Boutique, 922 North Fifth Street, Phoenix. 602-256-6233.
Pueblo Houseplant Décor
Plants abound in modern home décor, where macrame, wooden beads, and baskets round out the callback to hippie-inspired design trends of the 1970s. If you love the vibe but want some beyond-the-ordinary options, explore this shop’s funky assortment of both plants and functional and decorative objects. Available at Pueblo, 1025 Grand Avenue, Phoenix. 602-695-0834.
Hand-Poured Candles
Inspired by time spent in Sonora, Mexico, Curtis Parhams launched the Galeana39 line of hand-poured candles he creates with natural soy wax, essential oils, and intriguing fragrance combinations such as bourbon and vanilla or oakmoss and leather. Several of his cactus-theme varieties come in delightful decorative tins. Available on the Galeana39 website. Also available at Palabras Bilingual Bookstore, 906 West Roosevelt Street, Unit 2, Phoenix. 602-595-9600.
Phoenix Cactus Map
Artist Jen Urso has drawn everything from a flow chart of Donald Trump’s inauguration to a map of Phoenix cactus. Along with her signed twenty-two-by-twenty-eight inch print featuring locations for more than thirty species, she’s designed a cactus bandana and card deck that’ll delight even the prickly people on your gift list. Available on the Steady Hand Maps website. Select items available at MADE Art Boutique and Practical Art in Phoenix.
Vegan Soap Box
No need to dread those gift exchanges with lowball spending limits. Creative vegan soaps from Strawberry Hedgehog fit the bill, and they come in a fun assortment from candy cane to eucalyptus-lime. There’s also a soap combination with eight half-size bars set inside a pretty pink pastry box. Available from Strawberry Hedgehog, 1501 West Thomas Road, Phoenix. 928-637-6270.
Artisan Kitchen Goods
Charcuterie boards are totally on trend with epicureans who love piling on tasty bits from cured meats and cheeses to olives and nuts. For the culinary types in your life, choose a food board by creative collaborators Emily White of LaVida. Taprut and Alexandra Bowers, whose desert designs are wood-burned into these elegant functional artworks. Available on the LaVida. Taprut website.
Silver Rattle Rings
If you’re going for the novelty factor but still want to keep it classy, go with a ring cast in solid silver using a mold of a found rattle from a rattlesnake that met an accidental untimely end. They’re made by artist Spring Winder, whose Heliotrope studio is located in Tucson. Available from Phoenix General, 5538 North Seventh Street, #120, Phoenix. 602-237-6922.
Cosanti Windbells
A quintessential symbol of the Southwest, bells created at Cosanti reflect the materiality, form, and mystical qualities of the desert where renowned 20th-century architect Paoli Soleri built his visionary Arcosanti. Available from Cosanti, 6433 East Doubletree Ranch Road, Paradise Valley. 480-948-6145. Also available at Phoenix Art Museum, 1625 North Central Avenue, Phoenix. 602-257-1880.
