AMHERST, N.S. – Few gifts are more heart-warming than gifts created from the heart.
“You get to a certain age where you don’t really need anything anymore, so one year for my birthday I asked people to do a painting, a poem or a short story as a gift for me. It meant more to me than most of the other gifts I’ve ever received,” Shari Mallinson, owner/operator of Shari Mallinson Gallery, said. “I got short stories, poems and paintings, and some of them involved stick people. It was great and I still have them.”
She has four brothers who aren’t very good at painting.
“They can do fantastic stick people,” she said.
Her gallery is hosting two personalized Christmas card-creating session on Nov. 21 and 22, from 1 to 5 p.m., and on Saturday, Nov. 23, artist Ben Pitman will host two card-creating sessions, from 10 a.m. to noon, and then from noon to 2 p.m.
“He’s going to show people how to do holiday cards in watercolours. People can either follow what he’s doing or they can do their own thing with watercolours.”
The cards will be distributed to seniors living in senior homes throughout Amherst.
“I’ve talked to all of the senior residences and I’ve confirmed over 50 seniors, and two other places are sending me more numbers as well.”
The Mallinsons moved to Amherst from Vancouver a year ago in July.
“In my 20s when I worked for Starbucks in Vancouver I actually did handmade cards for some of the senior people at Starbucks,” Mallinson said. “And when Christmas came along last year I thought this can be a tough time of the year for a lot of people and thought it would be nice to do some cards for seniors but I didn’t get a chance to do it.”
She didn’t want the opportunity to pass by a second year.
The gallery will supply all the materials needed to make the cards.
“It’s going to be pencil crayons, felt pens, pencils, acrylic paints and watercolour paints.”
Besides growing up in Vancouver, Mallinson also lived for a short time in both Calgary and Toronto, and says she likes the community spirit of Amherst.
“Because I’ve always lived in massive cities with millions of people, I find Amherst has a lot more community and a lot more events.”
Needless to say, commuting times are 10 times quicker in Amherst, and Mallinson also likes snow is cleared off the sidewalks in the winter, which is something they do themselves in big cities.
Her husband was out of town when she first saw the sidewalk snowplow driving up the street in Amherst.
“I heard a sound and said, ‘what’s that?’ I looked outside and took a video with my phone and sent it to my husband and said ‘they have a sidewalk guy here,’” Mallinson said.
She also says the roads are cleared of snow much quicker in Amherst.
“One time we had 18 inches of snow, which is a big amount for Vancouver, and we didn’t get our street cleared for a month and a half. No streets, no sidewalks, no nothing. All these low-rider cars were bottoming out,” Mallinson said. “I find it way more efficient here.”
Shari Mallinson Gallery is located at 127 Victoria Street East, next to Dayle’s Grand Market.
People interested in attending either of the two Ben Pitman sessions on Nov. 23 will have to pre-register. For more information, call the Shari Millanson Gallery at 902-660-3332.
