The Gallery: Art makes unique gift in holiday season

So, unless you are deliberately looking to create a memory you will laugh over for many years, I'm going to deviate from the education component usually included here and make a list of places for you to visit with the hopes of expediting your shopping list or creating your own wish list. Maybe you can post it on the refrigerator with places circled to offer hints?

The list is, by no means, complete, but will get you on the road. Start with the shops in West Annapolis and begin at Art Things, Inc. for art supplies and funky gift stuff you thought no one would ever make. They are all about customer service (and a lot of fun) so you'll find it hard to leave empty-handed.

Cross the street to West Annapolis Art Works and Fine Framing, which is featuring artists from southern Anne Arundel County who are known as the Muddy Creek Artists Guild. Gallery owner Su Anne Lasher and local artist Stephanie Nadolski organized their "Out of Bounds" show, on view until Dec. 17. The artists will be in the gallery from 5 to 10 p.m. Wednesday for West Annapolis' "Holiday Magic."

Further down Annapolis Street. you'll find Liz Lind Collection/West Annapolis Gallery. She has wonderful prints of all kinds and affordable prices that are beautiful and easy on the wallet.

Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts is hosting its annual Jingle Bell Art Holiday Sale Dec. 11 to 14. This special sale is composed of works all priced at less than $250. Maryland Hall artists-in-residence, faculty, and students ages 18 and older have contributed original artwork such as paintings, drawings, photography, ceramics and jewelry. "This sale is a great chance … to buy one-of-a-kind gifts of art at great prices ... proceeds of the sale are split between the artists (who receive 70 percent of the sale price) and Maryland Hall." says MHCA Director of Exhibitions Sigrid Trumpy. Check out MHCA's Web site, www.mdhallarts.org, for hours and other events.

New-on-the-scene photographer Wil Scott has an exhibition opening at 49 West Coffeehouse Winebar & Gallery. The reception, to be held from 5 to 8 this evening, promises to be a fun event. If you haven't been to 49 West, it's a great gathering spot for lovers of good food, art and live music. The works will remain on view until Dec. 30.

More than 100 black and white photographs of old Annapolis are displayed in the Annapolis Collection Gallery, along with original watercolors and limited edition prints by Greg Harlin and Sally Wern Comport. Comport's pieces include archival matted and framed limited edition prints of 20th century authors F. Scott Fitzgerald, Truman Capote, Margaret Mitchell and Tennessee Williams.

ARTFX embraces the season with special stained glass, photographs, nature-inspired works in jewelry, pottery, writing utensils, cards and candles. Owner Penny Harden is well-schooled in the works she carries and is an excellent guide to help you find something affordable and appropriate for all of your gift-giving needs.

Today is the last day to see recent works in oil by Eastern Shore artist Kevin Fitzgerald at Main Street Gallery. Fitzgerald's abstracted contemporary landscapes in oil, inspired by 19th century Romantics and Tonalists, capture the Eastern Shore of Maryland and surrounding area including ocean views and wetlands.

McBride Gallery also has a show of small works on view titled "Small Gems" comprised of miniature and small-scale paintings by 30 artists from the Mid-Atlantic states and beyond, as well as some of the gallery's top name artists: John Ebersberger, Bill Schmidt, Lee Boynton, Tim Bell, Carolyn Grosse, Leonard Mizerek, Lou Messa and new ceramic artist Sally Jaffee. They will be an active part in Thursday's Midnight Madness, so stop in.

During December, American Craftworks Collection will feature "Elena Lara Jewelry Designs," an eclectic collection of contemporary hand-crafted jewelry inspired by nature. This special invitational exhibit showcases jewelry by local designer Isabel VandenBerg. VandenBerg designs and creates all of her pieces using natural gemstones and fine silver and gold,.

For the water and boat lovers in your life, go to Annapolis Marine Art Gallery. It does a good job of carrying a variety of water themes in a range of prices. Original oils, acrylics and watercolors, as well as limited edition prints by artists such as John Barber and Williard Bond, are available.

"Small Wonders," a national mixed media show of small works, along with an exhibition from the Annapolis Collection Gallery, is currently on view at the Maryland Federation of Art through Dec. 27. This charming gallery located off State Circle always has a fun and interesting mix of exhibitions that change frequently. Check them out.

Near State Circle you'll find Easy Street, a fine craft store of all kinds - jewelry, boxes, windchimes, pottery, stained glass and other glittery things you'll want to make room for. On State Circle itself is Annapolis Pottery. The display windows say it all - "form ever follows function" at this place full of beautiful pottery. After you've finished there, go around the corner to Aurora Gallery, which announces a new printmaker in its collection, Kathleen Daywalt, an artist who creates linoleum block prints. Mermaids are her primary theme, which augments the vast collection of other sea life ornaments in the gallery. Aurora also has some beautiful glass by Robert Held, John Gilvey and Rick Hunter and unusual creches, jewelry in silver, vermeil, gems and other mixed materials.

Natalie Silitch has a shop full of hand-made ornaments and other treasures. Some of you may remember her work included on the Presidential White House Christmas Tree some years back. Across the street is Maria's Picture Place, an interesting shop full of vintage posters, original photography and the like. Also be sure to pop into a quiet little shop farther down Maryland Avenue, La Petite Galerie. The very sweet French owner shares her love for the traditional paintings and there are some real treasures to be found.

Mame Warren and Joanie Surette of M. E. Warren Photography, LLC are pleased to announce The Marion E. Warren Photography Collections have moved to Eastport. The Eastport Gallery (formerly American Landscape Gallery) is the official new home of the vast collections of the Chesapeake's legendary photographer. They offer first-quality work including original silver gelatin photographs, digital photographs, books, DVDs, posters and notecards - a wide variety of items to suit your holiday gift giving needs.

Travel south on Route 2 and you will find Bella Gallery, a new space that has just opened with a juried effort from the Digital Photography Club of Annapolis. If Edgewater isn't on your regular "tour d'art," then you might want to make a special run down there to see this gallery that features photography only.

And into Galesville is River Gallery, a "Go Green" gallery that has made an environmental commitment through its low energy consumption space. The collection is dedicated to local artists and artisans with a number of repurposed items including recycled paper work, wind chimes and key rings made from vintage silver, sculpture from found objects and jewelry from pottery shards.

There are special holiday shopping events around town, including West Annapolis' Holiday Magic on Wednesday, where the shops stay open until 10 p.m. Downtown Annapolis celebrates its annual Midnight Madness on Thursday and all of the stores are open until the stroke of midnight. If you've never done either of these events, gather your forces and just do it. They really are magical evenings. Annapolis looks like a real "Santa Claus Land" with greenery, wreaths, red ribbons and twinkling lights gracing the eaves and doorways. There's lots of festive music, complete with carolers and the arrival of Old St. Nick. The Web sites, annapolismidnightmadness.com and westannapolisbusiness.org, outline all of the special events planned.

And for a break from the retail scene, The Mitchell Gallery at St. John's College has "The Camera's Muse: Portraits from the Robert M. Infarinato Collection" on view until Dec. 17. This stunning exhibition of silver gelatin portraits by Cartier-Bresson, Capa, Eisenstaedt, Weston, Adams, Cunningham and others, has received rave reviews, so don't let it slip by you.

Enjoy the season, no matter what you're celebrating. And, in spite of the hectic schedule of extra baking,...