|
Article Excerpt
WITH THE ARRIVAL OF SANTA just around the corner, it seems only fair to help him along by adding Texas's bounty to the surprises he leaves under every Christmas tree. The abundant shops across Texas and their wide selection of unique wares, including many made right here in the Lone Star State, make finding the right gifts easy. Custom-designed jewelry and belt buckles, handmade furniture and accessories, fine art and folk art, special toys--all these and more await in places where shopping is a pleasure, from mercados on the Tex-Mex border to upscale shopping villages and small-town main streets. Whether you're looking for a digital camera, honky-tonk CDs, lacy loungewear, or authentic kilts in your family tartan, the emporia across our state will help you find just what you need to make your family, friends, and Old Saint Nick happy during the holidays.
AUSTIN AND THE HILL COUNTRY
TURQUOISE DOOR
1208 S. Congress Avenue, Austin
512.416.7100
Located in Austin's popular SoCo (South Congress) district, the Turquoise Door specializes in unusual Latin American folk art and striking silver jewelry by Native American artists and others from around the world. This gallery carries one of America's most extensive collections of papier-mache by the celebrated Linares family of folk artists from Mexico City. The Turquoise Door also shows other Day of the Dead folk art, Aguilar ceramics, Oaxacan wooden animals, Peruvian textiles, Huichol Indian beadwork and yarn paintings, and ceramics from Ocumichu, Mexico. For holiday shopping, customers should also check out the gorgeous silver jewelry and fine Zuni fetishes, as well as Austin's widest assortment of authentic Russian amber.
THINGS CELTIC
1806 W. Thirty-fifth, Austin
512.472.2358 or 888.921.9529
thingsceltic.com
Opened in 1999 by Lanora Davidson, Things Celtic is dedicated to selling high-quality Celtic goods by artisans in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, and the United States. Her travels throughout Europe inspired Lanora to open the only Celtic specialty shop in the Lone Star State. Along with the widest assortment of Irish and Scottish wedding rings in Texas, handmade kilts in more than five hundred tartan designs from Scotland are available by special order, and kilts can be rented for special events. There's also an array of wall crosses, china, crystal, books, music, candles, and pewter. The experienced, friendly staff is always ready to answer questions on Celtic symbols, folklore, and customs. On the weekends, it is not unusual to find Gaelic-language classes here or local Celtic musicians jamming on the shop's patio stage.
AUSTIN GALLERIES
1219 W. Sixth, Austin
512.495.9363 or 888.636.5701
austingalleries.com
Housed in a two-story, eight-thousand-square-foot showroom, Austin Galleries offers the largest selection of fine art originals in Texas. Gallery owners George and Margaret Ann Attal represent works by more than four hundred artists, ranging from original prints by Pablo Picasso, Joan Miro, Andy Warhol, and David Hockney to pieces by well-known contemporary and regional artists. The gallery also features a large collection of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century paintings and sculpture. In addition, Austin Galleries has fine antiques from all over the world as well as beautiful antique and contemporary Oriental rugs, silver, porcelain, lighting, and glass by Tiffany, Lalique, Steuben, and others. With more than thirty years in the arts and antiques business, the Attals have earned the trust of countless distinguished artists and clients.
STRAIT MUSIC COMPANY AND STRAIT MUSIC NORTHWEST
2428 W. Ben White Boulevard, Austin, 512.476.6927 * 13945 N. Highway 183, Austin, 512.918.3743 * 800.725.8877
straitmusic.com
Founded in 1963 by Dan Strait, Strait Music has been a family business ever since. Many of the folks who work here have been with the company more than fifteen years. Strait Music's original philosophy is as valid today as it was forty years ago: quality merchandise backed by professional, knowledgeable sales and service personnel who are musicians themselves. This solid business approach, along with a genuine concern for customers, has helped Strait Music become one of the most successful full-service music enterprises in the Southwest--consistently voted "Best Music Business" in the Austin Chronicle's Best of Austin readers polls. Whether a customer needs a fine piano, a guitar, a band or orchestra instrument, a keyboard, or a recording system, Strait Music's unparalleled selection and large inventory mean that many instruments are available for immediate delivery.
GRANITE AND IRON STORE
206 E. Main, Fredericksburg
830.997.4716 or 866.353.0152...
|
