Christmas came early to UCSF yesterday as Santa and over 70 “elves” descended upon Millberry Union for the annual holiday crafts fair. UCSF employees and community vendors hawked their handmade wares to the sound of “Jingle Bells,” while children from the campus child care study center posed for photos on Santa’s lap. The mood was festive as people navigated the tables lined with jewelry, clothes, candles, art and even whimsical scrubs.

Jackie Houston displays her greeting cards and artwork.

Jackie Houston, one of the 43 UCSF craftspeople at the fair, was selling greeting cards and portraits with the help of her daughter, Natisha. An Environmental Services employee for 22 years, Houston has been painting, drawing and doing sculpture for three decades. Needing a break from her big art projects, she decided to start a greeting card company a couple of years ago called Li’l Sumthin Sumthin. “If you don’t want to buy a very expensive gift, it’s just a li’l sumthin sumthin,” she says.

Inspired by cultures from around the world, with a strong African influence, Houston’s cards feature Christmas trees and African figures. “I also do invitations for parties and weddings,” she says. Houston attended art school for a brief time but stopped to start her family. However, she keeps her creative side busy and hopes to someday open a gallery featuring local artists.

Art Viloria, whose wife Olivia works in library administration, sold wire art sculptures, mostly of sporting activities. The small, colorful figures of football players, rock climbers and bicyclists were inspired by his full-time job in security. “I saw what people put on top of their computers as I walked around and made these to remind people of the things they like and did,” he said.

Wired art by Art Viloria.

Green Scrubs, a San Francisco company, attended the fair to sell their colorful scrubs and Birkenstock clogs. Lynn Adami, a nurse, began the company three years ago at her husband’s suggestion. “I was spending so much of my time sewing scrubs because I didn’t like the fit and style” of the ones she was issued, she said. Her company makes scrubs that allow medical professionals to express their individuality, with patterns that include fish, cartoons, aliens and Hawaiian designs. She’s had so much success that she hardly has time for nursing anymore. “I started doing this on the side and now I do nursing on the side,” she said.

Jewelry was abundant at the fair. Sherrill Arms, a resource librarian in public affairs, and Kara Carlson, who works in Utilization Review at Mt. Zion, both set up shop yesterday to sell their earrings. “I’m compelled to do stuff with my hands,” Carlson said. “I like to have pretty things around.”

Arms began making earrings about a year ago as a way to relax. “The whole purpose in doing it, for me, is the relaxation you get,” she says. “It’s therapy away from work.”

By Paula Murphy

1st appeared 12/05/97

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