WELCOME TO THE CHRISTMAS BAZAAR

The urge to test their talent in the realm of commerce has enabled many area artists and artisans to turn a hobby into a steady source of income.

Their work will be on display during the 24th Annual Christmas Arts and Crafts Bazaar at the Show Me Center this weekend.

Mary Koenig took a beginner's class in stained glass several years ago and was hooked. "It started out as a hobby 12 years ago," Koenig said. "Two years later I had my own business. If you let your imagination take charge, it's amazing what you can come up with."

Koenig will be among the 327 proprietors of arts and craft booths at the bazaar. The event will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Koenig said she became so attached to the stained glass she worked with, it was often hard to put it up for sale. "That's the way it was in the beginning, but I guess I've gotten past that stage," Koenig said. "I still get a kick out of the reaction from customers who buy my work."

The Jackson resident also makes Santa Clauses that are painted by hand and others made from molded resin. She fashions Victorian ornaments and makes leaded glassware.

Elsie Eggimann likes to express herself through angels. She makes angels from muslin. She will display Victorian angels, grandma angels, black angels and window sill angels.

"I've always had a love for dolls," Eggimann, who is from Gordonville, said. "I had been in the floral business for a number of years, so I guess I've combined what I've learned from everything and put it into my crafts. I just lose myself in my work sometimes. I get so tired I can hardly move, but I love it."

Eggimann thinks she inherited her penchant for arts and crafts from her mother. "Mom had a natural gift for working with her hands," she said. "She was interested in crafts for as long as I can remember."

Ron Scherer has been working with intarsia for just over a year. "Some people call it painting with wood," Scherer said. Scherer takes wood of various colors and cuts it into pieces. "It's like a jigsaw puzzle that I turn into a picture," Scherer said.

He has enjoyed considerable success since embarking on the hobby of intarsia. "I just learned that they're going to be selling my work in Branson on a consignment basis," Scherer said. "That's exciting to me because I've heard that 45 to 50 percent of the people who go through Branson visit Engler's Block, which is where my work will be on display."

Scherer first learned about the art of intarsia when he visited an arts and crafts show in Belleville, Ill. "I more or less taught myself how to do it after watching some of the things they made for the show," he said.

Intarsia is still a hobby for Scherer. "I work full time with Acorn Enterprises, which is a company that cuts and molds lumber for new homes," he said. "But I spend most of my free time with my hobby."

Beverly Strohmeyer, executive director of the Southeast Missouri Council on the Arts, said plenty of shoppers will be taking a look at the various crafts.

"There were 12,600 shoppers at last year's bazaar," Strohmeyer said. "We probably had 4,000 in the first hour." This year there will be more than 70 new booths at the bazaar. "We've opened up some space for more booths and have cut down the size of them," she added.

This year's show will feature woodworking, jewelry, floral arrangements, clothing, photography, baskets, cakes and candies, clocks, cookbooks, stitchery, dolls, lamps, leather work, candles and more.

Christmas at the Show Me Center is the major fund-raising event for the arts council. Funds are combined with matching grants from the Missouri Arts Council to provide educational and entertaining programs for area children and adults.

Admission to the bazaar is $1 for adults. Children under 12 will be admitted free.