Gifts Galore offers a little bit of everything
To call Gifts Galore eclectic is by no means an exaggeration. As Belen’s newest art outlet, the store features over a dozen artists whose works includes oil paintings, jewelry for all tastes, delicate display items made from blown eggs, rugged barbed wire cactuses and whimsical wooden swingers and fence-sitters.
With few exceptions, the artists have to get back to their “real” jobs after they finish setting up their display spaces.
Max Coffey is a metal artisan in the retail space that used to house the Blockbuster Video store. Outside those doors, he makes trailers for a living.
Coffey says he has always made stuff and decided three years ago to try selling some of his things. He participated in the annual Route 66 Cavalcade of Arts at the Isleta Casino and was hooked.
But his barbed wire and horseshoe creations don’t always work out as planned.
“A lot of times I build something and it . . . isn’t,” he said. “It just doesn’t work. It’s a lot of trial and error.” Coffey said he will lie awake at night, mulling things over and planning his next attempt.
Some of his sculptures are definitely for outdoor use, something that is demonstrated by a cactus made from interlinked horse shoes and sporting very realistic spines. To make the design more appropriate for indoors, Coffey substituted leather strips for the spines.
