{"id":2000,"date":"2021-11-23T13:08:47","date_gmt":"2021-11-23T18:08:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/?p=2000"},"modified":"2021-11-23T13:08:47","modified_gmt":"2021-11-23T18:08:47","slug":"gaithersburg-artist-paige-friedeman-has-a-thing-for-crustaceans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/gaithersburg-artist-paige-friedeman-has-a-thing-for-crustaceans\/","title":{"rendered":"Gaithersburg artist Paige Friedeman has a thing for crustaceans"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
\u201cIt\u2019s tricky work, because the shells are fragile and break easily,\u201d Friedeman noted.
Photos by Paige Friedeman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As a lifelong Marylander, Paige Friedeman enjoys the state\u2019s beloved crustaceous delicacy: the Maryland blue crab.<\/p>\n

\u201cI prefer them without a lot of Old Bay, which is funny because Marylanders go crazy about their Old Bay,\u201d she said. For the Gaithersburg-based visual artist and former dance teacher, the made-in-Maryland seasoning is a little too spicy.<\/p>\n

She laughs: \u201cI used to be the kid who washed the seasoning off.\u201d<\/p>\n

While crabs \u2014 and the social activity of eating them on a newspaper-covered picnic table \u2014 are a delicacy, for Friedeman they became an artistic inspiration. These days, though, she has less desire to eat them, because crabs \u2014 at least their shells \u2014 occupy a large part of her week as she prepares for an onslaught of holiday ornament collectors. The artist, who works under the moniker Peijisan Art, designs and paints ornaments made from actual crab shells.<\/p>\n

And fall has become her peak season as Christmas, Chanukah and Kwanzaa approach, and she spends her days scrubbing the shells, sanitizing them, drying and shellacking them. Then she sketches and paints them.<\/p>\n

A versatile artist who works in prints, collage, paint, ink, large-scale murals and sculpture, crab shells are Friedeman\u2019s latest artistic media. And the demand for hand-painted authentic Maryland crab shells caught her by surprise. Friedeman has been painting, folding paper, sketching and collaging since her childhood in Hyattsville. She attended University of Maryland College Park where she majored in studio art with a focus on painting and printmaking.<\/p>\n

Asked who inspires her artistically and she eschews naming any famous artists or movements. \u201cI love being an artist and creating,\u201d she said. \u201cI view artmaking as a kind of problem solving: If you\u2019re making something, how can I make it and out of what materials?\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead, popular culture captures her imagination, including Japanese anime, television and the movies of Tim Burton. Yet she can as readily paint an abstract canvas as a realistic charcoal sketch of a still life.<\/p>\n

\u201cLife is really tricky as a working artist,\u201d she added. \u201cIf you rely too much on art history, you end up referencing stuff you really don\u2019t mean to. And then you\u2019re automatically put in a box. I don\u2019t really like that. I want to be inspired to do my own thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
The demand for hand-painted authentic Maryland crab shells caught Friedeman by surprise. Photos by Paige Friedeman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of her recent inspirations \u2014 painting and customizing crab shells as ornaments and decorative pieces framed in shadow boxes or mounted atop wooden jewelry boxes \u2014 happened on a whim.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast fall,\u201d she said, \u201cfriends and I went out for crabs because we could only get together outdoors during the pandemic. At the end of dinner, I looked at the shells and thought I could do something with them.\u201d She took home a boxful of about 30 and began experimenting.<\/p>\n

Time wasn\u2019t an issue, since so many galleries and dance studios where she had taught and choreographed were closed. Through trial-and-error, Friedeman devised a multi-step process to prepare the shells for painting. \u201cBut crabs are expensive. Was I really going to buy and eat so many?\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead, the artist put a call out on social media asking restaurants if they had crab shells to give away. \u201cWithin an hour,\u201d Friedeman said, \u201ca family restaurant in Frederick, May\u2019s Seafood Restaurant, responded.\u201d<\/p>\n

Friedeman picks up shells every few weeks from the Frederick restaurant. Washing and priming them takes a day or more. \u201cFirst, I wash off whatever gunk is all over them, carefully turning them over. I lay them out and dry them a little bit on the driveway. Then I soak them in a bleach-water solution to make sure they don\u2019t grow any mold or anything from the animal parts.\u201d Then she dumps the soaking solution and rinses the shells again with a spray hose, which gives them a mini power wash before they dry in the sun or overnight. The next day Friedeman applies white primer on the crab shells.<\/p>\n

Finally, she\u2019s ready to paint. Each shell is original and has its unique bumps and ridges.<\/p>\n

Friedeman draws on her rich artistic background, so you\u2019ll find everything from cartoonish images to fine mini-paintings on her crab shells. For the holidays she\u2019s painting Christmas wreaths and trees, snowmen, Doctor Seuss\u2019s Grinch, even a Chanukah menorah or two.<\/p>\n

Marylandia, including the flag, Old Bay logos, University of Maryland Terps mascots, sailboats, black-eyed Susan flowers and scenes from iconic cities, like Frederick, Annapolis, Takoma Park and, of course, Washington, D.C.\u2019s, skyline, are also popular designs for the crab ornaments. Friedeman can customize a crab ornament on advance orders when requested.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hand paint them and I can do anything on them,\u201d she said, \u201cbecause I am a fine artist.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even so, \u201cit\u2019s tricky work, because the shells are fragile and break easily,\u201d she noted. But that doesn\u2019t keep Friedeman from taking this artistic endeavor seriously. \u201cI really try to push my artistic side by finding what best fits on the shape of the crab shell. That\u2019s a fun challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Learn more about Friedeman and Peijisan Art and visit her online shop at: peijisanart.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a lifelong Marylander, Paige Friedeman enjoys the state\u2019s beloved crustaceous delicacy: the Maryland blue crab. \u201cI prefer them without a lot of Old Bay, which is funny because Marylanders go crazy about their Old Bay,\u201d she said. For the Gaithersburg-based visual artist and former dance teacher, the made-in-Maryland seasoning is a little too spicy. 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