Martinsburg residents Christine Noad, left, and Barbara Neece stand behind a display featuring some of Noad’s artwork at the Ho Ho Ho-liday Handmade Market in the War Memorial Building. Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — At the Ho Ho Ho-liday Handmade Market in the War Memorial Building this holiday season, about 40 vendors have had their work on display, including two sisters: Christine Noad and Barbara Neece.

After retirement, the two sisters moved to the same senior living community in Las Vegas, where they joined a thriving arts and crafts club and learned a variety of new arts and crafts techniques. That experience gave them both the skillset to begin creating on their own, which they began to do in earnest after they left that community and moved to Martinsburg a little over five years ago.

“We had moved from the West Coast to the East Coast, because of family, and I wanted something to do,” Noad, who is 77, said. “I had played with arts and crafts throughout the years, once in a while, but had never finished anything. I decided I wanted to start doing something and started using this as my morning meditation — which I still do to this day.”

Noad began creating elaborate shadow boxes out of card stock, craft paint, glitter and glue. She found herself thriving with this new focus in her life.

“Once I found this, I thought, ‘I really like creating,'” Noad said.

She liked it so much, in fact, that she started her own small business, Blue Dot Art, selling handmade cards and shadowboxes at local artisan markets.

“The goal of my shadow boxes is to create something different and unique,” Noad said. “I start with either one of my original designs or one from one of my favorite designers. From there, I set out to use different medias and embellishments to give depth and to tell a story.”

Her sister has also found herself telling stories through her art, which she creates using fused glass.

“My stuff is a little different,” Neece, who is 83, said. “There’s a lot of variety of things that you can do with glass.”

Neece said that after she took up fused glassmaking while in Las Vegas, she never stopped and, when she moved to live with her sister’s family in Martinsburg, she began selling it for others to enjoy. She has developed her craft extensively over the last 15 years, enabling her to make everything from fused glass plates to bowls to wall art to 3D table displays.

“It’s a good way to keep out of trouble,” Neece said, with a chuckle.

Noad nodded in agreement.

“It keeps us busy,” Noad said. “It’s not only my form of meditation but also, my favorite form of entertainment.”

They both agreed that their artistic abilities were inherited from their parents.

“Our dad, especially, was very artistic. Our mom was more of a hobbyist,” Noad said. “They were artistic, but they never sold their art — they just did it for their own enjoyment. Now, we are enjoying creating art, too.”