More Reasons to Believe....

 A friend of mine found a stash of awesome bobbins at a yard sale this last spring and immediately called me to see if I wanted them, of course I said yes! She bargained and dickered so I had a nice collection of unique bobbins to play with when I got to Oregon.

She collects Santas and knows what I do, so she is always on the look out for things she thinks I might want to create Santas from. Friends are so wonderful and give us another reason to believe....
Here's where you can find these handsome fellas..... Reasons to Believe

Santa, Santa Everywhere!

Santa, Santa everywhere,
In the office, in my chair!

On the bookshelf, iron board....
In my kitchen and I'm floored!

How I got so many done,
It's enough to make me stunned!

Never happened this way yet,
I have more to finish, yes, you bet!

Okay, such silliness is done, I've been working like a fiend though, to get an inventory built up. I think I may get this under control, if I can find my way through the canning stuff.... well, that's another story for another time. :-)

A Gallery of Santas

 Lighting the Way Santa

A gourd and a bit of clay here and there are what made this Santa come to life. He has been painted with layers of color and dusted with vintage mica "snow" to add some extra sparkle. He carries a cast metal lantern and bottle brush tree to add to his charm.

 Shiny Brite Santa

Here's a Santa that had a humble beginning as a Tapatio bottle. You would never know that he's glass underneath the clay, and you can also feel good about purchasing a "green" collectible. His name was chosen because he was inspired by my collection of vintage ornaments including indents and striped glass pieces.

 Jolly Santa

I've discovered the fun of creating Santa heads with some of my gourds. This fellow's smile will melt the heart of any scrooge this holiday season.

 

Holly Jolly Santa

Another gourd and clay creation this Santa is destined for Reasons to Believe. He and many of my newest pieces are up for sale at Reasons to Believe. The others listed above will be traveling to Oregon soon unless otherwise claimed. The opportunity is open so if you're interested drop me a line.

Reasons to Believe a dream come true....

I just want to pinch myself every time I get a photo from Scott. It just tickles me to pieces to think that once upon a time, in little old North Pole, Alaska, I would dream over the BHG Santa Claus publications while I perused the different artists work such as Scott Schultz and Dennis Brown, Kathy Cornell, and many others that are so very talented. When Ginny Diezel, a talented artist herself, urged me to contact the folks at Reasons to Believe I thought, oh, there's no way I will be accepted, these people have been doing this for years, and so on. You know all the self doubt stuff you tell yourself. While I've been creating Santa figures of one sort or another for years, I didn't settle on gourd and sculpted clay Santa figures until a couple of years ago. I decided to stop pushing myself to finish a piece quickly and just concentrate on the design and painting. It sure paid off, and I'm so thrilled.
As a side note, I noticed when I visited the site for North Pole that they are working on developing a theme city again. If you get a chance, click on the link above and see what they are up to. Here's my contribution to the idea, implemented 15 years ago when I was on the NPEDC.

 

The candy cane light poles were an idea I never thought would come to fruition, but here they are!  I would also love to see a cute gingerbread house or two, but they would have to be done carefully, not cheesy. Anyway, just my ramblings for the day. Hope you have a great weekend. :-)

A Santa A Day #5

A Victorian Style Santa that used to be a hair product bottle. He's carrying vintage fruit and leaves. A true, one of a kind collectible.

A Santa A Day #3

Santa #3 is a gourd creation, with added features made of air dry clay. I use layers and layers of color to achieve depth and over all warmth along with shape to each Santa.

 This Santa has a gathering of antique fruits and leaves to add to his over all old world charm. Thanks for stopping by!

A Santa A Day #2

 Whew! I though the photos were going to come out gigantic. As it is I don't know why blogger is set up one way one day and another the next. Anyhew....here's my second Santa to share. Can you guess what he was made from?

It's a re-purposed item with clay over it, not a gourd this time. He has antique embellishments on his hat and is dusted with vintage mica snow.

A Santa A Day

A wrinkly crinkly old elf, this Santa is my first Northwoods Santa of the season. Painted with layers of maroon, burgundy and reds, this Santa has a warm and cozy feel.

Hand sculpted pine cones and vintage mica "snow" add to the warmth and soft glow of this handsome fella.

He stands about 13" tall. I put felt dots on the bottom of all my creations so that they are easy to slide on any surface without marring it. You can see more of my Santa creations at Reasons to Believe.

Santa Santa everywhere!

A sneak preview of my collection of Santas, some due to head to Reasons to Believe soon. I have a couple more to finish and then the good folks at RTB can choose the ones they want for this year. More photos, close ups are coming shortly. :-)

WIP's Finished!

There are some good things about being home sick, such as getting some art done. Oh no, I didn't call in sick. The other day the twins daddy was up all night losing his dinner and the next morning the twins lost their breakfast all over me. Then the next day I started feeling puny and the twins were still struggling as well as mommy and big sister so we decided it would be best for me to stay home. So, when I can muster up the strength to go sit for a bit, I've been painting and putting together some pieces. This Santa is finally done and will be destined for Reasons to Believe.

Two projects I started a while ago that I finally finished, yay! I wanted to try a bit of  curly wool for hair on my newest Uncle Sam doll. He was fun to do, but now I'm covered in little white hairs from trimming his hair and beard. The other Uncle Sam wall hanging was a foam star I sculpted over and then applied to a hand painted frame with a vintage photo of the Declaration of Independence in the background. These two fellas will be part of my line up for PFATT this month. So I'm done for tonight. It's movie time, which is welcome as I'm ready to just sit and veg. Have a great evening. :-)

WIP Candy Cane Santa almost done....

Slow going here as my time has been really limited but I'm determined to get ahead and stay ahead. So here he is, a very fun, but difficult to paint Santa as trying to get around those curves is challenging. I still need to antique and seal him, but other than that, he is done! Whew! A quick but heartfelt thanks to all who stop by and comment. I really do appreciate your kind words. Have a great day!

WIP More Santa figures

I know it seems that I'm stuck in Santa mode way too early, but this year I want to get a jump on things. I have 2 galleries, Reasons to Believe and Missy's Uptown Art in Oregon that want a few of these so I'm trying to be better about having inventory when I need it. I really love creating Santas anyway and these take several steps before they are finished. I can take my gourds and supplies with me easily and when the babies go down for nap time I can get some work done. Today I added eyebrows and the tree as well as one mitten to the large Santa. I will add the other mitten when this step has dried. The ornament Santa gained his tall curly hat. When that is dry I will add another thin layer to give it strength, plus the rest of his hat. Then I will make sure all is smooth and ready to paint. I gesso before I paint.
I'm off to get some planting done while the sun is still out, and then I will head to my studio for some painting before hubby gets home. Have a great night!

WIP for Reasons to Believe

This Santa has been so fun to work on! I love the curly handle on the gourd which said "candy cane" to me the first time I laid my eyes on it. So his hat and the buttons will be peppermint striped when all done. I hope to finish him tonight, but the garden is also calling for my attention. It's all good! This Santa will be destined for Reasons to Believe when he is finished. I do have more of these gourds though thanks to my dear friend Ginny Diezel. Stop by her blog to see what she has been up to! She's been a great artist friend and I love the wisdom she shares.

What do Easter Bunnies and Santas have in common?

They are holiday art of course! I am in the process of creating several Santas for Reasons to Believe and so I will share as I get each one done. As a member of American Holiday Artists I spend a lot of time creating holiday art. The cute Easter Bunny trinket box is listed on ebay right now so check him out for more information.

Finally! Got to paint again....

Oh, it felt so good to sit down and paint again! It's been at least 2 weeks, and I so needed to unwind with a paint brush in my hand. The fella on the right was finished before the holiday rush hit, but tonight I finished dressing up the one on the left. He still needs to be antiqued, but I'm very happy with the way his coat turned out. It's funny how you start with one thought on a piece and go in a totally different direction sometimes.
This fella above started out as a simple Santa with no frills, but when I started to paint him, the paint brush took over and before I knew it I was deep into a design that took much longer than I planned. Although the photo is less than stellar I hope you can see the detail. There are several layers of paints for each stripe. He was done with a Christmas ornament in mind, at least the colors are from one I have, but the different patterns were of my own choosing. So simple he ended up not being, but fun to paint in any case.
This Americana Santa has a bit different spin, but I really like the way he turned out. I can't wait to finish the antiquing and get him ready to send off. I still need to do a few more, but these are destined for Reasons to Believe.
It's time to hit the sack for the day, and I know I will have visions of Santa's and Mad Hatters and White Rabbits dancing in my dreams. I'm excited to see what the new year will bring, aren't you?

Conventional....or Not?

I was coloring with my grandson the other day when it occurred to me that I'm a conventional artist. Even as a small child, when Mom would get on the floor and color with me, I was very particular about staying within the lines. I don't know if that idea came from her, or I was already there mentally. I know she encouraged me to stay within the defining lines on my color book pages, but she also taught me how to shade, where to put the shadows, and what colors I could use. Even that was fairly well defined, for instance if I was coloring a flower yellow, the shading color was a gold, or if red, I would use a crimson for shadows.
I find that as I am learning to paint, I have discovered that purple is a great shading color for red in my still life paintings. There are more that I can't think of right now, but it has opened a whole new world to see that I don't necessarily always have to go with a similar color to get the results I want. In fact, I should be looking for the true shadow color. Snow scenes are fun as the shadows can be purples, blues, peach or pink, grays, a myriad of color depending on the sunlight, and the mood you are trying to create.
With sculpting I still tend to be conventional in that I really like the old world look and have a hard time with whimsy. My favorite children's books have classic illustrations, even though there are a few illustrators such as Suzanne Urban of Smirking Goddess Studio that I would love to see create a children's story book with their delightful, whimsical, unique creations.
What sort of artist are you? Conventional, whimsical, abstract?
For a look at more of my Santa's created for this season stop by Reasons to Believe

An Exciting Announcement!!!!

Sometimes dreams really do come true! Years ago when I was a stay at home mom, I looked for ways to add to our income while being home for my children. I happened to be living in North Pole, Alaska at the time. I would scour magazines for ideas as I had a friend who was a master tole painter that taught me how to paint. Living in North Pole made it natural to think of creating Santas so I picked up copies of BHG Santa Claus, as well as other publications looking for something I could do that was unique and not found in the shops in the area. I read a couple of features on REASONS TO BELIEVE, a business started by Scott Schultz and Dennis Brown in the Seattle area. I thought, wow, how would that be to be able to have a where I could make Santas all day and earn money doing it?! I so admired their work, and the work of other Santa artists in the Santa Claus publications, but never seemed to be in a position to be able to reach a wide audience and collector base. I stared with birch wood slabs that are "mistakes" from hitting the side of logs while chopping wood. I called them my happy mistakes and you can see a sample in the top photo above. Well, thanks to Ginny Diezel, and really Suzanne Urban, who have both given me an opportunity to rub internet shoulders with some of the best creative artisans in the nation, I was lead to the Reasons to Believe website which Scott and Dennis own. Ginny urged me to contact them and Scott got right back to me. So now my work can be found on the Reasons to Believe website! I'm so thrilled to have such an opportunity, as I really love creating Santa figures out of a variety of media. I would also like to thank Linda Kennon of Gourdqueen Originals for sending me my first gourds and challenging me to see what I could do with them. Thanks to all who made this possible, including my husband, who is so supportive of all I do. Head on over to Reasons to Believe to take a look at all the talented artists to be found there.