31 DAYS of SANTA CLAUS Day 7 Finding a Santa Claus in Anything

Creating a Santa from anything and everything is the trend. I know, because I've found Santa in a number of unusual things including two Kalhua bottles.

I recently purchased these three Santas from an estate sale because I will buy just about handcrafted Santa I find. I have to applaud this artist for "finding" the Santas in these two pieces of dried cypress (I think) and a seashell. I've seen a lot of oyster shell and starfish Santas (I've even painted some myself) and sand dollar, and driftwood...etc., but I really like this artist's take on the spindle shell.

I just love the way this artist found the cape in this piece of weathered wood and the way Santa is pointing at something. The star of Bethlehem perhaps?

During my years of Santa crafting and attending shows, I have heard many, many times that is was all about the face, especially the eyes, that appeal to collectors.

This artist did not put a lot of effort into the face, but the shell and smaller piece of cypress do have quite a comical expression. Unfortunately, the larger on looks a bit deranged.

Even though I am VERY tempted to touch it up...I will respect the artist's vision.

Speaking of artist...for heaven's sake...SIGN AND DATE YOUR WORK!

All I have for this artist is his/her initials on the bottom of the largest one.

So, if anyone knows a Santa Claus crafter back in 1996 whose initials are B.G., please let me know.

Here are some Santa ornaments I crafted from slices of a cypress knee. I found these in a one gallon bag at a garage sale and probably only paid a dollar or two.

I've been painting this style of ornament since 1993.

Most of these cypress slice Santas were sold at the 2013 Holiday Arts Tour in Ruston, LA. And yes, they are signed and dated.

Now, I must get dressed and ready for my day. There is nothing like working in your pajamas but it is time to put on carpentry wardrobe because I am still working on my lake house while my husband is off.

We have owned this lake front property in a nice neighborhood on Lake Bistineau, LA for two years and we are still working on it. It's a long story and involves a criminal case...but what renovation doesn't? Believe me, this adventure deserves a blog of its own!

So, I have attached a photo of the house at some point in the remodeling process. This was out Christmas photo two years ago. That is how long this process it taking.

However, we do have one of the bedrooms completed and the bathroom. What else could we possibly need?

I'm looking forward to my husband returning to his real job so that I can get back to work on my Santas!

Sorry, Honey.

31 DAYS of SANTA CLAUS Day 2 Vaillancourt Chalkware Santas

For the next week I will be very busy working with my husband at our lake house, so crafting Santas will be few and far between. Still, I am looking forward to sharing with you some of my collection.

I did manage to find some time to visit my studio/storage room today. There I was confronted by a dozen oyster shell Santa ornaments that, due to an inferior spray varnish, were scrapped last year but I intend to finish them this year.

I purchased this fabulous spray "glass" finish that make the oyster shells look like porcelain. However, I was not able to find it last year and settled on another brand. This new brand reacted with the spray paint and caused the paint to bubble. So, I now have to sand them down and start over.

I see I failed to take a photo of the half finished Santa gourds I started last year, but I'll get to that eventually.

Then there are the Santa gourds. My (COPYRIGHTED) Santa gourds require several steps and these guys have been in Step 2 limbo for about three years.

Once again, a product I loved is no longer available and the new material is prone to cracking and even breaking off the gourd. This has really limited my production to less than twenty-five per year over the past few years. I need to do some more experiments with mixing in other materials to get these beards right, because these are just too frustrating to carve into (Step 3).








Oh, but then there are my chalkware Santa Claus figures.

Twenty years ago, I discovered Valliancourt Chalkware Santas made from vintage chocolate moulds. Unfortunately, I could only afford to collect a few.  Fortunately though, one of the pieces I did purchase was the 1994 5th Annual Starlight Santa now valued between $300 (eBay.com) to $800 (valfa.com) but I will be telling you about that later.

In the meantime, I will tell you that I have about two dozen chocolate mold reproductions so I can pour and paint my own for a fraction of what the Valliancourt cost. Plus, I really enjoyed crafting them myself.

Most of the chalkware Santas in this photo are Vaillancourt. The two to the far right (Santa on motorcycle and traditional Santa) were made by my friend Sarah Meier, who is also a wonderful Santa Artist, but more on her later! For more information, check out http://collectibles.about.com/od/holidaycollectin1/ss/vaillancourt.htm for a very informative blog.

I painted about 90% of the other chalkware Santas.

So, back to what Santa(s) I worked on today.

Last year. I purchased several dried starfish at a yard sale and created my own version of a starfish Santa. Each has a sculpted clay (no bake) and beards crafted from wool I got from a friend's (Patrick Zuberbueler) ranch in Comstock, TX west of Del Rio, TX.

Unfortunately, the largest of the lot broke and I have had a devil of a time repairing him. Is appears dried starfish crumble easily and do not respond to glue very well.


So, today I decided to work on him.

Basically, I went over the area where the leg had been repaired with a different shade of red. Wouldn't you know it...I had run out of the other red! So I brushed the new red over the entire Santa.

While I waited for him to dry, I found a small chalkware ornament I made last year and decided to paint him as well.

I realize that I am going to have to get stronger glasses if I want to paint these tiny faces and work on the lighting in my studio. 

After an hour or so of painting and trying to put some things away in my studio, I had to wrap it up and have dinner.

So, basically I have a chalkware Santa with a very tiny face that I just can't get right and my starfish Santa is looking a bit like Gerard Depardieu. More touch-ups tomorrow! I need to repaint the wrinkles on Santa Depardieu's cheek, give him a good coat of sealer, and eventually (as in once I find my wool), I will add his beard.

A Very Special Santa Claus Cypress Knee

Over the past few years I have painted cypress knees given to me by a friend, and in exchange, I create customized Santas, Angels, even a Raggedy Ann and Andy for him to give his sweet wife and daughters-in-law for Christmas.

This year I happened to meet two of his daughters-in-law while set up at a Farmers and Artist Market.  When they realized I was the artist who had created their Santas, they asked me if I could paint them a very special Santa for their father-in-law who, unbeknowst to me, had lost his wife to cancer only a couple of months ago.

The young ladies came over and picked out an especially nice cypress knee that their father-in-law and given me and sent me emails of photos of the special things they wanted to add to his Santa Claus.

They asked that special items be added to the Santa including 8 grandchildren.

On one side, I painted three helping with decorating and setting out toys.

On the back, two step grandsons are sitting on Santa's bag. The oldest is holding one of his step cousins. I thought is was extra special that they included these two boys on the Santa.

Part of the cypress knee's design made for a great garland,

Raggedy Ann and Andy were a favorite of his wife's, so they were added to the toy bag.

At first I thought about adding my friend's face on the Santa, then I decided that since this was more about his wife, the Santa needed to be unique.

HIs wife cross-stitched every one in the family a stocking, so they asked that I add hers to the cypress knee Santa along with a very special hummingbird feeder that she loved.

And of course, the angel, painted to look like Deb, in one of her favorite gowns.

I called my friend a couple of days after Christmas and left him a message. He came by see me today and we talked about his loss and all the love he had for his wife. The Santa Claus cypress knee I painted touched him immensely and I told him that I had happy and loving thoughts all the time I was working on it.

He was blessed to have had such a loving, thoughtful, and sweet wife. My thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.

Cypress Knee Santas, Popeyes and other ways to Celebrate Christmas!

I have just spent about 40 hours painting 8 cypress knees most of which are going to the daughters-in-laws of a very sweet man who harvests the cypress knees from his property, boils them til the bark is soft enough to pull off, and dries them in his oven.
There is nothing quite like the smell of cypress knees drying in the oven.
Why I forgot to photograph the naked cypress knees before I painted them, I have no idea, but there is something curious about the twists and knobs on the knees that just speak to me.  Just check out this LINK to get an idea of what they look like naked.  Not all cypress knees can be a Santa Claus, although I've seen other artists just slap a face and beard on any old thing (actually, I've done that as well) so I like to "find" the Santa in cypress knee.
My friend, who began bringing me his cypress knees to paint about 10 years ago, made some special requests for this year's lot that reflected the individuals who would be receiving them as Christmas gifts.

My friend's family has grown in the past couple of years with the addition of two grandson's, a 21 month old and one just born on Monday the 20th, and two more special grandsons by marriage all who call him "Popeye".
So I want to share these with you all.  The tallest of the lot is only 9 inches tall and the smallest (not pictured with this group and was to be a gift for a friend at work) was only 2 inches.
Here are some other photos of the individual cypress knees.