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.

Gourd Lamp by Geri

I am a gourd artist and have recently seen various gourd lamps and thought I would give it a try.

This is a small irregular shaped gourd grown in Douglas, LA several years ago.  Due to the gourd's assymetrical shape I just allowed myself to have some fun drilling holes in random lines and shapes then creating cutouts (usually from cracks created by the pressure I was putting on it with the drill) on the larger part of the gourd as if its growth had caused these random openings.

Tools:

Drill or Drill Press with random bits (too small: not effective for my purpose and too large: created chipped holes and splits which gives you little choice but to GET CREATIVE!!!!)

X-acto Knife (for cutting random shaped holes)

Wood Rasp (cleaning and beveling random shaped holes and opening for light fitting)

Sand Paper

Pencil (for drawing designs)

Materials:

Gourd

Gold spray paint, gourd dye, gourd wax and steel wool (I will explain)

Some form of stand.  This was just something I found at Goodwill and thought I could use it for a gourd.

Light Kit (I used the type you see for ceramic holiday houses but found one with a brown cord)

LED light (candle style comparable to 15 W bulb)  USE LED ONLY!!!!

I cut off the neck of the gourd at a point that was large enough to accommodate the  LED light and, using the wood rasp, smoothed the opening.  I dumped the seeds and debris out of the gourd.  This one was relatively easy to clean.

I drew some lines then alternated drill bits creating a series of holes.  If I split the gourd creating a hole I just used the X-acto knife.  Then I let the "art major" in me come out and looked for ways to turn my work into a better design addressing each line and shape to create a crafty work of art.

I used dyes (reds, greens, purple, and browns) as the under glaze.  Once dry, I sprayed the inside of the gourd gold (to compliment the base) and lightly sprayed the dyed outer part of the gourd then used steel wool to scratch off the gold spray paint revealing the dye beneath.  This gives my gourd a vintage burnished look that i really like.  Once dry, I gave the gourd a good coat of gourd wax then buffed to a nice finish. 

I ran the light kit with the LED candlelabra bulb through the center of the stand and inserted into the gourd.  On this particular kit I had to adjust the tension pieces to accomdate the larger opening.

My advice: Do this on a gourd you could stand to toss if it doesn't work out.  In my case, little cracks, chips and splits (common on thinner gourds) just "encouraged" my creativity!!!!  I have other, more symetrical, gourds that I will attempt to create a deliberate pattern but as for this gourd, I am really pleased with how it turned out.  I learned a lot in the process of creating it and do not consider it a "practice" gourd, but an actual work of art.  The patterns of light on the wall are delightful and you can rotate the gourd to get different effects.

Remember...I teach classes and have all the tools and materials to help you craft your own gourd lamp!!!!