Artist Profile: Ed Seale

Whether building his first boat, a wooden catamaran, or creating a Keepsake ornament, Hallmark designer Ed Seale loves making beautiful objects with his hands.

Seale, born in Toronto, grew up in the rolling, wooded countryside of southern Ontario. His early interests led him to seasonal work—eight carefree years of working as a carpenter in Canada during summers and as a boat builder in Florida during winters. Although he enjoyed his work, his career yearnings directed him to art and eventually to Hallmark where he brought a little bit of his experience with him.

Seale’s love of animals is evident in much of his work, for example, in the 1992 “Polar Post”—an “Artist’s Favorites” ornament depicting a polar bear mail carrier holding a real working compass.

“I like to combine things to get a hybrid,” he says, “for example, I’ll sculpt a whimsical animal scene where you would normally expect to find a human. It makes the ornament cuter and more humorous.”

When Ed was with Keepsakes, he became noted for drawing on past experiences, future trends and his own intuition to create some of the most memorable Keepsake ornaments. Seale is well-known as the creator of most of the highly prized “Frosty Friends” ornaments. Ed was also the creative force behind the “Tender Touches” line. These small, woodland creature designs are among Ed’s favorites, and still sought after by collectors.

Seale began his Hallmark career as an artist in 1968, and began creating ornaments for the Keepsake line in 1980. He worked in several new product development areas at Hallmark and thinks being a Keepsake Ornament artist “was the best of all!”

Although Ed retired in 1999, he continued to sculpt for Keepsakes for several years and was part of many Hallmark events, such as the 2001 Hallmark Jubilee event held in Kansas City.

FUN FACT

In the course of designing the 1982 “Baby’s First Christmas” ornament, Ed spent several painstaking hours creating the tiny baby’s bed. Just as he finished, it slipped out of his hand and fell to the floor.

“I rolled my chair back to look for it, and I heard a crunch,” he says. “It was one of my first ornaments, and I had rolled my chair over it!”…

FUN FACT

Ed’s love of animals is evident in many of his designs.  “I like to combine things to get a hybrid,” he says, “for example, I’ll sculpt a whimsical animal in a scene where you normally expect to find a human.”