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O Tannenbaum
Member Exclusive

With Anita Marra Rogers

When charged with coming up with the next great ornament idea for the Keepsake Ornament Club, Keepsake Artist Anita Rogers knew she wanted the ornament to reflect the work of many different artists in the studio. “We tried to come up with an ornament that would incorporate several well-loved series ornaments, plus a couple of others,” she said. “I think Tom Best came up with the original concept for the tree and we decided together what ornaments or characters would best fit the situation.”

“O Tannenbaum” ended up having seven different artists help shape it in some way—from the idea, all the way to the finished piece. “Nina Aubé sculpted the Mischievous Kitten peeking out of the tree and the angel tree-topper is one of Robert Chad’s Mary’s Angels,” said Anita. “The guitar is Nello Williams’s miniature guitar, the fire truck was an old Don Palmiter miniature from 1993, and I sculpted my Granddog, Oreo who represents the Puppy Love series. I finished by sculpting the tree and packages, and put it all together!”

Anita makes it sound simple, but every artist works differently, so “O Tannenbaum” had to be traditionally and digitally sculpted to help bring it all together. “Rodney Gentry helped scale down the angel and the guitar digitally from existing ornaments, and the fire truck was an actual mini ornament already,” said Anita. “Nina was the only artist other than myself who did an original sculpt for the piece. I basically put it almost all together and left a space for her to sculpt the kitten in.”

Anita also made sure to add little touches special to her that she knew KOC members would love. “I chose to put gold tinsel garland on the tree because my own tree every year gets gold tinsel garland, and it has for as long as I can remember,” she said.

It’s little touches like the tinsel that made Anita fall in love with the finished ornament, and she thinks KOC members will, too. “I think the collectors are going to love that so many artists and series are represented,” said Anita. “They might also love that it is such an iconic Christmas morning scene with cute interaction between the pup and kitty.”

So what’s Anita’s favorite element of the ornament? “That’s an easy one,” she said. “My Puppy Love, Oreo, of course!”