Discover the Magic: Ken’s Favorite 2019 Keepsake Ornament
Ken Crow introduces Kringle’ Toy Shop, a magical experience with light, sound and storytelling that is oh-so-Ken.
Kringle’s Toy Shop combines the nostalgia of classic toys with the intricate artistry and engineering to create a work of wonder for you to show off on your tree. Using, light, sound, and motion, watch as Santa takes two children-inspired by Ken’s own children-on a tour of his store.
Featured Artist – Sharon Visker
Title:
Hallmark Artist
Started at Hallmark:
September 1983
Started at Keepsakes:
January 2000
Hometown:
Albuquerque, New Mexico
.
Sharon Visker has been a Hallmark artist for over 35 years. In that time she’s worked as an illustrator, and become an accomplished Keepsake Artist with experience in many mediums. What Sharon loves the most about her job is the kinship she feels with her fellow artists. “We’re such a tight-knit group,” she says. “We help each other and can call on each other when we’re working on something to get other’s input. I landed in a good place.”
Her mother seemed to be taking an art class or immersing herself in an art project during every spare moment. Her brother seemed to be able to draw just about anything. And in an atmosphere where art seemed like a part of everyday life, it was only natural that Sharon Visker would want to give it a try.
She quickly discovered she was unusually good at it. So good, in fact, that her friends would offer to buy the bubble gum cards she copied for fun. Which made Sharon realize she had the ability to be an artist who could make people notice her work.
Throughout grade school and high school, the opportunities for Sharon’s work to be noticed occurred frequently and took various forms. She created elaborate bulletin board displays, designed yearbooks, entered—and won—numerous art competitions.
Her exceptional talent eventually brought her to Hallmark, where, after 15 years as an illustrator, she participated in a woodcarving workshop and discovered a knack she didn’t know she had. A knack for sculpting—which she’s been exercising ever since for the enjoyment of Keepsake Ornaments collectors.
2019 Sneak Peeks: A Closer Look at the Magic
Along with their new 2019 KOC Membership cards, club members are receiving a brochure of 2019 Sneak peeks with commentary from the artists.
Prince of the Forest
Noble Nutcrackers
1st in the series.
“Each nutcracker in this new series will illustrate a theme, with each one featuring various attachments in different materials to help showcase the nutcracker’s special kingdom.”
Mischievous Kittens Surprise
Which kitten will you find inside? That’s the fun of a mystery ornament! A special repaint of the third ornament in Nina Aubé’s Mischievous Kittens series, there are two colors of kittens to add some feline fun to your tree this year!
Mom
Family Cake Pops
Daughter
Family Cake Pops
“I was in heaven being surrounded by all my favorite candies, which I literally made each ornament out of to test! The finished ornaments will reflect the original ones down to every last detail. Hopefully no one will try eating them!”
Dad
Family Cake Pops
Son
Family Cake Pops
Limoges Snowman
“I have always been fascinated with the little Limoges boxes that came in all sorts of shapes and sizes when I was growing up. This ornament will be made of porcelain with a metal clasp. I’m making it a fairly good size, too, so that’s not only a standout on your tree but also serves as a place to store a note or charm for yourself or someone special.”
Fabulous Flute
“My inspiration for this whole unofficial series is my son, who played in the marching band in high school and college. I’m trying to get as many instrument sections represented as I can, with this year’s ornament focused on woodwinds. The snowflakes represent the sounds of the flute, with several smaller snowflakes used since the flute makes a smaller sound.”
“One of my favorite things about this tree trimmer is that we are using an actual tied-ribbon bow. The concept drawing for this bow-tying elf was done several years back as I was planning ahead on what the series might look like. The inspiration came from the bow-making machine in the Hallmark Visitors Center. I think the addition of a real bow (red for the store release version and gold for the special 2019 KOC Convention version) adds a nice touch to the ornament.”
North Pole Tree Trimmers
Event Exclusive
“A Closer Look at the Magic.” 2019 Brochure.
Featured Artist – Joanne Eschrich
Title:
Hallmark Master Designer
Started at Hallmark:
September 1981
Started at Keepsakes:
January 1996
Hometown:
Westport, Massachusetts
.
Like so many Keepsake Artists, Joanne has been perfecting her craft since childhood. Her eagerness to learn and grow has taken her all over the world, including a trip to Poland last year, to learn about glass-blowing techniques and work with old-world artisans. Joanne continues to find new ways to celebrate hallowed Christmas traditions, and delight her many fans.
People started collecting Joanne Eschrich’s work when she was in third grade. Of course, the collectors at that time were her classmates. Later, the requests kept coming—in high school fellow classmates asked her to illustrate their biology reports. That was Joanne’s moment of discovery. Unfortunately, it was because the biology teacher didn’t think Joanne should be sharing her talents when it came to homework assignments.
Joanne’s parents encouraged their children to be creative with their playtime. As a young artist being raised on a farm, Joanne had no shortage of animal friends to pose for her. She built dollhouses with her sisters and spaceships with her brothers.
When college came along, Joanne knew she was going to study art. Nothing else was as important. Despite her parents’ attempts to talk her out of her career choice, she persevered and got an interview with Hallmark in her senior year. A job offer soon followed.
Joanne had never even considered sculpting when she was asked to try doing a piece for the Hallmark Merry Miniatures line. She created a basset hound named Sebastian for that assignment and discovered that her sculpting abilities rivaled her illustration talent.
Joanne doesn’t have to look far for inspiration or support for her craft. Her daughters Jamie and Anna are thrilled with what she does, especially when she brings her work home and they get to give their opinions or model for her angels.
“On a few occasions they’ve brought my original sculptures along with the finished ornaments to ‘show and tell’ at their school,” says Joanne. “They also love seeing ‘Mom’ on the back of the ornament boxes at the store.”
Artist Journal: Ken Crow (2019 Sneak Peeks)
Wednesday, January 23, 2019
From the sketchbook of Keepsake Master Artist, Ken Crow.
The first sketch depicts a Christmas Toy Shop with animated magic–featuring lights, sound, and motion–bringing everything to life including toys, children and Toymaker Santa.
The second sketch sneak peeks this years Toymaker Santa. Ken said, “Thought it would be fun to add a cuckoo clock.” Wow, this will be the 20th in the Toymaker Santa series! Do you recognize the miniature cuckoo clock Santa is holding? It is the “Santa’s Tiny Timekeeper” miniature from 2016.
The third sketch shows renderings of the Christmas Carnival series. The 2nd in the series is a Toyland Carousel!
The last page shows different renderings of this years “Tick Tock Twirlers” along with a couple of past miniature ornaments including “Santa’s Tiny Timekeeper” from 2016 and “Christmas Carousel” from 2017–for size comparison.