Featured Artist: Terri Steiger
Title:
Hallmark Senior Artist
Started at Hallmark:
August 1996
Started at Keepsakes:
January 2003
Hometown:
Cleveland, Ohio
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Terri comes from an artistic family—several of her siblings have creative jobs or hobbies. Her mother is a quilter and her father likes to build objects (he is currently building a boat). Both parents have always encouraged creative solutions to their children’s projects.
While in school, Terri loved to draw and create things. She particularly enjoyed 3D projects, such as making a miniature replica of a fort and clay models of the human muscular system for a science fair. She went on to graduate from the Columbus College of Art and Design.
After college, she was recruited by Hallmark and became a greeting card designer. A few years later, she decided to freelance, which gave her an opportunity to travel around the U.S. and to take a mission trip to Russia. Missing Hallmark, she returned and eventually worked in almost all the creative areas. She was drawn to Keepsakes because she always liked making 3D gifts, plus she enjoyed learning something new. A self-described “research junkie,” she finds inspiration for her ornaments everywhere.
At home, Terri loves to sew and do art projects with her two adopted daughters from China. Not surprisingly, her favorite ornament is the 2007 Chinese take-out box with the symbol for double happiness on its side and the fortune cookie that says, “What good fortune to have each other!”
Featured Artist: Kristina Gaughran
Title:
Hallmark Senior Artist
(Master Sculptor)
Started at Hallmark:
May 1995
Started at Keepsakes:
May 1995
Hometown:
Osceola, Iowa
Memories of her small-town Iowa upbringing inspire Kristina Gaughran’s work. Even in her magical Fairy Messenger and Friendly Fairies series, many themes, expressions, and details come from her early impressions and real-world experiences. In 2018, Kristina charts new territory with the same creativity that’s made her a Keepsake Ornament fan favorite.
Even though there were lots of stars to wish upon growing up in rural Iowa, Kristina Gaughran never asked their help in finding a job with Hallmark. “I grew up in a tiny town,” she explains. “There was only one Hallmark store.”
Upon graduation from high school, Gaughran landed in Hallmark’s hometown–Kansas City, Missouri. As a student at the Kansas City Art Institute, artists from Hallmark often visited. In 1995, during her junior year, the manager of Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments visited one of her classes. He asked each of the 70 students to submit two drawings. One from each student would then be selected to sculpt.
“I submitted a worn little teddy bear with a cat rubbing up against him affectionately and a Christmas wreath with a mouse hanging off of it,” Gaughran remembers. “The teddy bear was the one they chose.”
Based on that submission, Hallmark offered Gaughran an internship for the following summer. At the end of that summer, Hallmark asked her to continue as a contributor. “Once a week I would meet up with a group from Keepsake Ornaments for lunch,” she says. “I wasn’t out of school yet, but already it was very much like family. It was like having 30 friends that were there to support and help you.”
When Gaughran finally graduated in the spring of 1996, she was offered a full-time position with Keepsakes.
“Growing up, I actually wanted to work for Disney because I love animation,” she confesses. “The funny thing is, I get to work for Disney after all!” Many of Gaughran’s Keepsake Ornaments are Disney characters. She even travels to Disney headquarters on occasion for approval on some of her sculpts. “It’s like the best of both worlds,” Gaughran says. “I get to visit Disney, but I get to live at Hallmark.”
Home & Family Anita Rogers & Nello Williams Interview
Earlier today, Hallmark Keepsake Ornament artists Anita Rogers & Nello Williams and Keepsake Ornament Collector Diana St. James made an appearance on the Hallmark Channel’s HOME & FAMILY show. During the segment, Diana shared how she started collecting Keepsake Ornaments and Anita and Nello showed the process they each go through to make their beautiful creations, and then went on to talk about how they got started at Hallmark.
In case you missed it, here it is. Click on the image below to see the interview.
Featured Artist: Edythe Kegrize
Title:
Hallmark Master Designer
Started at Hallmark:
October 1979
Started at Keepsakes:
October 2002
Hometown:
Pennsylvania
Helped along by her family, Edythe’s talent for making art out of anything and everything began when she was young. As she developed as an artist, mastering new techniques and incorporating new materials, she found her way to Hallmark. Now Edythe creates some of the most elegant, ornate, yet cheerful and endearing Keepsake Ornaments around. Read more about Edythe and her 2017 ornaments.
Edythe Kegrize had an in-depth love of three-dimensional art ever since she was young. She remembers making all kinds of creations from scraps around the house, including a tiny paper television with pictures that rotated with the turn of a knob and a crèche fashioned out of laundry detergent and food coloring.
Edythe’s talents blossomed with the help of her loving family. Her grandmother saved tidbits of fabric, trims and pretty papers. Her mother never hindered her daughter’s creativity despite the risks of having holes cut in tablecloths or glue on the rug. From her father, Edythe inherited attention to detail, patience and mechanical curiosity that make her Keepsake designs so intricate.
While in college, Edythe majored in illustration but also was inspired by ceramics and weaving classes. At Hallmark, she would often devise unique folding cards that brought an extra dimension to her designs. Edythe featured needlework and collages in her greeting cards and crafted several original dolls to be photographed for select card collections.
With nearly 25 years of experience illustrating greeting cards, Edythe cultivated an appreciation for a wide range of decorative surface designs, from traditional folk art to classic, elegant scrollwork. This is perhaps most evident in the details of her Santa’s Around the World unofficial series.
Featured Artist – Sharon Visker
Title:
Hallmark Artist
Started at Hallmark:
September 1983
Started at Keepsakes:
January 2000
Hometown:
Albuquerque, New Mexico
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Born into a family of artists, Sharon learned to design and illustrate at an early age. She mastered her art and joined Hallmark, and then, a funny thing happened—she learned to sculpt ornaments. Sharon’s 2017 Keepsake Ornaments turn up the fun to full volume, each one featuring a song and loads of personality.
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.