Home & Family Ken Crow Interview
Earlier today, Keepsake studio artist Ken Crow made an appearance on the Hallmark Channel’s “Home & Family” show. During the segment he talked about what inspires him when it comes to designing Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments and then went on to show the process he goes through to make his beautiful creations.
In case you missed it, here it is. Click on the image below to see the interview.
Live Chat Recap: Tom Best
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Tom Best
Senior Keepsake Artist
On Wednesday, July 13, Hallmark Artist, Tom Best chatted with collectors via Facebook. Here is a synopsis of that chat that highlights most of the questions and responses. Please note the chat is not in chronological order and has been grouped by subject and edited for brevity.
Frosty Friends
Frosty Friends
37th in the series.
Guitars
Up on the Housetop
Other Work
Beer Stein
Career
Other
Live Chat Recap: Tracy Larsen
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Tracy Larsen
Hallmark Artist
On Monday, June 27, Hallmark Artist, Tracy Larsen chatted with collectors via Facebook. Here is a synopsis of that chat that highlights most of the questions and responses. Please note the chat is not in chronological order and has been grouped by subject and edited for brevity.
Holiday Lighthouse
Holiday Light House
5th in the series.
Other Work
Tea Time!
1st in a five-part series.
Career
Other
Featured Artist: Orville Wilson
Hallmark Production Artist
(Sculptor IV)
Started at Hallmark:
July 19, 1996
Started at Keepsakes:
December 2006
Hometown:
Kansas City, Kansas
Designing the EMERALD CITY™ from THE WIZARD OF OZ™ has been a labor of love and fond memories for Orville Wilson. His creative ingenuity makes this ornament nothing less than magical.
Ever since Orville was in grade school, he wanted to be an artist. Because his mother liked to draw, she encouraged him to pursue a career in art. While in high school, he always participated in art fairs with his drawings and paintings.
After college, he held a variety of design jobs ranging from working for a screen print company to one that produced sports trading cards—all of which prepared him for a job at Hallmark. He started his career at Hallmark in season cards, but was always interested in Keepsake 3—D designing and was happy to be selected to work with this group.
Outside of work, he enjoys travel, martial arts (Kung Fu) and video gaming. Not surprisingly, one of his favorite ornaments that he has worked on was based on the Pac-Man® arcade game which he always loved playing!
Family Truckster Takes Flight (2016)
Whenever Orville Wilson starts working on an ornament that celebrates an iconic pop-culture moment, he always goes back to the source.
“I have to get back to that scene to make sure I’m remembering it correctly. And it was really fun just to go back through and watch the actual movie again,” Orville says. “I’m a big fan of the whole series.”
He saw the original Vacation with his mom back in 1983, when it first came out. He and his mom loved going to movies together at the historic theater in downtown Kansas City, Mo., that used to be called the Empire (now the Alamo). It’s where they saw Jaws, Star Wars, and The Empire Strikes Back.
Since becoming a Keepsake artist, Orville has worked on a number of ornaments representing legendary scenes from movie history. For the Vacation series, Orville also created A Bright and Merry Christmas, which shows Clark Griswold lighting up his entire house.
To capture the sense of motion when the Griswold family Truckster goes through the barricade in the middle of the desert, Orville used an animation program. He put a specific filter over the image of the barricade to show the wood splintering. “That gave it more of a real feel, with the parts and pieces broken up. It looks the way it would look if it were cracked open in real life.”
The ornament also features the sounds from that memorable scene.
Emerald City (2016)
The Wizard of Oz™
Orville’s not just interested in recent cinema. He remembers seeing THE WIZARD OF OZ™ as an 8-year-old, visiting his grandparents’ house. He thinks he’s seen it 20 more times since then. “They play it every year,” Orville says. “It’s a classic.”
He describes this ornament as a memorable snapshot. The YELLOW BRICK ROAD™ winds toward the city, which lights up and plays a portion of “We’re Off to See the Wizard.” LED lights shine through the green-tinted, glittery structure to create the city’s inner glow.
To create a prototype, Orville used a combination of techniques. For the main part of EMERALD CITY™, he used a graphics program called MODO. For the more detail-oriented foreground, with the YELLOW BRICK ROAD™, the poppies, and grass, he paired MODO with a program called ZBrush. He wanted to make sure the field looked as if it were full of flowers, just like in that sleepy scene with Dorothy and her friends. “It gets you as close as possible to a hand sculptor,” Orville says. “It’s like digital clay.”
Ollivanders Wand Shop (2016)
Harry Potter™
In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001), Harry visits Diagon Alley to find a proper wand. Orville was more than happy to take on the challenge of paying tribute to that early scene in Ollivanders Wand Shop.
He gathered any image that showed the shop’s rich detail. Then he started by visually unfolding the main section of the shop as if he were taking apart a packaging box. He put the unfolded image through Photoshop and used individual bricks to create the pattern. As he moved those images back through MODO, it acquired the look of real, sculpted brick.
The shop lights up when the ornament is placed over a standard bulb on a light string. Through the windows, you see the wands stacked up on shelves. And if you look into the “magic” window viewer on the back of the ornament you can see the inside of the shop!
Orville, who has also designed a Hogwarts castle ornament, says he’s a fan of all the movies and enjoyed being able to capture the lighthearted sense of discovery early in the series.
Featured Artist: Katrina Bricker
Title:
Hallmark Artist
Started at Hallmark:
March 1994
Started at Keepsakes:
February 1995
Hometown:
Eerie, Pennsylvania
The emotion brought out by this year’s angel, from the Angels Around the World series, has been difficult to ignore.
More than a year ago, when Katrina began designing this ornament, she simply wanted to capture the charm of traditional French clothing and pay tribute to Paris as the international city of love…
Read more about Katrina and her ornaments.
Katrina Bricker always knew that art was what she wanted to do. No doubts, no questions. She credits her mother, an art teacher, with instilling her creative joy.
Of course, being that focused at such a young age can pose concentration problems in other areas of school. Most kids like to doodle, and this budding creative did it to the exclusion of getting her assignments finished. Why learn states and capitals when you’re going to be a great artist? She once had to stay after school to do a geography worksheet and got into trouble for spending all her time drawing in the margins of the paper. That same teacher later gave Katrina her first public recognition as an artist—a prize for creating the best Thanksgiving bulletin board display in the school.
Katrina first tried sculpting in third grade, with her rendering of the comic strip character, Garfield. Later, in her high school senior year, she did a project involving another of her lifelong interests—horses—which turned her full attention to sculpting. All that youthful dedication has matured Katrina Bricker into a consummate Keepsake Artist.
France™ (2016)
Keepsake artists work far in advance. So when the team chose France as the next destination for Angels Around the World, they had no idea about the tragic events that would take place in Paris in November 2015. Since then, the emotions brought out by this year’s angel have been hard to ignore.
More than a year ago, when Katrina began the project, she simply wanted to capture the charm of traditional French clothing and pay tribute to Paris as the international city of love—hence the colors of the flag stitched into a heart shape on the apron. For the outfit, she found inspiration in historical garments from Nice, to which she added red, green, and gilded accents.
In one hand, the angel holds an iris, France’s national flower. Her wings feature fleur-de-lis, a stylized iris. She added gilded accents to reflect the country’s attention to architectural detail. “France is just so rich in its visual history and such a beautiful place to honor with this ornament—especially now.”
Festive Santa™ (2016)
In addition to sculpting her own designs, Katrina loves to collaborate with other artists. For this porcelain and metal ornament, Katrina finished a concept by Edythe Kegrize.
“I really love working with her,” Katrina says. “She’s a wonderful artist.” When she saw the rough concept, Katrina immediately liked how Edythe’s design reminded her of the Santas Around the World series.
Edythe says the distinctive aspect of this design, as with most of her creations, is the decorative surface designing. “I’m drawn to simple forms with rich surface design detail.”
The Father Christmas-style silhouette gave them plenty of room to add a metal, gold-etched overlay and red crystal berries on Santa’s coat. Adding gold on the collar and cuffs, then pairing all of that with the red mittens, says Christmas instantly.
One challenge was Santa’s facial features. “If you don’t pay close attention to the cheeks and eyes, he can look like he’s squinting or like his mustache and beard have taken over his face,” Katrina says.
To create all that detail, she uses the same trusty tools she’s been using for years. And she takes very good care of them. “You coddle them because you get so used to working a certain way, knowing which tool to grab to produce a certain look.”
Jingle All the Way Santa (2016)
Katrina and Edythe also worked together on this more lighthearted Santa. “When she first showed me the concept, I really liked how fun it was,” Katrina says. “I’m used to doing traditional Santas. I’ve done very few whimsical Santas, so it was a nice change.”
His hat and coat feature bells and holly and he holds a jingle bell wreath. The trick was finding the perfect angle for the pose.
“If you want that liveliness, that sense of motion, you have to envision where that center of gravity is,” Katrina says, “to make sure it looks like he’s dancing or jumping when he’s hanging on your tree.”
Whenever she altered something—such as removing a bell or changing a color—Katrina met with Edythe to make sure they stayed true to the original vision. “I showed her what I’d done to make sure we both felt good about it.”
She also wanted to make sure they left enough room for the first line of “Jingle Bells” on his coat. “That lyric was very important,” Katrina says. “It had to read instantly.”