Featured Artist: Robert Hurlburt
Title:
Tech Artist II
Started at Hallmark:
November 1978
Started at Keepsakes:
November 2004
Hometown:
Holden, Missouri
.
How was Keepsake artist Robert Hurlburt able to wow his grandsons and pay tribute to a fallen hero with his two latest ornaments. Continue reading to find out.
Get it right is Robert Hurlburt’s mantra. Even as a child, Robert took a scientific approach to his art. No purple suns in his boyhood pictures. He enjoyed sketching celebrities from photographs. “I wanted to see how close I could get,” he says. With that kind of mindset and determination, it’s no surprise that when he was hired at Hallmark over 25 years ago, Robert excelled in the detail-focused engraving department.
In late 2004, he brought his talents to the Keepsake department, which he calls “a whole new game.” Just a month into his job, Robert was asked to design. His first ornament, a Star Wars™ piece, was available in 2006.
As the Keepsake Artists continue to collaborate, Robert is challenged with finding ways to keep the creative process simple and the sculpture detailed. Robert is hooked on working with three-dimensional product, and his scientific mind continues to question how to take his artwork further. The daily one-hour commute to Hallmark gives him plenty of time to think about ornament design. When he’s home, Robert is a soybean farmer. He and his wife share their 40-acre homestead with horses, ducks and chickens and are considering adding llamas to the collection.
New Faces in Keepsakes
Some might say that daydreaming children aren’t often appreciated for their individuality. “Same school uniform, same shoes, same hairstyle—I was not like that!” Chieko’s creativity had her sticking out like a sore thumb in Japan, but it’s helped her flourish as a designer here in Kansas City—first as a Hallmark Designer for plush and finally as a Keepsake Ornament Artist.
Chieko Kineri
Designer IV
Chieko’s tinkering with toys has led to a career filled with all the quirks and perks of a creative professional. She started by working for toy companies designing plush characters when she picked up her very first job after graduation. Her various roles at companies in Hong Kong and Japan forged a path to a temporary position in New Jersey.
After learning that her dream job at Hallmark opened up, Chieko knew she had found the perfect place to call home. Her love of Missouri is strengthened by one thing in particular: “Nature! It’s great for kids.” Chieko’s creative spirit influences how she’s raising her daughter in some surprising ways. “Kids need to be bored! That’s how they start creating things and really using their brains.”
Chieko’s vibrant designs have made her an exciting addition to the Keepsake Ornament team. Her very first ornament, Reindeer Food, is just a sampling of the many adorable additions to look forward to in the future.
Featured Artist: Debra Murray
Title:
Hallmark Senior Artist
Started at Hallmark:
August 13, 1997
Started at Keepsakes:
August 13, 1997
Hometown:
Clinton, Iowa
What do you get when you cross a lifelong love of THE WIZARD OF OZ™ and a birthday that falls the day before Halloween? If your Debra Murray, you get the perfect inspiration to create this Halloween-themed ornament, just in time for the classic film’s 75th anniversary.
Sculpting horses can be tricky, but this labor of love has become a life-long passion for Deb. Her authentically inspired designs take a sharp eye for detail that comes from growing up around horses—and around the growing collection of models on her desk!
Deb always loved art…and her beautiful show horses. These were, after all, the inspiration and models for her first drawings and paintings. When it came time for college, she went to beauty school rather than an arts program. Deb knew she didn’t want to teach, but she didn’t know there were other options with an art degree! Ironically, Deb now uses her cosmetology experience to fashion the hair and makeup on Madame Alexander® ornaments.
In addition to her other talents, Deb used to sew wedding gowns, and she is able to use that fashion experience in the fabric attachments she creates for our ornaments. Deb loves the details of her job, from dreaming up new ornament concepts to the intricate sculpting detail involved in bringing her sculpts to life.
And more than a Keepsakes Artist, Deb is the proud mother of Mallory who “expresses her art through words,” has successfully achieved her Masters in Communication and is now a proud wife and mom herself.
In Deb’s spare time, she enjoys painting, interior design and exploring the great outdoors.
If you’re looking to follow Deb’s work on Keepsake Ornaments in the future, keep an eye out for the name Debra Nielsen—it’s her new name after marrying fellow Hallmarker Steve Goslin!
Halloween Wicked Witch of the West™ (2013)
“This particular ornament combines a few things that are very special to me. I used to paint the ornaments for the original sculptor of the Madame Alexander Doll® Keepsake Ornaments at Hallmark. When he retired, I asked if I could give them a try, and that ornament became my very first hand-sculpted piece.
“When I was growing up, I would watch The Wizard of Oz™ over and over again on TV. My father would say ‘Seriously, you’re going to watch that again?’—and I did! I passed that love onto my daughter. Now that she’s a mom, I’ll be able to share it with my grandson a few years down the road when we can watch it together.
“My birthday happens to be on the day before Halloween—and this doll is just so colorful in her Halloween dress! There are just so many cool dolls in The Wizard of Oz™ Madame Alexander® collection for fans to be excited about, I hope to be able to do more!”
Featured Artist: Orville Wilson
Sculptor IV
Started at Hallmark:
July 19, 1996
Started at Keepsakes:
December 2006
Hometown:
Kansas City, Kansas
Learn about the artist and the inspiration behind a new Disney ornament that had jaws dropping when first previewed at a couple of the 2012 artist signing events.
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!
Cinderella’s Castle (2013)
“Everything I do, even sculpting, is on the computer. I do some animation here and there, so I got to create the animation for the light up effects on this ornament. I had to watch Disney’s opening scene with the fireworks display over and over again and I got to look at some of the old Walt Disney cartoons, too. It brought back some good memories from when I was a little kid. This ornament was especially fun to show off during signing event sneak peeks. I asked, ‘any Disney fans out there?’ The Keepsake fans got all excited, I hit the button and when I played it you could just see their jaws drop! The fireworks display goes off with the sound, so it’s really cool.”
Wagon Queen Family Truckster (2013)
National Lampoon’s Vacation
“This ornament shows one of the funniest scenes of National Lampoon’s Vacation, but I can’t believe that I was allowed to keep the aunt on the top of the station wagon! There’s a guy here in town that has a replica of the car from the movie, so I actually went out and took pictures of his car for reference. Some of the actors from the film had signed the glove box, so it was pretty cool to get to see that in person. I looked at those photographs for all the little details of the car. I’ve done all the National Lampoon ornaments from the past few years. This year’s plays ‘Holiday Road,’ the theme song from the movie. I have all the National Lampoon movies and I’m a big fan.”
Featured Artist – Julie Forsyth
Julie Forsyth
Sculptor V
Julie Forsyth is a sculptor, dancer and lover of pink. If you’ve caught her delicate designs in the past, you’ll love what she’s got in store for 2013. Get a sneak peek of three of Julie’s ornaments right here.
Ballerina Dreams
“It’s always fun to do ballerinas because I have a background in dance. My mother had been a dancer, I danced when I was a kid and my daughter had ten years of dance experience. So, having sat through a lot of ballet classes, I’m kind of fussy about poses and how they’re depicted.
It’s a beautiful art and I enjoy sculpting the ballerinas.
This ballerina has a skirt, so I had to make sure that the fabric we chose was soft enough to drape properly and not stick straight up like it was hooked to a hula-hoop!”
Cinderelly! Cinderelly!
“This was a traditional sculpt that I did with wax. I had images, research and color palettes for this ornament from Disney—but of course I watched the movie for inspiration, too.
I had to know which mice were doing what, what they were wearing and how many of them there were! There is also a little bit of fabric ribbon to add more detail.
I raised kids, I was a kid myself, and I’ve got grand-kids, so Disney’s a part of our family.”
Beautiful Ballerina
“I went with a traditional ornament shape for collectors who like a traditional tree with glass ornaments, ball ornaments or finial ornaments.
It was fun! I worked with an engineer who helped design the finial ornament shape itself. It’s much faster to work in partnership with someone who knows what they’re doing when it comes to the technical stuff. I added paint, glitter—as much bling on there as I could.
I make sure my daughter gets all of my ornaments. She has a special tree for all her dancers and favorite ornaments!”