Hallmark sat down (virtually!) with Keepsake Artist Joanne Wright to discuss her Santa’s Sleigh ornament exclusive to 2021 KOC members!

Joanne: “I knew I wanted to involve Santa in some big way for this special piece. The more thought I put into making the piece more ‘beautiful’, the more I was inspired to create a sleigh with a story telling scene around the sides, like I do with my Snowtop Lodge Series.”

Joanne: “I worked together with [Keepsake Artist] Rodney Gentry, [Product Manager] Kurt Gaulke, and [Engineer] Kristina Ferguson to get this challenging piece made just right. Rodney ‘grew’ the sleigh, with Kristina’s guidance and Kurt Gaulke’s art direction, in a durable plastic material so that it was strong enough for me to sculpt Santa into it, as well as add the wax layer I applied around the sides to create the scene. The runners were especially challenging since the end product would be in porcelain. Kristina really helped with the important details of this for it to work in porcelain.”

Joanne also mentioned, “the story telling feature around the sleigh was a fun part for me. A lot of thought went into the sculpted details of the scene and Santa…right down to the colors chosen for the finished paint.”

Community Manager. “Behind the scenes with Joanne Wright’s 2021 KOC exclusive Santa’s Sleigh.” Hallmark Keepsake Community, September 29, 2020. https://keepsakecommunity.hallmark.com/share/behind-the-scenes-with-joanne-wright-s-2021-koc-exclusive-santa-s-sleigh