Tuesday, May 7, 2017

Keepsake Artist, Kris Gaughran loves penguins—a fact that’s easily seen in her “Petite Penguins” miniature series and the trio of penguins she sculpts every year as a full-size ornament. “It seems that I’m sketching penguins most of the time,” she says. “To get one idea, I’ll sketch up a number of things before landing on something I like. Sketching is probably one of the things I struggle with the most, but that just means I need to do it more often!”

It’s Kris’s sketches that help her larger Keepsake team to understand the idea behind her next ornament. “Sometimes the sketch helps to convey the idea to the team,” she says, “But most of the time, it’s just a sketch. The sculpt always evolves as I’m working on making it the finished product.”

Kris’ Penguins Sketches

Kris also likes to bring her penguins to life in other ways that help her come up with ideas for her ornaments. “I’m always trying to come up with fun situations for the penguins in my ornaments,” she says. “I currently have many little projects in the works,” she says. “I’m even working on some needle felted penguins!”

And lucky for Kris, she has some inspiration at home as well. “My oldest son, Finn loves to do art with me,” she said. “I hope he’s inheriting a sculpting talent. I’m not biased or anything, but I think he’s the best little sculptor around!”

Other Gaughran Penguins