Featured Artist: Ken Crow

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At their core, Keepsake Ornaments crafted by Ken Crow are about storytelling. His 2018 creations feature beloved characters like Mickey Mouse and Santa Claus—take a closer look at them, and you’ll find deep layers of meaning and detail.

Most of us doodled in our notebooks during high school, but Ken Crow’s drawings were a real learning experience. In his 11th grade history class, he discovered that his pictures were worth a thousand words. History teacher, Mr. Ciriello, began letting Ken use creative illustration instead of taking class notes.

During a civil war lesson, Ken drew battle scenes. When Ciriello explained how an economy works, Ken sketched his teacher running a treadmill turning the cogs of an economic engine.

Ken calls Mr. Ciriello’s encouragement the “green light” for his ability to express his artistic sensibility. Ken always understood the power of communicating ideas through art, and he became an editorial cartoonist for a newspaper. Now he conveys a sense of history and emotion in the expressive and complex work he does with Keepsake Ornaments.

But how did Ken go from drawing to becoming an expert in mechanical Christmas ornaments? As a child, he tore apart every toy he ever had to see how it worked. He even made other toys out of the spare parts. For Ken, Keepsake Ornaments will forever keep him connected with that inquisitive kid inside.

Santa’s Magic Train (2018)

Santa’s Magic Train

When asked what was the most important thing he wanted to bring to the design of this magic ornament, Ken’s answer was, “Storytelling, storytelling, storytelling!” Ken hoped that the story he conveyed through the artistry would bring people back to a wonderful moment that made them smile. “Because I can’t be there in person to do that,” he said, “I see my work as translating that happy moment to you through the ornament.”

The little houses and buildings featured elves loading toys onto Santa’s train. And to really make this ornament about Christmas day—because Santa and his elves build toys all year—Ken placed Santa with his bag of toys to be delivered in a miniature, reindeer-powered sleigh at the top of the ornament.

Steamboat Willie (2018)
Disney

The Steamboat Willie Keepsake Ornament commemorates two historic landmark moments of animation. It depicts Disney’s Mickey Mouse in his first film, and it’s also the first cartoon with synchronized sound, which made silent animation obsolete.

Steamboat Willie
Disney

“I think it’s cool that Mickey is animated in 3-D on top and also in 2-D in the animation cells that rotate around the base,” said Ken. He especially appreciated the antique movie studio vibe, with its flashing lights and audio from the original cartoon. And Mickey pilots the steamboat just as skillfully now as he did 90 years ago!

To get started on a piece like this, Ken will make a rough sketch, then describe the action and how the pieces and parts will work together. “A lot of the things I work on start out as a rough idea, and by the time I reach the end, I’m way beyond that original idea. I like to figure it out and make it better than I imagined the further I get into it.”

Off We Go! (2018)
Disney Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Featuring two of the dwarfs from the Disney movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, this ornament lights up and plays music from the song “Heigh-Ho.”

Off We Go!
Disney Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

“I really do like Dopey and Grumpy in the mine car, because Grumpy is a big reason why I started out as an artist,” Ken related.

Growing up fifteen miles away from Disneyland, Ken’s parents would take him there often. “I’m almost exactly the same age as Disneyland,” he confided.

On one fateful visit, Ken was sitting on the curb when Snow White and the Dwarfs walked by. “Grumpy stepped on my foot! I was amazed that a three-dimensional, animated Disney character could touch me. It was like a movie character stepping out and actually grabbing my hand and saying, ‘Come on in here, let’s have some fun.’ And so working on this brings me all the way back to when I was a little guy at Disneyland. That was tons of fun!”