Lexington, KY - It seems that each year, holiday decorations start appearing earlier and earlier - I blame the handiwork of a sly and crafty few who simply can't wait to spread the holiday cheer with which they are bursting year round.
Recently, we spoke with a number of artisans in the region who, likewise, refuse to sit on their hands for months on end, waiting for the Christmas season to come around. Instead, they spend the entire year in their workshops, like Santa's elves, creating tokens of the holiday spirit. Throughout the year, these artists devote themselves to crafts that make the holiday season a bit merrier for the rest of us, from Santa dolls to ornaments to wooden toys. Allow us to introduce you....
Lindy Evans
Hand-sculpted Santa dolls
Nearly 20 years ago, Lindy Evans abandoned her longtime career as a schoolteacher to pursue an art that intrigued her: the production of one-of-a-kind, hand-sculpted Santa dolls. Though she didn't have much of a background in sculpting, she had a penchant for doll making and a special love for the Christmas season - for years, she had been making dolls for her children each holiday,
even after they had outgrown the childhood toys.
"I know they were waiting for me to stop," she said with a laugh. After seeing a holiday catalog that featured a beautiful Santa doll with a lifelike, hand-sculpted face, Evans was inspired to take her hobby to another level.
"He was gorgeous," she said, remembering the doll that started it all. "I thought, 'Well, I'd like to do that.'"
After conducting some (pre-Internet-age) investigation on materials - mostly done by seeking out shows in the region that sold similar dolls, and talking with the artists about their craft - Evans was introduced to polymer clay, which had only been on the market on a large scale for a short time.
Remembering her early days with the craft, Evans, who is largely self-taught, recalls that her early dolls' heads were too large and and too heavy. "It was a learning process: trial and error, and a lot of research," she said.
Twenty years after she started, Evans has her own shop and gallery and is known around the world for her original dolls, which are highly detailed and extremely true-to-life. Though her craft has come a long way, she remains true to many simple processes that she started with, and claims she hasn't raised her prices in 10 years.
"I'm not very industrialized around here," she said. "I stir with a popsicle stick."
The dolls are available at her shop, located in Berea's Honeysuckle Vine Gallery, as well as at the Kentucky Artisan Center and the Log House Craft Gallery, also located in Berea. The dolls range from miniature figurines to life-sized Santa dolls, which take up to three months to complete. Evans creates every last touch by hand, from the beards and hair (often made from Kentucky wool and mohair) to the clothes, buttons, shoes and accessories.
Evans does create other characters from time to time - mostly elves and Mrs. Clauses, though she admits that when making a face without a beard, "you sure have to know your chin and your neck and your shoulders."
And of course, there's one other character that she makes from time to time, loosely inspired from one of the side effects of having a holiday-oriented business.
"When you have a Christmas business, it definitely changes your Christmas perspective," she said. "I do make a Scrooge."
For more information, visit www.lindyevans.com.
Dave Kacmarcik
Wooden toys
Much like Lindy Evans, Dave Kacmarcik created handmade gifts for his children for many years before selling his craft publicly. Kacmarcik, who goes by "Kaz," is a woodcrafter, and his gifts for his now-grown daughter included wooden puzzles and cars, similar to the items he was given by his grandfather as a boy.
"I was born with a workshop in the basement - I get a lot of inspiration from my grandfather," Kaz said, adding that one of the biggest compliments he ever gets is that his late grandfather would have been proud of his work. "I would have loved for him to see what I can do with this."
For the past five years, Kaz has steadily upped his production, which takes place in the home shop he built in his garage. While he also makes wooden cutting boards and kaleidoscopes, his primary focus is handcrafted trucks, cars, trains and other toys made from solid wood, typically oak, cedar or poplar. He purchases much of his wood from the local Woodcraft store, but also scavenges furniture that people have thrown away whenever he can. People don't realize the value of the wood included in the items they toss to the curb, he said.
"If they're not into wood, obviously they're not concerned about it," he said. "My wife laughs whenever we're driving and I make a quick U-turn to see what's out there."
While the curb finds can be great, Kaz has found himself increasingly needing to shop for wood, as business has been steadily picking up in recent years - this holiday season is poised to be his busiest yet. As of recently, Kaz's items are available at the Kentucky Artisan Center in Berea, a juried market for Kentucky artists, where he picks up lots of business from traveling tourists. Four years of selling his wares at the lawn of the Woodland Christian Church during the weekend of the Woodland Art Fair have given his products some local recognition. And also contributing to the higher volume of sales is a recently revamped page on Etsy, a website that features handmade items from around the world (his Etsy "shop" is called Kaz Woodcraft). Kaz has featured his items on the site for three years, but is only recently using it to "his full potential," he said.
"I'd like for this to eventually turn into something full-time, but you've got to take baby steps with the way the economy is - it'd be a major step," said Kaz, who currently balances his woodworking schedule with his full-time job managing the frozen food department at Kroger. "Things are progressing really well right now, so hopefully within the not-too-far future, something will happen for me."
In a market largely dominated by flashy and electronic toys, mostly made of plastic, Kaz's toys are a throwback. Even among collector cars and trucks, his items - relatively simple silhouettes without any nails or screws, and usually finished with just mineral oil - are a somewhat of an anomaly.
"I like to go for something simple," he said. "There are some beautiful things I've seen people make - fire trucks with all the ladders and the buttons and everything like that, but that you'd be afraid to let a kid play with. There are models you put on a shelf, but I like for a little boy or girl to be able to crash them into the refrigerator, crash them into each other."
Kaz's young son, Stone, serves as his "quality control" and chief product tester.
"If I make anything new, the first one goes to him," he said, adding that the reaction from children when they pick up his toys is one of his greatest joys.
"That's one of the great feelings I get: watching a kid's eyes light up," he said. "Even if they're just moving it back and forth an inch, what's going through their mind ... it's an inspiration."
For more information, visit www.kazwoodcraft.com.
Mick Shambro
Scroll saw ornaments
The woodworking careers of husband-and-wife duo Mick and Deb Shambro - both longtime IT professionals - started as a hobby to escape the computer screens that they were immersed in all day at work. With no real history as an artist or woodworker, Mick became interested in the craft upon coming across a book that featured wooden scroll saw art in 2005.
"I was going, 'How in the world can you cut holes into wood and give it a picture?'" he said. "It intrigued me."
It didn't take long for Mick, who claims he didn't even own a tool for years, to get his wife on board with his new craft; seven years later, the couple now own a shop, ShambroLa, which sells rare and signed books and serves as a gallery and storefront for their scroll saw ornaments, framed wooden portraits, plaques and other wooden art. The art is a collaborative process: Mick cuts out the pattern on the wood using a scroll saw - a small, electric saw useful for creating intricate curves and patterns - and then Deb sands the piece, smooths it out, dips it in mineral oil, and either frames it or attaches a hanger. The couple only uses high quality hardwood, including cherry and walnut, as well as linseed oil rather than stain to bring out the natural beauty of the wood.
Early on, the couple primarily utilized already-made scroll saw patterns; today, Mick creates his own patterns, typically starting with public domain photographs. The couple sell the patterns online to other woodworkers, in addition to selling their art.
"My niche is creating my own patterns - I love doing that," Mick said. "People have asked me to do their dog, do their family, so I've done some custom portraits too."
Although not all of their items aren't directly holiday-oriented, the wooden ornaments are among ShambroLa's best-selling items; due to their uniqueness, quality and relatively low price point, they sell well year-round. ShambroLa has grown steadily over the past seven years - in fact, Mick recently put in his 30-day notice at his IT job in order to focus full-time on his art. A member of the Kentucky Arts Council and the Kentucky Guild of Artists and Craftsmen, he is grateful for the opportunities for artistic growth provided by groups like this.
In addition to their shop, which is located at 208 W. Maxwell, the work of ShambroLa can also be found at the Kentucky Artisan Center in Berea, and at various art shows throughout the year. For more information, visit www.shambrolawoodart.com.