Nutcrackers Christmas Card

Also known as “A Very German Christmas”, this design was created in 1998.  All of my nutcrackers and smokers (rauchermann) are wood, hand painted and were made in Germany.  They are either very traditional (like the two kings; one wearing the red coat while the other decked in blue) or very beautifully unique (like the snowman nutcracker).  Many of these beautiful nutcrackers were given to me over the years by my mother, usually as a very special Christmas gift.

I do have a small collection of smokers (rauchermann).  Essentially these are incense burners in the form of pipe smoking everyday figures.  The Santa Claus was one of the first smokers given to me by my mother.  While the three nutcrackers are colored accurately, the Santa Claus is not.  The original is lightly stained in muted Earth tones.  The red of Santa’s coat is more like a brick red “barely-there” wood stain.  The white is more like a white-wash, hit-or-miss in its opacity and coverage.  I used artistic license to re-color the Santa smoker so he was visually similarly to the three nutcrackers, keeping consistent color harmony. 

These sentimental items are not only beautiful works of art rich in history and tradition, but they also hold treasured memories for me.

I really loved the previous Christmas cards, but I wanted more color.  As a result, this card was printed two up on 8.5 x 11 inch paper using a color copier.  The printed paper was then mounted to 8.5 x 11 inch twin-tack (double stick adhesive paper, similar to double stick tape, but paper…not tape) and each illustration was cut from the paper and applied (peel and stick) to a blank card. 

The original artwork was created using the same technique as my erotic pieces.  Black India ink line work painted then photographed using a stat camera.  The black and clear acetate of the painted line work was then used as a guide for “painting-between-the –lines” to produce the multi-colored Nutcracker Christmas card.