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Hello,
My name is Elizabeth Haines and I live with my husband in Richland, Michigan where I have my own business, Nicholas & Marley. I have always created quilts, teddy bears and soft dolls, but my dream was to sculpt wonderful Santa figures and costume them in the rich fabrics and designs that I imagined. I made several attempts to sculpt Santa faces, but it wasn't until I saw a Better Homes & Gardens Santa Collection book with an article on the artist Audrey Swarz that my life changed completely. When I took her online class, I fell in love with sculpting and with the Santa face I had created. I have fallen in love with every single Santa I have sculpted since then. There is a moment when I am sculpting the clay when the face suddenly
comes to life and smiles at the world. That is the moment when the Santa becomes real.
Each Santa is a one of a kind sculpted by me using polymer clay. I use mohair for the beard and hair, carefully cleaning and arranging every lock. I add eyelashes to make the face as realistic as possible. The expression on the face is my first clue to how I will costume my Santa. I fashion an armature of wood and wire for the body, then decide how fat or thin my Santa will be and add the appropriate batting. I use velvets and wool, leather, imported buttons, faux furs, silks and satins or any of those materials I find that I believe will give me the look I want. Every costume is designed and sewn by me without a pattern as I want the look of each Santa to be unique. Most of my figures have carefully sculpted hands and I also make each pair of leather boots.
When I begin accessorizing, I use a combination of items I've either made myself, found while going through boxes of Christmas items or purchased if I think they are perfect for the look I want. I make a small teddy bear for every Santa. Each figure is signed and dated on the bottom of the wooden base.
Christmas has always been a magical time for me and I try to impart a bit of that magic into the Santas I make. I am very lucky to be able to wake up in the morning excited by the work I do and I hope my sculpted figures reflect that excitement.
Have you ever fallen asleep after hearing "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and dreamed of meeting jolly old St. Nick himself? Perhaps you hoped to catch him coming down the chimney and see the twinkle in his eye. Christmas is a time of magic and wonder. It is a time for being a child again. These handcrafted figures are sculpted and costumed with loving hands and a heart that still believes in Santa Claus. Thank you for taking a moment to peek at the figures that have been crafted at the Nicholas & Marley workshop.
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