Christmas Woodworking - Hand painted ornaments

[Thomas Wilson]

'Tis the season.

A lot of amateur woodworkers, like me, make presents for Christmas. Here is one of the things my sister and I have collaborated on for more than 50 years. We make Christmas tree ornaments cut from model aircraft plywood. Some of the designs are copies from coloring books or Christmas cards, some are originals. My sister and I both draw ornaments. I trace and cut the drawings. My sister paints them. These are small, typically 5" or so and the paintings are miniature masterpieces. The level of detail my sister can paint with is simply amazing. We have made about 50 different designs. Probably over 200 ornaments have been made.

It has been a few years since we last made any but for a lot of reasons this was a good year to restart. I cut several of our classics for my sister. I went to Blick's art store in Atlanta and bought a supply of new paint. It is just across the street. I put it in a box for her and mailed it.

Here are the original ornaments on the tree.
421176421177421178421179

Here are the freshly cut ones in the Cave of the Modern Neanderthal.
421174

Santa's little helper
421175

[Doug Garson]

Great idea but your photo links don't work, can you repost?

[Thomas Wilson]

Thanks Doug. The photos showed in the editor before posting. I have deleted the faulty links and reloaded the images.

Something went wrong when I was creating the post. Right in the middle I was logged off the site. That is, I went from logged in under my user name to an anonymous visitor. At that point I could no longer load any more photos into the post. I tried to salvage the post by copying it to the clipboard. After I logged off and logged back in I tried pasting the saved post from the clipboard into the editor. It did not work.

Please tell me if all the photos are visible now. They do show on my screen.

TW

[Frederick Skelly]

Delightful! Thanks for sharing.

[Thomas Wilson]

Delightful! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, Frederick.
Each ornament has a story. It is a special project that has lasted a lifetime. We will be adding some new chapters to the story this year. Libby has some ideas of new designs that we will draw.

[Von Bickley]

They look Great.... Looks like we have an artist on board.

[Andrew Hughes]

Those very nice . Your brush work is good much better then mine.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Well done Sir!

[Thomas Wilson]

Thanks guys. Christmas projects are some of my best projects.

[David Utterback]

Have they been painted on both sides in which case the work is even more than we see? Congratulations to you and your sister and thanks for sharing.

[Thomas Wilson]

Have they been painted on both sides in which case the work is even more than we see? Congratulations to you and your sister and thanks for sharing.
The backs are painted in the same detail as the fronts which is amazing because perspective does not work the same from the back as the front. She is an amazing artist.

[Mel Fulks]

Painting is much better that what is usually seen on those. Ballerina is my favorite ,she looks like she is done in the round.
Gingerbread Man looks like he is done in the "rotund".

[Thomas Wilson]

Painting is much better that what is usually seen on those. Ballerina is my favorite ,she looks like she is done in the round.
Gingerbread Man looks like he is done in the "rotund".

We got the idea for this project from ornaments in a craft store in Brevard, NC in 1966. We have seen and bought lots of other similar ornaments. We copied some and then Libby improved on the painting. I have not seen any close to hers.

My sister was also a dancer which may explain the ballerina ornament’s fine detail. There is a faint possibility that I painted this particular gingerbread man. The design was one of our first. Many copies were made of that design.