Open House This Saturday––

Folk Art Santas To Charm The Young-At-Heart

By Dottie Evans

Santa’s Workshop might be at the North Pole, but there is a workshop full of Santas just four miles from the flagpole at the center of Newtown.

A modest garage that used to be a stable on the right side of that long, winding road is filled to its rafters with hundreds of unique carved and hand-painted Santa figures. Each one has been especially designed to commemorate and celebrate the year in which it was issued.

The Santas in this special collection are symbols of holidays past and present. Standing in long rows, they are whimsical, spiritual and joyful in their quiet watchfulness. Their muted colors glow and each one of the hand-painted faces bears a slightly different expression. No two are exactly alike.

These are folk art Santas conceived and created by Newtown residents Sandy and Frank Navone, and they are not mass-produced. The designs for each model are original, and the molds, which were made from Mr Navone’s oak or pine-carved originals and created in North Carolina from a pecan resin material, have the weight and heft of carved wood.

Finally, each figure is finished, hand-painted, distressed and antiqued by Mrs Navone, working out of her expanded garage studio.

 “Since we only produce about 100 in a given year, we don’t sell them in the retail stores or on consignment. Our customers find us on the Internet or by word of mouth, or they visit the workshop and choose the particular Santa that appeals to them most,” Mrs Navone said.

For Saturday’s open house at 165 Hanover Road, Mrs Navone plans to brighten her workshop with cookies and holiday music. Visitors will be able to view the collection from the years 1993 to 2003. They may purchase any they see on display or place special orders. Prices range from $34 for the Santa Trio (issued in 1998), to $47 for the Birdhouse Santa (1995), to $69 for the Fisherman Santa (1993). This year’s issue, the 2003 Woodland Santa is available for $89.

Working As A Team

Both Sandy and Frank Navone have full-time jobs, so their time in their workshop is limited to evenings and weekends. Sandy is a special education teacher for grades K-5 in the Norwalk School System, and Frank works in digital photography.

It is hard to imagine where they find the time and inspiration to begin creating the Santa figures, but Mrs Navone claims “it all began with Frank.

“He is the creative force. He was the one who first came up with the idea.”

Apparently, it happened in 1987 when the couple were visiting a folk art show in Valley Forge, Penn., and were admiring a particular Santa figurine.

Suddenly, Mr Navone said to his wife, “You know, I think I can carve this myself.”

He went home and started to work, but he would not let her see the prototype until it was done.

They experimented on various designs over the next few years, and she painted each figure that he carved. But in 1993, they decided they needed more models, and the carving process to make each unique Santa was proving too labor intensive.

Clearly, they would have to turn to using molds, but they also wanted to preserve the details and features of Mr Navone’s original carvings, and they did not want to compromise on quality.

“I didn’t like what I was seeing coming out of China,” Mrs Navone added, describing the mass produced Santas she was finding in the craft stores.

“Each one is different.  After I paint on the faces, I begin to see their personalities. They speak to me,” she added.

It takes approximately ten hours to finish the painting, distressing and antiquing each individual piece before Mrs Navone is satisfied that a Santa is truly finished.

Conceiving Theme-Year Santas

The process of taking Old World Santas and making them speak for modern times has been a creative challenge for the Navones.

“We create a different design each year, and they are all named,” she said.

They actually produced two separate designs to commemorate September 11, 2001, because they felt the need to do something special. One is the “Gathering Santa,” issued in 2002, that holds a basket of food and seems warmed and comforted by his long brown coat.

“When deciding what they will look like, we take what’s been happening throughout the year and we try to incorporate a main event or even a prevailing mood that we may sense in the country.”

 “We both have the vision talk – usually in January – but I come up with the final idea. I tell him what I have in mind and give him the specs,” Mrs Navone said.

“As soon as we get the molds back I begin painting. Once I put the faces on, it is so exciting. That’s the last thing I do. And picking the colors takes a long time.

“When I distress the surface, I make little knicks on the painted mold. Then I sand off the paint a bit to make it look old. There is a crackling finish I apply that gives them age.”

In deciding on price, the Navones say they want a full range so everyone can find an affordable Santa. The models vary in size and weight, some being quite small like the Santa Trio, which stands 3½ inches high. The taller ones may be 13 inches high.

In their home on the hill behind the garage workshop, Mrs Navone displays a Santa from each year on her fireplace mantel and surrounds them by lit candles. The house was built by Hawleyville entrepreneur William Upham, inventor of the tea bag, who opened a Japanese Tea House and amusement park in Hawleyville in 1915.

Asked whether they had considered designing a Mrs Santa yet, Mrs Navone said they are still experimenting with possible ideas and designs.

“I might do a St Francis Santa next,” she said, mentioning the birds and wildlife that they enjoy watching around their home.

For further information about the Navones’ Folk Art Santa Collection, log onto their website at www.FolkArtAantas.com or send them an email at SantaInfo@NavoneStudios.com.

The Open House takes place Saturday, November 8, from 10 am to 5 pm, at the Navones’ garage studio at 165 Hanover Road, Newtown. Signs will be posted regarding parking and visiting the workshop.