In 1998, when we had the first Clinton president, the Colorado governor's wife contacted me and asked if I would be one of two Colorado fiber artists to make an ornament for the Blue Room tree in the White House. There was a theme; 'Snowmen,' and there were also size specifications. I was amazed at how large the ornament could be, but then the tree was huge and there were to be only 100 ornaments on it.
As I made the ornament, I also made one for myself, knowing I would not see the White House ornament again. In fact, it now belongs to the Clinton Library in Little Rock, Arkansas, and I hope it gets pulled out occasionally to hang on a tree there!
As you can see, I did 4 triangular tapestries. The main three were of the 'life of a snowman:' with one side showing it being built, another showing the snowman, and the last side showing it melting. At the time I did the ornament, the Clinton administration was in a bit of 'meltdown' itself, so I kind of felt the ornament was somewhat symbolic.
The fourth triangle was for the bottom of the ornament. It is just three joined triangles, within the triangle, and I hung a tassel where they met. The ornament did not hold it's shape well with just stuffing. There were weight specs, as well as the size ones, so I formed as pyramid of foam core to fit inside the ornament, to make it keep it's shape.
I received a Thank You with a signed photo of the Clintons standing in front of the Blue Room tree, and I am pretty sure I can see my ornament hanging on the tree. It was a fun project! And I am so glad I made a duplicate for myself.
4 comments:
Merry Christmas!
Love, love, love this amazing piece!!
Thank you, Artisun! It was a fun project.
Thanks for going back into the past. It is so inspiring!
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