Morning Glory Santa by Gail Sirna

Morning Glory Santa is a fanciful design; in it Santa is arrayed in the beautiful blue values of the Morning Glory.  Santa strides boldly along, clutching in his hand his shepherd's crook on which are growing radiant blue morning glories.  The brilliant blue flowers twine up his staff, turning their faces to the daybreak sun.  Each is interpreted in the finest of needlework techniques.

Santa's outer robe is a garment of beauty.  The fur edging is worked in uncut turkey work, while the outer robe is a complex pattern involving several discreet stitches, worked in a variety of threads and colors. The inner robe is trimmed in guilloche stitch, to suggest a passementerie braid, and this is festooned with couched gold and crystal beads.  A twisted cord creates a belt. 

The inside of Santa's robe has blown open a bit to disclose a magnificent lining: additional morning glories are revealed, all worked in glittering or nué.  

This piece was inspired by a line of high end Christmas ornaments, in which the artist often decorates her Santas in various flowers.  But it was my idea to clad my St. Nicholas in morning glories.

Copyright 1998-2004, National Academy of Needlearts. The contents of this page were expressly posted for individual viewing purposes on the Internet only. No part of this Web site may be published, reproduced, stored in, or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (including electronic, mechanical, photocopy) whatsoever without written permission from the above copyright holder.