Skip to main content

Christmas Countdown #25envelopes/8: Red and White


 December 8 Christmas Countdown #25envelopes ... Red and White .

We can all guess why Santa Claus wears a fur trimmed suit - for warmth in the cold Winter of the North. But, why is his suit and matching hat red and white? The colours come from a very successful Christmas marketing campaign by Cocoa Cola in the 193os, and in Western countries, Santa has ever since been seen dressed in the image created by the Coke brand .

from : YES VIRGINIA, COCA-COLA CREATED SANTA CLAUS!!! (decktheholidays.blogspot.com)

To be fair , there were previously images of Father Christmas and St Nicholas which depict a bearded man in long robes and from 1850’s English postcard Father Christmas images favour a red pointed hat and a long red coat .

My envelope today is a collage of red and white paper and fabric with sketchy snowflake stitching and a beautifully coloured and festive Christmas Island stamp. It’s a shame the postmark stamp obscures it a little , but the Local Post Office doesn’t suspect anyone would try to reuse these envelopes for art!



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Christmas Countdown #25envelopes/9 : Holly

  9 December Christmas Countdown #25envelopes : Holly . The Druids of ancient Britain believed holly leaves had great powers of fertility and longevity . Nowadays, Holly has become a symbol of a Christian Christmas. It is also said that the sharp holly represents the crown of thorns that Jesus wore, and the red berries the blood he shed, so it has quite a religious significance. Today’s envelope is a simple collage with paper and fabric. I couched (stitched) Holly ribbon and embroidered French knots for the berries. The Holly theme is inspired by one of my favourite Australian Christmas stamps, depicting an angel with holly leaf wings . Today, I was stitching the holly ribbon onto the envelope at the Wednesday group and had planned to glue on some paper berries but a friend convinced me that embroidered ones would look much better and I think she is right!

#SeptTextileLove26 Day 4

 #septtextilelove  #stl26day4  … Story-telling … making ‘art dolls’ gives wonderful opportunities to tell stories … This matriarch’s story  is intertwined with the cicadas which form  part of the soft sculpture  and emphasises what appears to be a contradiction about nurturing life and inevitable death... Cicadas spend years underground as nymphs feeding on root sap, emerging en masse as winged adults for a few days, perhaps a week, to mate and lay eggs in tree branches, then die, leaving the eggs to hatch into new nymphs that burrow underground to restart the cycle.  The dormant underground phase of the cicada’s life can be from 2-17 years! In my interpretation, this forest matriarch offers a safe place for cicadas to lay eggs, only to cause their own demise … but the continuing life cycle is ensured. 

#SeptTextileLove Day 5

  #SeptTextileLove #STL26Day5   ‘Caring’ … so much of what textile artists do involves caring - for the environment , for others, for our own health and well-being , for social justice, for our art … today I’m advocating caring about sourcing our materials . I use lots of embroidery thread and it is sometimes tempting to buy cheaper imported threads than the ones I really love to work with, - hand dyed right here in Australia by a small    family business . I looked at one of the omnipresent online ads with its    incorrect spelling and the suggestion that bulk is better gives strong    hints about the ‘quality’ and the price makes me wonder about the working conditions and rights of those who produce and package the thread?    I care that the people who make the materials I use get a fair wage and work in safe conditions. I also care that the quality of the materials I use are the best I can afford and have the least negative impact on ...