Hallmark Ornament Sculptor

Hallmark presents

November 21, 2000

Robert Chad says he didn't have a little brother growing up; he had a television. His love for Saturday morning cartoons is just one passion he brings to Keepsake. From Mary Angels to Bugs Bunny and Santa's Chair, he sculpts it all.

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Hallmark: Welcome to our Keepsake Ornament Artist chat. Tonight we meet Robert Chad. He's the sculptor behind the popular series "Mary's Angels," and he's famous for his great cartoon characters.

Robert Chad: Howdy!

Jbet9036: How did you feel when the Grinch ornament turned out to be so popular?

Robert Chad: The original idea happened eight years ago or so before the Seuss people ever decided to write contracts for their characters. I was really happy to see it do as well as it did.

Matti56: How did you come to work at Hallmark?

Robert Chad: I was living in the Kansas City area, and I was freelancing all over the city. I got a representative who had ties to Hallmark, and she got me my first job with Hallmark eight years before I got hired.

Doye: I asked this of Ken last week. What has been your most challenging ornament you have created?

Robert Chad: Probably "Santa's Chair," from this year. The detail on it was way beyond anything I had done before, and it took me about three weeks to sculpt the whole thing.

Nanny2: What's your favorite 2000 Keepsake Ornament that you sculpted?

Robert Chad: Probably the chair again, "Santa's Chair. "

Wells: Besides Keepsake Ornaments and Merry Miniatures, what else have you done at Hallmark?

Robert Chad: During those freelance years, I worked for Heartline which is part of Hallmark, and they made stuffed animals. Some of the other stuff I've made was a Coca-Cola Santa several years ago--it was a large Christmas collectible. Several years ago, I did "Batman and Robin," which was also a large collectible, much larger than the ornaments.

Decor40: Where was your favorite vacation? Why?

Robert Chad: Probably my favorite vacation happened three years ago. I went to France and spent two weeks out in the countryside, near the Loire Valley. While I was there, I went to a sculpture class, where we sculpted from a model, and I lived in a French chateau. After that, I spent one week in Paris, visiting museums. Great vacation!

Animo: Which studio artist's work do you admire?

Robert Chad: Presently, the person I admire the most is Tracy Larsen, specifically for his "Bible Stories" series of ornaments.

Cartoonfan: Where did you go to art school and what was your major?

Robert Chad: The first school I went to was the Dayton Art Institute. My major was printmaking. After a year at that school, it closed, and I came to Kansas City to go to the Kansas City Art Institute, where my major was printmaking and painting.

Larymam: What did you do before you became a sculptor?

Robert Chad: After I got out of school, I was one of a three person animation company, and that went on for three years. My talent was mostly drawing, and I pretty much drew for the first thirty years of my life, or so.

Manzanita: What was your first signing event like?

Robert Chad: My first signing event took place in New Jersey, and it must have been ten or more years ago. It has become known as "The Mall of the Dead", because the store rep in the area put me into a store that wasn't doing real well. The traffic was pretty low, so they thought if there was a signing event there, it would pick up the guy's business. As it turned out, two people showed up to the signing event, and one of them was a bum.

Lori: In what forum do you like meeting collectors?

Robert Chad: Well, I prefer one on one, because I have some pretty big stage fright issues.

Perita: What's your favorite 2000 Keepsake Ornament not sculpted by you?

Robert Chad: Out of everything in the line, what I like the best is the Mickey Mouse ornament in the airplane. Nello Williams sculpted it, and it's called "Mickey Skywriter." I just love it--the animation is great, and the mixture of materials is really nice, because the plane is tin and Mickey Mouse is plastic.

Amymom: What material do you sculpt in?

Robert Chad: Originally, when I started at Keepsakes, I started only in Sculpey, but now I'm working in wax, like pretty much the rest of the studio.

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