Hallmark Keepsake Artist

Hallmark presents

November 28, 2000

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Doye: What ornament has taken you the longest to work on?

Linda Sickman: (laughing) Believe it or not, in a couple of weeks November Courier, which will be mailed November 30th I believe, will show pictures of ornaments that have taken me the longest to do and have been the most difficult. Not necessarily in sculpting the details, but because of its simplicity -- of course it will be tin!

MSHMK: Is there one particular ornament that collectors bring to you the most to have you autograph for them?

Linda Sickman: Probably the rocking horses from the Rocking Horse series. I probably sign the most of them, along with the tin Locomotive Series.

Aline: Linda, We loved having you in Arkansas. Do you plan to do more with the regular size ornaments, or do you prefer the miniatures? You seem to have done quite a few this year.

Linda Sickman: I like doing both sizes. A lot has to do with time, how much time I have to do an ornament. But I really like both sizes.

NEOCCPres: Do you have a preference of which Pony for Christmas series you prefer? The one in the Keepsake line or the special repaints for the collectors?

Linda Sickman: It just so happens that the repaints, I have really liked them better, I think, than my original ones. I think partly the original Pony for Christmas, I felt, really would go on people's Christmas trees. The repaints, my feeling was, that they were more of a collectors’ item. And I can make the colors a little bit darker.

Tanya: How long have you been with Hallmark and what did you do before you worked there?

Linda Sickman: I'm not sure there was life before Hallmark! I think I grew up here! I grew OLD here. Actually, before I came to Hallmark I was a policy typist for an insurance company.

Tanya: What other things if any do you collect?

Linda Sickman: More what DON'T I collect. My collections are all small, but Haviland cup and saucers, Noah's Ark, nutcrackers, and of course tin toys. Once again, my collection is small. A person only has so much space in the house, you know!

Sally: Your Americana ornaments have always been some of my favorites. How did you come up with the concept and did you enjoy working on them? Why?

Linda Sickman: I love doing the Americana ornaments. The series that came out, the group that came out in '93 was an absolute inspiration. It just kind of came to me; I started carving, one thing led to another, and it was one of those projects that just flows. I love doing folk art, and folk art is also part of Americana. Back in 1975, I did Nostalgia ornaments, which were the beginning of my ornament career. But it was also the start of my carving wood, and getting more into folk art for Americana.

Tanya: Do you foresee the ornaments being a hot collectible for a long time?

Linda Sickman: Oh, you bet! I wanted to go back, when I was talking about the 1975 ornament.when those ornaments were first designed. I carved them out of wood when they were being manufactured and it was thought that the distress mark that I put in the ornament was a mistake, so the manufacturer thought that they would correct that, and they smoothed all of that distress out. And then they found out that it was supposed to have been in there, so then they took sledgehammers, and hammers, and chisels, to put the distress back into the ornament. I don't know that it makes them any more collectible, but I thought you might enjoy the story.

Richard: What was your inspiration behind the ornaments Metro Express and Country Express?

Linda Sickman: As a child, I rode the trains at my grandparent's home. So I think those ornaments kind of took me back to my childhood.

Leverne: I know you have worked with different materials. What is your favorite?

Linda Sickman: Wax. I like working with the wax, because you can move it, carve on it; you can manipulate it a lot.

Liz: How long do you think the series of tin buildings will go on? I really love the ones that you've done in that series so far.

Linda Sickman: Well, how about forever? As far as I know right now, there aren't any plans to end; they are continuing the series. We can do every building there is!

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