The figurines are sculpted to express emotions, a simple yet genius concept when you’re trying to choose a meaningful gift. Each figurine conveys an emotion, subtly yet pervasively, imbued with meaning for the person you give them to. This has lead a an incredible range of figurines suitable for many occasions – not just birthdays and Christmas, but weddings, graduation, parents whose children are starting school, any occasion  when you want to give a heart-warming gift. With the transmission of human emotion at the heart of these pieces, they have developed strong fan bases who even build large collections year after year.

The line of figures is added to each year; meaning for those who like to collect art pieces, this line is one to come back to time and time again. There are those who collect special ranges, such as the angel figurines in the lines, and those who go for the fuller range, amassing hundreds of pieces. The prices are reasonable enough to allow for collectors to enjoy a wonderful hobby without breaking the bank. With a combination of always expanding captivating figures at everyday prices, the figurines have some astounding features which will certainly surprise you.

One amazing fact is none of the figurines are sculpted without any facial detail – yet each exactly conveys a special expression of human sentiment. Moving right away from earlier figurine traditions, each piece has a subtle, understated quality. Emotion is conveyed using body language rather than frozen into facial features – and this gives the range its universal nature. Anyone can relate to these pieces, whereas with traditional figurines you may not connect with the face and attitude portrayed.

The figurines are an international phenomena, attracting attention not just in North America but these days the word has spread around the globe. Since they are miniature pieces, they will ship overseas again at more reasonable prices than you might expect for collectables. They are meaningful, affordable gifts from an ever expanding range and their emotional appeal is universal. With this in mind, you may well want to explore the range for the next time you’re hunting for a truly special gift.

By Kathy Ponsonby

Family and friends

There are many figurines featuring family relationships – mother and daughter, mother and son, father and daughter, father and son, grandparents and individual children. The pieces include up to three characters and directly express aspects of those relationships. There is a special collection  for Mothers Day gifts called the Garden of Roses, which features a sculpted ‘wooden’ cupboard for placing up to 6 seated child figurines in.  You could also try angels for family and friends and not just in the Christmas season; the Christmas collection also features some animals, which could be handy for your friends who’ve just moved to the countryside.

Wedding Gifts

There are pieces which are specially designed for celebrating either weddings or wedding anniversaries, such as the ‘Promise’ minature figurine cake topper which you can place onto the wedding cake itself. However don’t forget that you may also find some of the figurines outside this dedicated range are also entirely suitable as engagement, wedding or wedding anniversary gifts – for example, the ‘Happiness’ figure or an angel might be a great for engagement gifts. Some of the figurines will also work well as gifts for those choosing not to marry in these modern times, and we think individual figurines could be combined  beautifully for civil partnerships or gay marriage gifts, or later anniversary celebrations.

One of the factors that probably explain the success of the figurines is their sheer adaptability – there are many occasions that they seem to encapsulate the spirit of. Americans could confidently find a figurine for the 4^th of July celebrations and thanksgiving. You could choose a joyful figure for those who’ve passed exams – driving tests, work tests, or landing a promotion.

There are figurines you can gift to friend, particularly useful for when you want a thank you gift that lasts longer than simply flowers or chocolates. The range also includes suitable figures for student graduation gifts, and also for parents whose children are staring education at any age. Some of the figurines would also make a subtle statement in sympathy, perhaps during bereavement.

There’s a full range of angels which work well for many faiths or even for those who do not hold a particular defined religion in their household. Remember angels are a symbol which functions both within and outside the symbolisms of faiths.

For people who keep Christmas, there are special nativity figurines including Mary and Joseph against a specially designed backdrop of stable doors called the Sanctuary. Animals available include a donkey, sheep, ox and goat. There are also angels and other traditional Christmas ornaments you can add to the nativity collection to make a fuller display.

So for people in every walk of life, there will be a figurine, or figurines that you could choose as a really welcome gift – if you’re collecting, make a pact with a friend to buy a suprise figurine for each other at regular intervals to grow your collection in a really interesting way. You’d be surprised what you’ll end up with that you might never think of for yourself, but could grow to love! There are some pieces with are universal enough to give to those you need a more neutral gift for, such as your children’s teachers, or a work colleague for a secret santa gift. You now have an overview of the versatility of the range and some more ideas for how to choose one by thinking outside the box a little or interesting ways you can develop your own collection in.

By Kathy Ponsonby

Susan Lordi qualified with a Masters of Fine arts and Textile Design and is known for her international exhibitors of art using textiles as well as her Willow Tree range. Susan has a love affair with textiles that has lead to recognition on the international art stage. Her artist’s studio is based in Kansas City, in Missouri USA and her reputation has travelled, with her textile art featured in books of fine art. Susan described the move into sculpting as inspirational to work in three dimensions, and reflects on how her art studies over the years would always have figures doodled between the notes from the lectures. . With an inspired artist at the helm, the figurines began to take on a life of their own from the world around her.

Susan has described the various influences that move her to fashion each piece as including dance, nature and her strong relationships with her family and her friends. Her ultimate goal with every single piece is to create a work of emotion which she has paradoxically found a channel for in creating the expressionless faces of the figurines. She gives credit to her observation of dolls created for Amish children by their mothers as highly influential. For religious reasons, those dolls were created without facial features yet Susan saw in them a simple channel for emotional expression from mother to child. From her years of study and gathering artistic strength from those experiences of strong human sentiment, Susan launched her first very small range of figurines in 2000.

The original products very simply featured fifteen angels, a single ‘regular’ figurine and nativity items, launched in January 2000. The products were accompanied by a Sentiment Card capturing the emotional inspiration behind them. Each product was officially ‘discontinued’ the following year as they were replaced by newer figurines which began featuring family relationships, such as the ‘father and Daughter’ piece. Today, from its humble beginnings, the range stands at over 300 figurines, capturing family relationships, aspects of childhood, sentiments for special occasions, Christmas sentiments and an ever growing  line  of angel figurines.

In response to consumer demand, some of the figurines have been specially adapted for weddings, such as the ‘Promise’ wedding cake topper figurine featuring a couple in a moving embrace. There are also figurines from a greater variety of ethnic backgrounds in the making again to reflect customer feedback showing a need for greater range.  The artistic input of a long established fine artist, influenced by movement, nature and human relationships has propelled the brand from less than thirty pieces to over 300 with customers asking for specific desired designs. If you have only ever seen a couple of pieces, or have not come across the brand at all, this can give you the full history, development and future collections for this highly collectable figurines  line.

By Joanne Godfrey

The journey starts with the artist Susan Lordi taking inspiration from the world of human emotion around her to create one figurine. Her inspiration comes from the world of dance, ballet and modern dancers movements influencing her range of figures where remember, emotion is only demonstrated through body language, not facial features. Susan also draws on the natural world and her everyday life with her family and friends. With movement, nature and strong relationships at the heart of her art, she moves onto the sculpting phase.

Each piece is created by hand, where Susan moulds and carves a type of specialized sculpting clay. She uses sculpting knives, which are responsible for the characteristic ‘knife marked’ look of the pieces, perhaps why people assume they are wooden. Once complete, her original figurines are carefully packed for their journey to China where they are especially cast in resin. The process allows for those ‘knife marks’ to be reproduced exactly, keeping the original hand made look of each piece. The pieces are cured so they are ready for the next stage, the hand painted finishing in a soft, muted palette of colours.

The casting phase allows for each piece to retain its artisan crafted look yet be produced in a cost effective manner that ultimately means more people can enjoy these pieces. The eventual product for the consumer is an original artist design, hand sculpted in clay, reproduced in high detail yet retailing at a fraction of the price of a gallery piece.

This means these are items you really can buy for gift occasions right throughout the year, without having to save for each piece for that one special occasion. Although sadly recently Chinese made goods have been the subject of some safety scares, Susan takes the time to assure the public the figurine paints are lead free. The combination of original artwork and faithful reproduction probably accounts for the lines loyal and growing following, as people are able to enjoy new additions to her artwork collection year after year in their own homes.

By Kathy Ponsonby & Phillip Jeffreys

Photo Credits

The Dancer http://www.sxc.hu/profile/tinos Weeping Willow at Lake  http://www.sxc.hu/profile/Ayla87 Juliana (dancer in red) http://www.sxc.hu/profile/francog

The Spring Flowers http://www.sxc.hu/profile/betoslater

As well as the official stockists, wherever you are in the world there is bound to be an EBay seller who will ship to you. The beauty of this art is it is hand sculpted in clay then painstakingly reproduced in resin. This means it will ship more safely to locations worldwide, unlike the many risks associated with shipping traditional porcelain figurines. EBay now has an entire subcategory for Willow Tree figurines and also gives the choice to buy brand new figurines or pre-loved ones, perhaps further lowering your costs.

The downside of the strategy is obvious – you may not be able to find the full range online of course, in which case the official Willow Tree website carries details of official stockists in the USAS, Canada, the UK & Ireland, France, New Zealand and Australia. For lucky UK customers, there are more stores online selling the figurines. If you’re happy to carry on bargain hunting however, try local classifieds online – these are collectable figures and you may well find one on sale in your local area. There are also now even one or two enthusiast forums online that may be able to point you in the right direction.

Earlier figurines are now changing hands on specialist figurine collector sites and of course on EBay around the world. A snapshot of prices ranged from $30 to $5 for individual figurines, with sets coming in more towards (or over $100). We suggest you stick to searches with words like ‘collectables’ rather than ‘vintage’ as they’re too contemporary to have entered the antiques   – even though retired, these are firmly contemporary art pieces. Beware of anyone trying to pass one off as vintage – remember the line was started in 2000 and as such should not really be included in any credible vintage dealer’s figurines inventory.

One thing to bear in mind is while these superb gifts are not as precarious to ship as porcelain, they are sadly  still capable of breakages. When you are sending them try packing them with extra tissue paper gently around exposed fingers of any protruding features, with bubble wrap layers inside a strong cardboard box. Then place the cardboard box inside another one and fill in the spaces with bubble wrap or packing peanuts. Don’t’ use newspaper next to the figurines as the newsprint can run and ruin them. When you’re packing, imagine the box will be used as both a football and a table and you kind of have an idea of what sometimes goes on behind the scenes at shipping companies – despite your scrawled marker pen ‘fragile’ on the packaging!

Given that the figurines are all about universal appeal, its no suprise that people all over the world are falling in love with them. Whilst there are stores you can walk in and have a look at them up close in, its equally true there’s a roaring online trade, probably due to their less fragile nature than china, glass or porcelain. So don’t despair if you don’t live in a country with an official stockist,  a little reading here can help you check the shipper is packaging them properly before you buy and avoid getting charged unreasonable prices for shady resellers claiming they are somehow vintage or antique – these are more contemporary and you shouldn’t have to pay through the nose for one.

By Kathy Ponsonby & Phillip Jeffreys

Willow Tree Figurines Nativity Set

There are many figurines in the lines from individual figures, to groups, to a full nativity set. For a friend who follows the Christian faiths, the nativity set is an obvious choice but you be looking for a smaller gift (and price tag) but still need it to be special. Not to panic, there are also angels which are sold singly which are perfect Christian gifts.

Willow Tree Angel of Caring

Willow Tree Angel of Freedom

There is the Angel of Healing, of Caring, of Freedom, of Harmony (playing a flute), of Healing and of Grace to chose from as stand alone figurines. Two more figurines, the Angel of Hope, and of Friendship are also available as ornaments to hang from the Christmas tree.

Willow Tree Angel of Hope

Willow Tree Angel of Hope ornament

Then there is the special 2009 Christmas ornament, to symbolise peace and joy throughout the year. Finally, one more angel is simply called “a tree, a prayer” and is available as a stand alone figurine, a beautiful metal edged hanging ornament, embellishing a candle holder, or decorating a beautiful green “Memory Box ” for special momentos.

Willow Tree a tree a prayer memory box

For many people though, Christmas is a more secular affair rather than a religious occasion, and you can still cater for them within the range in superb style.

If the person you are shopping for is either not following the Christian faith or someone you wouldn’t want to buy an angel for for some reason, start by thinking about their home life and their interests. There are many figurines that any parent could relate to, the picture here is of the closet you can buy to add figurines to year after year.

Willow Tree figurines closet to display them in

For people who don’t have children there are single figurines, such as ‘Welcoming Spirit’ which are great for home décor, or for those in relationships, why not think about the ‘Together’ figurines? Once you’ve chosen your figureines, there’s the question of how to wrap them for safe posting and for an impressive looking Christmas present.

In order to safely wrap for posting, try double boxing them. Take your first box and then place it in a second carton, packing the gap in-between the boxes with bubble wrap. Then seal the whole carton with packaging tape not regular clear sticky tape. Having said this, the figurines are made of resin so should be safer to post than porcelain in any case. For wrapping, take your gift paper and when you wrap, fold it over at the ends to create a ‘hem’ which will give a better outline to your parcel. You might also want to to invest in ‘invisible’ clear tape designed for gift wrapping for a professional touch. One easy way to pull of professional looking gift wrapping when you’re short of time is metallic gold or silver gift paper with wide gold or silver ribbon, the type that has thin wire stitched along each side of the width of the ribbon.

Wired type gift wrap ribbon

You can easily create beautiful bows with the ‘wired’ ribbon, even if you’re not a super-confident wrapper – the wires help hide a less than perfect bow shape and make the bow look more luxuriant. You may even be able to pick up a carton of the wired ribbon in “Pound Stores” (UK) or “Dollar Stores” (USA/ Canada”) – its not always expensive and really does transform even the clumsiest wrapped parcels into truly beautiful packages!

Wire bows make packages look beautiful

Another super fast tip is to use a pretty gift bag and fill it with shredded tissue paper then tie the bag handles with ribbon into a bow (again try the wired type ribbon).

Shredded tissue helps gift bags look great

Yes, there are special Christmas themed figurines and even tree ornaments available but really the range will lend itself to all sorts of gifts for all sorts of people. Each one is far more likely to be memorable git than a pair of socks or a bottle of wine but you can still order on-line, may be able to have it delivered gift wrapped to the recipient and save the hassle of a trip round the mall in lousy weather. From this point of view, Willow Tree figurines really are a godsend in the gift shopping department and you now have some ideas about choosing Christmas ones and how to wrap them. Hopefully this will inspire you to peruse the collection, choose the right figurines and cross through another name or two on your seasonal gift shopping list!

]]> http://www.collectwillowtreefigurines.com/choosing-willow-tree-figurine-gifts/willow-tree-figurines-for-christmas/feed/ 1