Paul Bolinger Santa Collection

This is my favorite Santa collection. The larger ones are all hand carved by Paul Bolinger. His wife Camille painted each one with a light wash of color. I found in my search for hand carved pieces, that many artist over paint them to the point you can't see the wood. Paul and Camille did such a great job all around. Early in Paul's carving career, he would sell his originals. I was lucky to be able to buy several original signed works. At some point he realized that he should keep them and have them reproduced instead. The small one on the left is one of those reproduction. Paul has since retired, so I'm patiently waiting for more originals to come on to the open market. There is another Santa collector that has one of Paul's first Santa made (it has one detail that none of his other pieces have) and I'm hoping to someday be able to add it to my collection. I've been told that collection will be donated to a musuem so it's a slim chance I will be able to buy it but I can still hope. :)