Family Portrait
Artist illustrates "The Night Before Christmas" with mosaics featuring her loved ones
December 8, 2013 12:22 AM
By DAVE MASON, NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Christine Brallier wanted to create a children's book unlike any other.
So she
worked painstakingly for four and a half years creating 15 mosaics, made mostly
of stained glass pieces, to illustrate Clement C. Moore's "The Night
Before Christmas" (Brownian Bee Press, $16.99). What's more, she put her
family in her first children's book — and had Santa play the guitar!
The Goleta
artist added a modern touch to the 1823 poem with images of husband Greg
Brallier, their son, Jack, and their cat, Raymi, a domestic short-hair mix,
along with their own decorations and ornaments.
She will
also sell and sign copies during the Winter Sing and Marketplace, 4:30 to 8:30
p.m. Thursday at Goleta Family School in Goleta, where some of the proceeds
will go to the school's PTA.
All but one
of the mosaics are 15-by-24-inch, and they appear at two-thirds of their actual
size in the book.
"I
always wanted to do a children's book before I was doing mosaics, but my
painting skills were not that great, so I never felt confident enough to do
one," the 45-year-old self-taught artist told the News-Press at her home.
But she felt inspired when creating a mosaic of a mouse and a skunk, and people
said that would make a great children's book.
"I had
never seen a children's book done with mosaics before, and I thought that would
be really cool. So I was writing down ideas, thinking about it, nothing was
coming," said the Bellflower native, who wasn't interested in a tale about
the mouse and skunk. "On Christmas Eve, we were reading the story ('The
Night Before Christmas'), as we always do, and I was thinking about how cool it
would be to do it with my family in it and make it more personal."
"I
tried not to look at other 'Night Before Christmas' books as much as possible
because I didn't want to be influenced by them and didn't want to feel like I
was copying any elements," Mrs. Brallier said. "I did want to look at
other Santas (on the Internet) and make sure mine was unique."
Instead of
the traditional American version, Mrs. Brallier went with a more classic
European look: robe and hood instead of suit and cap.
"It's
not what I grew up with. Anything that's different from what I'm used to is
interesting to me."
Having never
seen Santa play a guitar, the artist thought it would be another way to make
her version unique.
In another
scene, Santa gives her husband, a guitarist for the longtime Santa Barbara band
Tearaways, an electric guitar for the verse, "He was chubby and plump, a
right jolly old elf."
"My
husband wanted a guitar like that," Mrs. Brallier said. "I thought it
would be fun to give it to him in the book because I couldn't afford it in real
life." She laughed.
Their son,
who's now 15, is shown as a young boy sleeping for "all snug in their
bed."
"He
said, 'How come I'm not in it more? My dad's in a bunch of pictures; I'm only
in one,'" Mrs. Brallier said with a grin. "I said, 'Well, I'm only in
one.'" The mosaic of her is based on a photo her husband shot while she
slept, Raymi the cat lying on top of her.
Throughout
the book, Raymi watches Santa in the house and eventually warms up to him.
(When Santa comes down the chimney, the surprised cat leaps behind a chair!)
Photos on
the Internet inspired Mrs. Brallier's depiction of reindeer. She saw how their
tongues stick out to the side as they run. So she had a reindeer do that as it
flew in her book.
"I was
going for something realistic, but at the same time, a more stylized look:
playful, colorful, whimsical," Mrs. Brallier said about the entire book.
The
illustrations, she added, reflect herself: "Happy, joyful, fun, playful,
silly, colorful. I love life. I see the world like a kid in a way."
Since
childhood, Mrs. Brallier loved to draw, paint and play the piano. She decided
to work with kids in art or music therapy. After graduating in 1986 from JohnMarshall High School in Los Angeles, she worked in preschools in Los Angeles
and attended Los Angeles City College. In 1989, she moved to Santa Barbara,
which she preferred over smoggy L.A., and went to Santa Barbara City College.
She earned a bachelor's degree in psychology in 1994 at Antioch UniversitySanta Barbara and a master's in the same field there in 1996. She married Mr.
Brallier in 1998 and worked as a masseuse.
Mrs.
Brallier said her desire to help kids was fulfilled by becoming a mother, but
she still wanted to create art. She said she struggled with her painting and
drawing skills, but found a do-it-yourself mosaic kit in 2005 at the Michaels
craft store near her home. "I made this box, and I was totally hooked. The
process was so fun and meditative. I get to go into my own world."
She joined
the Goleta Valley Arts Association and participated in its group shows at the
Goleta Branch Library and the Cabrillo Pavilion Arts Center on Cabrillo
Boulevard.
Mrs.
Brallier dedicated "The Night Before Christmas" to her husband, son,
cat, and her mother, Robin Nichols, a Los Angeles resident who recently died
from pancreatic cancer at age 67. "She was a big animal lover and loved
the book, especially the cat."
For her next
project, Mrs. Brallier has received approval to create a mosaic of trees and
plants that her mother loved for a chapel at newly renovated Goleta ValleyCottage Hospital. She's waiting for fundraising to be completed.
The
News-Press met with Mrs. Brallier again after the mosaics went up at Granada
Books, where co-owner Sharon Hoshida, 66, said the art immediately made
customers interested in the new interpretation of a classic.
Mrs.
Brallier couldn't stop smiling as she stood surrounded by her mosaics.
"This is the first time I've seen them all up. It's exciting! More people
can see them."
Mom would be
proud.
FYI
Christine
Brallier will sell and sign copies of "The Night Before Christmas"
(Brownian Bee Press, $16.99), the 1823 Clement C. Moore poem that she
illustrated with her mosaics, during the Winter Sing and Marketplace from 4:30
to 8:30 p.m. Thursday at Goleta Family School, 711 Ribera Drive, Goleta. Part
of the proceeds will go to the school's PTA.
Her book
also is being sold at Granada Books, 1224 State St., where her mosaics are
displayed; Chaucer's Books, 3321 State St., 682-6787; and Curious Cup, 929 Linden
Ave., Carpinteria, 220-6608.
"The
Night Before Christmas" is available here.
Photo of reindeer by
Mehosh Dziadzio
All the rest of the photos by Thomas Kelsey,
News-Press
*Links added by me :)
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