Handmade Creches By Steven Barrett

Been awhile...but here's some beginning notes for a book I'm writing about creches

2010-05-19T08:39:00.000-07:00

May 19, 2010 Book Notes … openly shared thoughts.

Before you begin, allow me to "plug" a new blog I've established for a new business that'll be the "overall umbrella" firm, so-to-speak. It's called, Nature's Heirlooms. When you build all-natural creche stalls and /or decorative birdhouses, with plans in the works to create an even wider array of similarly constructed items for home or business usage, it's time to think of a newer and more accurate message about your firm and what you're offering the public. Hence ... Nature's Heirlooms. (http://www.naturesheirlooms.com/ )

For the moment, the site is "under construction," but hopefully by Memorial Day weekend, it'll be "up and running." If you see something you'd like to order, contact me through the email addresses listed on the final "Contact" page or by leaving a reply at the end of this post. In order to stay on Blogger's good side, I'm not allowed to post any prices, etc.

Thank you for your understanding and hope you find something you'd like and enjoy reviewing the new blog. And by all means, don't be in the least bit shy about making return visits and telling your friends what you found.

Steven

Two of the most powerful religious symbols in this world have forever served to capture the perennial poverty and quintessential humility of man’s proper lot in history: A crèche and a crucifix. In this “age of irony,” there’s no greater irony in the fact that both a crèche and crucifix represent the fullness of God’s plan for His Only Son, Jesus prior to his Resurrection. Just as Jesus is the Alpha and Omega, the crèche and crucifix symbolize the beginning and end of Jesus Christ’s human ministry. Of course, we can’t leave the story at those two points any more than we could retell the story of man’s quest to reach the moon by simply describing the first successful launching of Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gargarin into orbit around the globe and ending it with the final touchdown of the last American Space Shuttle Mission in 2010. After all, didn’t the Americans land on the Moon a few times?

A similar comparison could be used concerning the visual arts and music, although not by this author (who believes much of what constitutes truly beautiful art concluded with the passing of the last great artists and composers during the late 19th and earliest decades of the 20th Century. I’ll leave it for others (with a more appreciable yen for subsequent efforts in both music and the arts that followed and yet to come, respectively.) Although the number of actual woodcarvers making creches (in Bavaria alone) has dwindled by n early 80 percent due to newer tools, and other outside financial pressures, the craft of crafting and carving beautiful wooden crèche stalls, full crèche sets, exquisite and passionately empathetic portrayals of Christ’s last agonizing moments on crucifixes, nevertheless happily continues. As a crafter of crèche stalls, I do my part in contributing what I can to the craft on this side of the Atlantic.

Indeed, there have been plenty of glitzy-looking nativity crèches and wildly artistic and sparking crucifixes and crosses (sans corpuses) – yet by and large, the most endearing crèches, crucifixes and crosses many of us have gazed upon and pondered at were designed an created to portray Jesus’ poverty at his birth in Bethlehem and on his cross outside Jerusalem 33 years later. There has never been a more significant life ever led in history than that of Christ’s. I don’t need to elaborate on this because there are beaucoup libraries containing millions of books explaining why Jesus active ministry was so significant in terms of what he did and said and why the details of his life between the moment of his birth and that of his death hold so much meaning.

Oddly, you’d have to look afar and for some length to find many books touching upon the theological significance of nativity crèche displays, much less one written by a layman. Why that’s so, I have only a vague idea. Perhaps it’s because most of the authors who’ve written about creches are primarily interested in the “how-to” for do-it-yourself-ers” (DIYers) like…well, myself. How many times have I wished there was one or more in today’s bookstores in North America. That’s one reason why I’ve decided to combine both my “layman’s perspective” along with a chapter offering some basic ideas about general popular styles, how to achieve them and set them up for the best effect. After all, a crèche isn’t just another part of a Christian household’s overall Christmas decorating plans. What’s more important, putting it on display in the most artistically effective setting (without exposure to dangerous bumps and breakage due to unruly children and pets) or simply going through the motions of “setting up the manger in the usual spot” so Nana won’t be offended because she noticed that it’s not placed as usual on the mantel (along with a half dozen other and considerably more secularist/commercial “Happy X-Mas Holiday Season” decorations. Perhaps an even more perilous step taken insofar as maintaining “familial peace and tranquility” would be an entire replacement of the old set with a new crèche display. However, parents, don’t say I didn’t warn you to expect resistance for this kind of emboldened reordering of long-established traditions and symbols of honoring Christ’s birth from teenagers: “What do you mean … by replacing what we always had set up just before reading Luke’s narrative just before _________ (usually the youngest sibling)places Jesus in the old family manger? … It won’t be the same.”

Years after years, generations after generations, very same age group that’s forever preaching the virtues about “thinking differently,” or, as they’re wont to say nowadays in so many words, “Get your head thinking outside of the box,” happen to be the most resistant to change, especially when they first notice that all the figurines feature the same (and non-glazed) color: white. “What! They’re all white; couldn’t you at least have gotten a bluish-tinged Mary?”

The voice of youth! Forceful, vibrant and yes, in constant need of persistent sanding, reshaping and honing … and that’s only the beginning. From a crèche stall builder’s view, I sometimes have to pretend I’m wearing the all-necessary bit St. James wrote about when younger and relatively less informed folks ask, “Well, why couldn’t you include any people … don’t you do people, too?”

“Well, ah, no … God’s done a far better job in that department and He’s only given the talent(s) necessary to envision, cut, cure and carve out a human from a piece of raw wood to a handful and I never made it that far.” Although no artist wants to disappoint any prospective buyers and folks you hope will provide decades of loving care for something you’ve put a lot of work and time into making, I’ve learned that simply having a “ yes and know” policy to handle this potential “customer challenge,” works wonders.

Yes, indeed, the answer is “no” when it comes to whether or not I routinely craft figures to go with my respective stalls. But … I always make sure I also know where my customers could turn to in order to find quality figures for a reasonably affordable price and without resorting to buying any figures made by workers toiling in inhumane worksites and for near slave-wages or as prison workers, especially in nations that openly persecute its Christian population. This isn’t a political stand, but a moral stand. Anybody in any other nation with laws similar to ours could make the same stand on purely moral and Christian grounds alone. Despite what selective moral relativists in defense of property rights first and foremost want others to believe, the origins and fundamental foundations of social and economic moral justice are not so terribly difficult to grasp and enforce.

Nature's Heirlooms' website isn't the only thing I have "under construction" as this photo indicates. I'm still in the process of deciding how to finish up the "center stage" area. Will it have an upper hayloft, or a large surface-level manger trough (separately, of course, from the small one used for the Christchild's first bed.

Black Forest stall (under construction),

Nature's Heirlooms ™ 2010

(Away From) The Manger

2010-03-11T14:01:00.000-08:00

Away from the manger, I've been far too long . . . .

Forgive my use of the word "manger," but I figured it wouldn't hurt to poke a little fun at myself while taking some liberties with a long-treasured Christmas Carol.

One of the most distressing things I've had to deal with this past Winter is the seemingly higher number of HATE CRIMES against churches concerning the vandalism punks have committed against their Nativity Displays.

I don't think my use of all caps to highlight my desire to see Federal Hate Crime charges brought against the perps needs a great deal of explaining. However, since we live in such enlightened times when so much sensitivity is required, maybe I should simply add that in tacking on five additional years to a sentence, in addition to gutsy prosecutors and judges making sure no remands for hate-related crimes committed against houses of worship and their sacred symbols are granted ... there's a much stronger chance we'll see a drastic reduction in this kind of crime. It only takes a few tough judges and/or juries to demonstrate some backbone. Just a few and the word will go forth.

Judges and prosecutors will need help from the Christian clergy when it comes to giving Creches their proper designation: Christian Religious/Sacred Art. No more "decorations." That implies a lower degree of seriousness taken and leaves the door wide open for defense attorneys to get ridiculously lenient sentences passed down.

In addition to the judicial aspect, there's also the "in-house justice" our clerics and parish/congregational leadership committees need to take up to prevent the hard work put into elaborate creche displays by the relatively few creche artists we have, from being tossed out with the dried up boughs and dead poinsetta flowers.

Dedicating these displays as artwork will also reduce the tendency of pastors and lay leaders to allow creches to be used as "keep'em happy and busy" toys after the Sunday School lesson time is over and play time resumes before the parents and grandparents come to pick up their charges.

Would we allow little boys to use plain crosses as wooden swords?

Don't give anybody any ideas. Please.

Christmas Year 'Round ... Hmmm, Couldn't We Use It? Sure!

2009-12-17T17:11:00.000-08:00

By now many of you have probably heard that little Tin Pan Alley Christmas song, where we all chime along and sing or hum, "We could use a little Christmas, at this very moment ... "

And all of us could, but without all the "Christmas Wars." Inside or outside of our homes. That's right, we don't have to turn on the tubes or radios to hear about people having trouble dealing with depression, family squabbles that went VERY sour and deeply downhill with avalanche speed and destructive power. Some of us know all about those kinds of troubles first hand either from their childhoods, marriages (or past marriages and broken relationships), not to mention the troubles they're undergoing right now.

Hopefully that's the worst of it. But there are milder forms of discontent that takes a lot of the "Christmas-y" joy out of Advent and Christmas Seasons for no other reason than it's very easy to get sick and tired of all the commercial hype, bad economic news that never fails to turn many smiles into frowns of fatigue and bewilderment, if not slow and seething anger. (May God forbid and protect us all from engaging in the latter, esp. around our kids ... or for that matter, all kids. Remember what Jesus warned about doing harm to his "little ones." Taking a swim in the cold ocean with a millstone's a lot worse than facing a whopping credit card bill in January; so keep that in mind.

So... yes, we can sure more than a little Christmas... in fact WE CAN USE A LOT. Here's where to find it in a very informal way...All Things Christmas. Have a tradition to share or want to learn more about? Need advice on gifts or crafts? Christmas recipe? Or how to address people you know who aren't Christian in a respectful manner concerning their respective Holy Days? I'll bet even trading stories about how your parents worked up to 3 a.m. trying to build the trainset or laughing about a tenant who had the nerve to complain about your kids making noise on Christmas morning and you own the two family house! How 'bout that trip from car hell? I'll bet lots of you have those. Or you're still catching it for forgetting to make reservations ahead. Yes, lots of guys I'll bet have wondered if Mary gave St. Joseph a piece of her mind when they found nothing but "no vacancy" signs all over David's Royal City.

Right now I'll bet I could get a lot more people interested in this Forum. After all, Christmas Eve's only a week away and if I can't motivate people after seeing this promo to at least give it a look, well, uh ... Truth is, I'm not as interested in as much support for All Things Christmas now as I am for later in the following year, when Christmas seems so far away, but deep in so many peoples' hearts, they really yearn for more than just a tad bit of its spirit in June or July.

Come to think of it; I'd love to have a touch of Christmas year 'round. Truthfully it's not that hard. Just open your hearts to the idea and forget all the social crud that tells us we're being fools for thinking this way. That's okay. If you risk it, you'll be in company with both St. Paul and Wall Street.

Such a paradox ought to keep us all wondering what's really important, and on a year-round basis.

Creches I Hadn't Shared Yet

2009-12-05T16:11:00.000-08:00

My apologies for not having gotten around to posting more photos of some of the creches I've made down through the years, including 2009. At this time of the year, it's easy to get caught up in making last minute changes and getting bogged down in the details of building these structures and tending to the other matters such as publicity take a backseat.

Admittedly, that's a pretty lame excuse for a lame-brain mistake! Hopefully some of these pictures will get me off the hook somewhat:

This is my most recent opus presently in the works. It's a depiction of many small Irish cottages that were demolished by English landlords during one of Ireland's many times of Troubles. The English nobility, it seemed, had this very ignoble desire for yet more land in order to surround their palaces and spare their tender eyes from the sight of poor Irish land peasants, lest their consciences also be greatly inconvenienced and troubled. Although this did wonders for many American urban landscapes thanks to the many Irish who left their homeland to avoid this crushing poverty, the Irish landscape was left with many broken down buildings that'd been destroyed to render them uninhabitable lest any poor Gaels get any ideas of taking shelter in the ruins until the "nobles" had their Irish agents finish the job of both evictions and demolition.

One wonders what any English Herodian might've done had he found Jesus, Mary and Joseph taking temporary shelter on his ever precious land. Indeed, this isn't exactly correct by any measure of a Biblical literalist's ideal scenario, much less any secular historian's as well. But let's face it. God is Not an Englishman, the world is God's; He created it and He can pick and choose when and where His Son will be born. No matter who has (or stole) the deed to the property upon which the Miracle of Christ's Nativity was to occur.

Although I mentioned above in my first posting that I usually don't make figurines, in this instance I might create a few easily moveable simple and small figures depicting the Holy Family. Since this is a small structure, measuring less than a foot wide by little over half a foot deep and high, it'll make for a young child's ideal "First Creche" or a nice addition to a bookshelf ... you name it, th' pleasure's yours.

Forgive the "add'l scenery" and atrociously glaring effects of too much light. However, this shot affords a good look at the fireplace oven and rough hole caused by a battering ram. Not exactly a fine example of customary British understatement in action. The wall is covered with a white "stucco" formed with a mix of acrylic/latex paint with beach sand (taken from Wells, ME) and appropriately smudged in the right spots to indicate where some incendiary action had been used to evict the poor unfortunates before the Holy Family arrived at this emptied ruin. The roof "thatch" is made from a dried grass commonly found near planted corn. All the stones are beach rocks and traprocks.
The bushes are made of Reindeer Moss (which gives off a nice piney scent). For the brownish grass and scrubby brush, I've used a mix of the hairy outgrowth from corn and dried grass. Dried palm snippets will be placed just to the outside of the large hole and on the inside in-between where Joseph and Mary will be placed looking on the Infant Jesus (in what I expect to be a very rough-hewn "crib" by the time I'm finished.)

Here's one more shot at the Cottage (under construction) followed by other past works:

Forgot to mention, there's to be a very rough-looking red door to be placed on the right.

................

Now, for some of my other creches ...

Alpine/Half-Timber

This Alpine/Half-Timber themed creche has a foam base at the bottom of the back wall which I covered with a mix of acrylic/sand and placed two sets of "stacked logs" (small twigs). The door is permanently affixed to the wall, but the small crib in front-center is moveable and left empty to accomodate anyone desiring to place their version of the Infant. All the shingles on the roof are wood and hand cut & placed. The "boulders" are traprock courtesy of my driveway.

"Mother of All Mangers" Creche

Half-Timber stall, very large, 2.5-3' W x 18" H x 12" D, sometimes more affectionately referred to as

"The Mother of All Mangers." Ever have a project that seemed to keep growing on you? That was "Mother." She features holes in both sides for placing lights, all shingled' roof, a large wall-mounted hay crib-manger (with real hay) and stained in dark walnut.

This large creche can easily accomodate a full complement of figurines. Although it doesn't feature a moveable Infant's crib, that can be arranged. One reason I don't make them to suit all creches I've built is that many companies who many the figurines also make them so that Jesus and his crib come in one piece. This one-piece design has a practical application since the last thing any respectable Christian or creche owner (even a non-believer who collects them for their artwork) wants to be caught dead "looking on all fours" for a "missing Jesus," especially if there's a playful pet looking for a new "floor toy."

"Shabby Chalet" Alpine Creche

This creche, though not as wide as "Mother," nonetheless is one of my earlier "wide-body" models. The front posts and cross-beam work below the roof are all taken from twigs. The back wall features a stuccoed wall as well. That's real hay on the floor mixed in with raffia, palm branch snippets and a mix of both sawdust and sand. The cooking pit directly in front is made of real stones and sand.

Compact Creche

This compact creche (roughly a foot all around) is a perfect sturdy starter structure I experimented with a year ago, using larger and flatter pieces of trap-rock to accentuate the plain lines and dark stain. It also features a "half-timber" back wall to create a contrasting interior look. The "dusty look" on the rough door is a deliberate mix of clear tacky glue and sawdust liberally "tossed" and blown towards the back. If I had to change anything, I'd cut a few inches off the front and add more sawdust, and scruffy ground down grass, leaves, etc.

"Saltbox Alpine" Creche

"Downeast'r Christmas Creche

The only creche in which I included any metal in the construction process. If you'll closely notice, it's featured in the snow fences on both sides. I had a foot of pre-made fencework available and decided it'd be perfect after a treatment of crackled white paint was applied for effects. All shingles (taken from weathered 2 x 4s) were handcut and applied. A few modern day figures of a man, woman and child, and a horse, or donkey, in addition to men fishermen and clergy, bankers and/or another prominent person would make this a terrific dioramic creche fitting for our rather rough ecomic times.

A Franciscan Christmas

This is one of my favorite creches, and not because of any particular artwork on my part (nor certainly the brightness in this photo, which I plan on changing soon.) I literally threw convention out the window when I made this creche, which also was originally supposed to be a Child's First Creche.

The scene depicted isn't the original Nativity, but St. Francis of Assissi's first outdoor performance of a Nativity for the people surrounding Grecchio, a small village and monastery a little northeast of Rome in the Italian province of Umbria. So taken by the first creche in Rome's Basilica of St. Mary Major, Francis and his fellow friars staged their own Nativity with even a monk "standing in" for Mary. No doubt he took pains to conceal his beard.

As I mentioned above, I threw convention out. Using an "end" to foam packing used in a computer box, I carved out a "cave," gave it several coats of appropriately shaded paint, not to mention lavishing it with varying forms of moss, rocks, etc. ... then mounted in front of a thin board to which I'd painted a rural Italian countryside theme. The painted backdrop was then coated with a special acrylic designed for aging and antiquing.

The figurines were then scroll sawn from a half-inch piece of poplar, sanded down and stained in both water-and mineral-spirits, dark walnut. After which they were given a couple of satin polyacrylic coats for protection. At the bottom of each figure, I applied a touch of sawdust to achieve a dusty look. The crib is modeled after the original stone in which the Friars minor placed their Infant.

Some of the more memorable things my brothers and I inherited (mostly from our mother) were black and white etching prints of notable buildings in Europe and the United States. So when I discovered I could take photos of my creches and turn them into "B & W etchings" on my own (through Kodak) I figured why not give it a whirl.

Same birch-trimmed creche shown with Profile with interior window closed.

Same creche, window open.

That's it for now, but fret not, there'll be more to come ...

Handmade Creches by Steven Barrett

2009-11-15T17:56:00.000-08:00

Welcome!

I have been building nativity creche stalls for five years, specializing in creating handbuilt-from-scratch structures with out using any nails, staples in the construction process. Additionally, I also strive to achieve the most rustic looking buildings by using all safe, non-toxic and natural materials. This includes real sand, "trees" and logs made from twigs and driftwood, sawdust, flat-stones for pavers, hand-made stucco, and a combination of real hay, raffia and for all structures, I include snippets of Palm Sunday branches placed in each stall's Infant-Manger and flooring.

Most of my stalls also include roofs made of all hand-cut and stained shingles, which are also topped by real traprock stones (depicting the boulders used by many farmers in the Alpine regions in Europe.)

While the vast majority of my structures have been modeled after Alpine creches (which were modeled after local structures)* made famous in and around Oberammergau, Bavaria, which my family and I had visited whenever we'd stay over at the American Armed Forces' recreational facilities in nearby Garmisch; I've also been fascinated enough to build a few creches utilizing the half-timber architectural style which is more commonly found throughout both Germany and Europe.

I do not "do people." That takes a special talent which I haven't developed yet. I've taken some very primitive cuts at it. However, my specialty lies in building creches. Most of the photos you'll find here won't include figurines, and that only reflects shop logic and the fact my "stock figures" aren't what I'd normally pull out for the annual family Christmas display. Just as people have their formal china, creche builders have their formal figurines and those they use for "display purposes only." The only problem with the latter is that because they're not the more expensive brand figures (be they wooden, clay, less expensive porcelain or resin) is that after a while, the nicks, knocks and dings start to show in the photos. So, I've decided to just let the buildings "speak for themselves" and let you, the viewing public, decide for yourself. After all, not every creche calls for the same kind of figurines.

Come on in to an "open-house center" for creche admirers, builders, buyers, collectors. Indeed, as much as I'd like to just take the easy way out and simply make this a "promotional" for my own works, the more I thought about it, the less that appealed. All artists and crafters want to be fairly compensated for their work(s), yet when it comes to sacred art, it's best not to "push matters," especially when you can spread more good will and encourage more people to become interested in what you make and promote by letting them in on the fun.

Blogger, which publishes this post and blog, isn't too keen on my posting prices to my artwork. Apparently, these masters of the blogopsphere who have contractural obligations with Google and Adsense -- and perhaps a host of other legal reasons --want to keep things pure, don't mind if I commit the ultimate sin of pride by posting photos of some of my creations.

As in the case of most blogs produced by crafters who want to promote both their individual artistry and the craft they're working in -- this is a "catch-as-catch-can," and "wingin' it" -- blog, unlike most I've written before which dealt primarily with news, etc.

So, if you find something that's out of focus, unbalanced, needing a shim or two and needs a lot of sanding down, by all means, let me know. I'm always open to suggestions on how to improve my craft. If I have one irritating fault when it comes to crafting anything, it's that I've adopted Norm Abrams' (of New Yankee Workshop series) famous maxim, "Measure twice, cut once" even beyond what Norm would consider appropriate. Measuring twice, checking my facts, and going over this blog over and over till it's "just right" makes for a long day more often than I'd care to admit. (It also led to too many longer than necessary posts in the past!)

At the risk of appearing overly vain, let me share two stories from the life of one of my true artistic heroes; Michaelangelo. It's not just his art that's admirable. And while his personality could've used a lot of sanding down (God knows how many popes, cardinals and other leading figures of his era tried, especially Julius II who practically forced the artist to paint the Sistine Chapel -- and stiffed him on compensation. Like many thrifty New Englanders, Julius knew the price of many things, but not always their true value.)

While painting the Sistine Chapel, somebody noticed a slight flaw, etc., and pointed it out to Michaelangelo, who not only acknowledged it, but proceeded to go back and undo the fresco till it was done just right, according not only to Michaelangelo's ideal, but Somebody Else's. When told a familiar follow-up line, "Oh, but I didn't mean to have you go back and undo, and redo all that, after all ... it's in an area where nobody will notice it."

Not so, the artist, looking upwards, replied, "He will."

Which of course, this dedication to such exacting detail led to Michaelangelo taking a considerable amount of time to get whatever he was workng on, done just right and pleasing in the sight of God -- popes, cardinals and princes taking their proper place in line. Julius badgered him constantly about when the Sistine Chapel would be finished. Michaelangelo's standard reply was ...

"When it's finished."

So, in the beginning, of taking my creche building business into a promotional blog/field of art and commerce, I'll admit to giving a somewhat lengthier intro than I'd normally use on a regular web-page.

One of these days I'll come up with a full-fledged web page, a more cut-and-dry professional-looking beauty, complete with seasonal motifs, flashy buttons and piped in Christmas music (ah, but no, definitely NOT the contemporary stuff, religious or otherwise. I'd rather include "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer" than any "contemporary Christian music" tune. No "repetitious and vain" post-whatever stuff on my web-page or this blog!)

Sometime soon, I'll be posting more shots of my works. Unfortunately, I'm not able to finagle any photos you can "explode" for better examination. Nevertheless, I believe I've taken enough photos from enough angles to give anybody a pretty good idea of what's possible in the realm of creche building.

* I'm primarily referring to the primarily "typical Alpine-style" bleach'd white, (with brownish-gray wooden boards, low-slung roofs held down by boulders.)