Hendersonville maker’s prolific Santas are favored by local collectors
“No two Santas are the same,” promises Joan Mastny.
Joan Mastny, 84, grew up loving Christmas. She cherishes the happy memories of celebrating with family, decorating the tree, and wrapping gifts elaborately — even attaching small Santa figurines to packages destined for loved ones. Later, she enjoyed a long career as a designer during the Golden Age of Advertising, creating newspaper ads and catalog spreads for major Southeastern department stores such as Ivey’s, Rich’s, and Belk. “Ads weren’t just words then, and many were accompanied by true art — illustrations and photographs,” she declares.
Mastny retired in the mid-1990s, but her creativity continued. Always talented at handwork, she received a Santa-making kit one Christmas from her sister Joyce. “I just sewed the outfit and glued some embellishments on him. It was simple,” she recalls. So simple she didn’t see why she shouldn’t design her own Old World-inspired Santas.
She started crafting figures from recycled materials she found as she scoured thrift stores. Today, she uses “everything from donated draperies to slipcovers — I’ll combine smaller remnants, and next I find the different accessories each Santa figure holds,” she explains. “I just finished one that’s carrying a miniature canoe with a tiny bear in it. He’s a German-influenced woodland character.” Clad in earth tones and a twig hat, this Santa is known as Belsnickel.
Fabrics that adorn the customized, festive St. Nicks range from earthy plaids to cobalt velvet, though there’s no shortage of traditional red and green, as well. Some Santas might hold wreaths, candy, toys, or lists that identify well-behaved children; others are placed in sleighs or thrones. Their beards are fashioned from wool purchased at the annual Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair, craft-store yarn, and even household string. They can be anywhere from 10 to 30 inches tall.
And there are lots of them. “I’ve made over 1,000 during the last decade,” she reveals. “No two are the same.”
The hand-sewn Santas were a hit from the first time Mastny sold them, at the Rugby Middle School Christmas craft show. “I made jewelry and beaded purses then, too. Those didn’t sell, but all of my four [figures] did.” A customer urged her to keep making them, and she heeded the call.
Mastny treasures the interactive experiences that craft shows offer, and therefore has no desire to sell online. She’s done shows in Hendersonville and Brevard, including the selective First United Methodist Church of Hendersonville’s Juried Art and Craft Festival in late fall, which features only 40 artists. She keeps her works at an accessible price point because, she says, “I want lots of people to enjoy them.”
Most rewarding for Mastny are the stories she hears of the strong attachments people develop toward their Santas. She handles private commissions, too, and considers these situations especially touching: “[Clients] will ask me to make a Santa out of material from the clothing of someone they lost, like a parent’s shirt. It’s emotional, but wonderful.”
Joan Mastny, Hendersonville. For more information, call 828-693-4244.