Santa Claus

The poem "The Night Before Christmas" was first published in The Troy Centinal, a New York newspaper, in 1823. It was written by Clement Clark Moore and was celebrated in his time as the father of Santa Claus. In an 1859 reprint of the poem the famed cartoonist Thomas Nast drew this, the first likeness of Santa. In 1934 the illustrator Haddon Sumblom painted the modern version that we all know for a Coca Cola ad campaign.
Merry Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Saint Nicholas or Santa Claus as we know him was Haogious Nikolaos of Bari. He was a Christian Bishop of Lydia, now modern Turkey. Scholars can’t even agree if he ever lived, but people have celebrated the goodness of St. Nicholas since the late 300s.
This is a drawing from a coloring book I did a couple of years ago.

Happy Birthday Ludwig

DUM DUM DUM DUMMMMM!!
DUM DUM DUM DUMMMMM.......
Ludwig Von Beethoven born December 16, 1770
Happy birthday Ludwig.
Portrait by Joseph Karl Stieler 1820

Little Miss Muffett

Little Miss Muffett
sat on her tuffet
eating her curds and whey.
Along came a spider
that sat down beside her
and frightened Miss Muffett away.

watercolor 6" x 8"