There aren’t too many parents who haven’t felt exasperated trying to capture a festive family photo. This includes that first Christmas photo with Santa at the Mall which has become a classic. For babies and toddlers it’s a moment of confusion and fear as their parents pass them off to the strange man with a white beard. While the older kids know the deal, for first timers the experience usually involves screaming and crying. There are memes, instagram posts, articles and psychoanalysis sessions that address this rite of passage. As parents we are just trying to ignite the magic of Christmas and perhaps instill a little warning about being good.
While a photo failure might be disappointing at first, remember this stuff is gold down the road.
The photo on the left of my granddaughter was the inspiration behind “Picture Day at the Mall” below.
19″ tall x 9 x 9″ – Santa is sitting on a purple velvet hand-crafted chair, trimmed in gold rope and crystal button detailing. Santa wears a red velvet suit trimmed in recycled white rabbit. All dressed up for picture day, Baby is in full tantrum mode. Santa looks like his feelings are hurt and he doesn’t know what to do.
Picture Day at the Mall is available on my website at https://saracinocollection.com/collections/frontpage
Pat Gorgas came to visit early in the Covid days. We sat on my porch, social distancing as she described the project she wanted me to do. A commission of the late Toller Cranston – Canadian national figure skating champion from 1971-1976, and the 1974 World bronze medal and the 1976 Olympic bronze medal winner. Although I knew of Toller Cranston, I learned so much more about him as I started working on this commission. The Globe and Mail referred to him as “He is his own work of art.” He was fearless in expression, courageous in creativity, and innovative in interpretation. Toller 
had a determination, dedication and a desire to go where no figure skater had gone before. Renowned for his artistry, Toller Cranston brought freedom of expression to the sport and was acclaimed as the most influential figure skater of the 20th century. Toller revolutionized figure skating. He took the sport to new heights. He inspired generations.
picture shelves to hold paint, clay, jars of buttons, glues, etc. . . My old metal tool cabinet serves to hold all the little bits and pieces I’ve collected over the years and my workbench has added storage underneath. It’s compact and it’s efficient, and hopefully many beautiful things will come from this space.
anymore. My basement area is much smaller and every inch has to serve a purpose. The space is enough for me to create and this week I’m so happy to finally be getting back to working on commissions and some new ideas that have been percolating during this pause period.
just too much like her to ignore. She needed to buy this for her Mom.
she is our forever elf.”
Teaching is a big part of my life as an artist. I love sharing my techniques and introducing both young and old to the joys of 3D sculpting and polymer clay. My style of teaching is to work alongside 
This is Buddha, a sculpture that took me almost 4 months to complete. It is my client’s offering to his temple. A large piece, 34″ tall, sculpted in polymer clay but guilded in 24-karat gold leaf. The robes are made from three colours of Dupioni silk. The under 
robe shown here is in a soft yellow orange hue, lined in cream silk. The traditional Kasaya is made from a deep orange/red Dupioni silk divided into 13 sections trimmed in gold. I had to learn the correct way to fold and wrap his body. The clasp is also made from polymer and gold leaf. I created the staff from scrolled wood and covered it in 24-karat gold leaf. It holds 12 metal rings. His crown is created from paper, polymer clay, resin and gold silk trim.
My client purchased a precious gemstone to place in his left hand. To protect the sculpture I had a museum quality acrylic box, custom made by Canus Plastics.
As challenging as this commission was, even more challenging was packing and shipping it to Philadelphia. I attended a seminar on how the National Gallery of Canada ships delicate artwork and used many of their tips and tricks. In addition to this I also built a wooden crate. Each step of the packing and unpacking of the sculpture had to be documented and photographed and the directions were included in the crate for both the client and possible inspection by custom officials.
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