The White House Ornament 2008

Some phone calls have the ability to change our lives forever. For me, the return call to Sue Walberg, wife of U. S. Congressman Tim Walberg, was that kind of a call. As Sue and I spoke, she inquired if I would be interested in designing an ornament for the 2008 White House Christmas Tree. Completely surprised by the offer, it took me just a nano-second to reply, “Yes”. Making an ornament for the White House Christmas Tree had been an artistic goal for me, now I had the opportunity to make that goal a reality.

Quickly, I found out that there is a quite a process to completing an ornament for the White House Christmas Tree. Like so many areas of life, paper work had to be filled out and filed. After that process was complete, I was informed that a blank ornament would arrive in July with additional instructions.

Like fine clockwork, in early July, the ornament arrived. It was housed in a rather plain looking brown box. There was no fancy White House address to announce anything special had arrived. (They tell me this is for security reasons.) Opening the box, I found a large, glossy silver, plastic ball. It was 19 inches around and looked like an ordinary Christmas ornament. I knew that my job was to make it look extraordinary!

Accompanying the ornament was a sheet of specific guidelines. The guidelines were straight forward. Artists were asked to maintain the shape of the ornament. We were not to add or subtract from the ornament. It was requested that designs were to be large enough to be seen easily from a distance. (We were told that our ornaments could be hung as high as 18 ft. on the tree.) Our artistic challenge was to incorporate the “Red, White and Blue” theme chosen by Laura Bush. We were asked to show scenes of our particular state. We were not allowed to replicate the ornament to sell, as it is to remain a one of a kind. Also, we were asked to refrain from making political statements.

We were further informed that Mrs. Bush would formally announce the” Red, White and Blue” -theme to the press in early December. Until then, we were asked to refrain from discussing the theme with anyone, especially the press. (Gee, that was a hard task! I felt like I had swallowed butterflies, but couldn’t tell anyone.)

With the guidelines in mind, I began to consider all of the scenes that could represent Michigan. After narrowing down many possibilities, I decided that I would be general about the state of Michigan. I wanted to catch the flavor of the state.

On the front of the ornament, I painted a scripture from Isaiah 9: vs 4. This scripture is a capsule of the Christmas story, a scripture I have always loved. Above the scripture, I painted a star in the shape of a sunflower. The sunflower has become symbolic of my artwork.

To the right side of the scripture, I painted a rural scene. I am a native of Saginaw County, MI, which is peppered with country roads, where fields of corn and wheat abound.

The backside of the ornament shows Michigan’s pride and joy, the Mackinaw Bridge, surrounded by water.

Following to the right, you will see a slice of “Up North”, showing pine trees and the falling snow of a Michigan winter.

The bottom side features more red, white and blue, and identifies our state of Michigan, and our 7th District.

The over all color of is light blue, to signify Michigan’s abundant water resources and our beautiful skies.

Red, white and blue stripes were used through out the ornament to connect the theme with the designs.

Once the ornament was completed, I sprayed it with a clear varnish to protect the painted surface. Photos were taken. Then, carefully I wrapped it in bubble wrap, packaged it back into the original plain brown box it arrived in, and sent it off to meet the October 1, 2008 return deadline.

Artist Reception at the White House:

In mid October of 2008, I received an email stating that I (along with a guest) was invited to attend an artist reception at The White House hosted by First Lady, Laura Bush. I wondered if this was true. After doing a little internet researching, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that indeed there had been many artists receptions at the White House. And this year, I was going!

I had no problem finding a guest to go with me! My husband, Steve, volunteered to go along instantly.

Here are some photos taken at the artist reception on December 2, 2008

After passing through security, we entered through the East Entrance. We checked our coats and then were given directions for the evening.

Santa was dressed in Red, White and Blue, as he welcomed guests this holiday season.

First Lady Laura Bush was a charming hostess as she spoke to our group for between 5-10 minutes.

The 18-foot tree was displayed in the Blue Room. It was a feat to find your ornament among the 350+ ornaments on the 2008 Tree, but just before we left, I spotted my ornament and snapped this photo.

The food was plentiful, delicious and artfully displayed. The menu for the evening included fare from all regions of the United States.

A ginger bread house was crafted as a miniature White House. It’s exterior was “painted “ with white chocolate.

Everywhere you looked in the White House there was a slice of history. In the State dining room we were treated to this oil painting of Abraham Lincoln.

Chandeliers and drapery were outstanding. Such elegance!

Steve and I, along with about 250 other artists and their guests, were truly treated like royalty. What a night to remember!

Psalm 37 vs 4 says “Be delighted with the Lord. Then he will give you all your heart’s desires.”

Designing an ornament for the White House Christmas Tree has long been a desire of my heart. Thank you God for allowing me the opportunity to fulfill this desire.

Joan Larsen

2009