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December 10, 2020
by Jeni O’Callaghan
Christmas, a time of beauty. Below are an assortment of Christmas cards that my grandmother created. Grandma Elsa (Burgbacher), as I called her, loved creating living faces. In each of these you can see the brightness of the Season, the glow of love and spirit of youth. There is even one of me! Often she would embellish the card after printing with color in the eyes or red in the berries. I know many looked forward to receiving her cards each year.
Noel – Elsa’s daughter and my mother – had her own Christmas style. She used the Southwest desert as her muse. This is a small sample, as she did cards from the time I was a little girl until her death in 2015. Two of the cards below are available on noelburgbacherjordan.com. Use the code “ChristmasSoon” at check out for 20% off!
The cards here include my favorite, the pelican in the sunset. It’s a tribute to my dad, her hero. Her last card is here, a kingfisher, and more than a few non quail cards (she did a lot of quail). Noel loved the life that water brought to the desert.
Some pieces featured here:
“Silver Bells” is matted and 13×9 inches. Noel created it 1986. What was I doing then? Oh, giving birth to our first that month. Noel was happy as that child shared her birth month.Another piece I call “Celebration”. It is just festive as Christmas time is. It is 17×22 and framed.A final piece I call “Merry Christmas”. Matted it is 21×16. Noel was a lot like squirrels, or chipmunks, pictured in the piece. Always busy.
I am fortunate to have many of her art pieces. And you can have some too at noelburgbacherjordan.com, and be sure to use code “ChristmasSoon” at check out for 20% off. All proceeds benefit Friends of the Verde River.
