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Artist Pipka Ulvilden |
Pipka
was born in Slovakia and raised in Germany. After World War II, her
family emigrated to a small town in North Dakota. Later, her annual
visits to see family in Germany kept the old world traditions alive and
inspired Pipka's artistic talent. She explored the Bavarian painting
style known as Bauernmalerei, "Peasant Painting." Soon she
opened her first workshop in Minneapolis, teaching Bauernmalerei classes
and painting furniture for clients. Later, Pipka married and moved
to Door County, Wisconsin. In this
creative community, she opened Pipka's Gallery, a studio and shop which
flourished. One snowy day, she created an old world Santa as a gift
for her mother. Her study and research into the many cultural
traditions of Father Christmas inspired more highly detailed and ornately
costumed Santas. These charming spirits of Christmas have become
uniquely Pipka's.
In 1994, Pipka met Michele Johnson and
Gary Meidinger who wanted to start their own gift company. They
loved Pipka's Christmas designs and shared her vision to express the
magic, joy, and holiness of Christmas in her work. They formed a
company, Prizm, Inc. and introduced Pipka's designs as limited edition
collectible figurines. Since the line's introduction in 1995,
collectors throughout the country and the world have enthusiastically
embraced Pipka's work. Today, Pipka spends her days traveling,
designing, researching, and painting her wonderful, richly detailed Santas. |
