Artistic hobby finds success in Santa's face

WICHITA, Kan. -- While some people's ovens are full of cookies this time of year, Rita Igo of Wichita is baking faces. Santa faces, to be exact.

When Igo received a Christmas ornament that was a Santa head a few years ago, she was appreciative but immediately thought, "I can do better."

She was right. The first Santa ornament she made a year ago won a blue ribbon at a craft show.

"That's when I thought I may have something here," Igo said. After making a few more Santa heads, she was hooked.

"Now it's become the perfect creative outlet and hobby. It's relaxing. I'll be working on a Santa, and I'll look out and be amazed it's dark outside," she said.

Hours fly by. She's also finding her hobby to be lucrative, and with her entrepreneurial spirit, she wants to build it into a small business.

Igo, 55, already has business experience. She's had her own T-shirt and personalized license plate enterprises and once owned an antique store.

She says in real life she's an administrative assistant in the lending division of Fidelity Bank. That's where she got advice on sculpting the face of her Santas.

Marvin Bastian, board chairman of the bank, had a friend, Forest Tuttle, who took her under his wing.

"I told Forest Tuttle I had painted but had always wanted to sculpt," Igo said. "He told me he would teach me, and he did."

Bastian's wife, the late Bobbie Bastian, told Igo she loved the ornaments and encouraged her to talk to Helen Galloway at the First Place, a gift shop.

Galloway says she thinks the ornaments, priced from $85 to $125 and sold exclusively at her store, will be of special interest to those who collect Santa Clauses or want a special keepsake ornament.

Each ornament has a tag that says: Ho Hos by Igo.

Igo is hoping they sell out quickly.

"I enjoy working at Fidelity, but making Santas is more creative, and that's what I love, she said. "Every face is different; they're one of a kind."

The faces are made of Super Sculpey, a sculpting clay. Mohair or Tibetan lamb fur is used for the hair and beard. The rest of the ornament is made of various materials.

Each Santa takes between six and 10 hours to complete.

"We're looking for another place to live because I do all my work on the dining room table so I need a work space," she said. Now she's making Santas year-round but has a long-range hope.

"In five years, I'd like to be doing busts," she said. "And not just Santas."