‘Queen of Wrinkles’

Best known for her lifelike creations of Santa Claus, Judith Klawitter – the Dalton Gardens self-taught artist – has taken her craft from a trial-and-error pastime to an in-demand artwork that has been featured in dozens of magazines, displayed in museums and sought after by collectors all over the world.

“It’s like Cinderella getting to go to the ball,” Klawitter said of her success as an artist. “I had big dreams but never could they get as big as the ones God has for me.”

Her highly detailed dressed sculptures are internationally recognized, and have been displayed in prestigious exhibits in Europe and in the United States, including at the White House. She has been on the cover of Better Homes and Gardens magazine more than any other individual, Klawitter said.

Her life-sized pieces incorporate historical materials and antiques and include the smallest of details, such as silk fiber veins, delicate facial wrinkles, age spots and eyelashes.

“I’m known as the ‘Queen of Wrinkles,’ ” Klawitter said. “That’s been my signature; that and expressive hands.”

As a young girl, Klawitter knew she wanted to grow up to be an artist. She dabbled in every medium, trying everything from woodcarving to pinecone wreaths. Growing up near an Indian reservation near Missoula, Klawitter was influenced by Western art and wildlife. By the time she finished high school, Klawitter was selling moose- and elk-horn carvings.

“Nothing was safe from me,” said Klawitter, 50. “If I saw it, I tried to make it.”

She married Paul Klawitter, a Navy air-traffic controller, in the late 1970s. To keep busy and earn extra income, Klawitter tried her hand at all kinds of crafts, designing military logos, teaching art classes and burning leather designs.

In 1989, the family moved to Mississippi, where Klawitter tried her first Santa. After searching through magazines for ideas, Klawitter found a Santa formed from cornstarch clay. She molded one from homemade dough and used batting for his beard.

“I wanted something that was universal and that everybody loved,” Klawitter said of her decision to mold Santas.

Although the first try wasn’t very successful, Klawitter continued experimenting. She combed books, learned the folklore and included as many tidbits of old-world charm in her designs as she could get her hands on.

“Over the top and out of the box, that’s my motto,” said Klawitter, who moved to Idaho two years ago.

Soon she was selling her dolls at exhibitions and craft shows and won a competition. Then someone suggested she pursue her work as fine art. She took the comment to heart.

Today, Klawitter’s pieces, made from oven-baked Super Sculpey, sell for up to $20,000, and she is sought after regularly for custom commissioned work. Her pieces have been purchased by actress Demi Moore and other celebrities, and she has donated a Santa to Oprah Winfrey’s Angel Network foundation to support projects for children in Africa.

Although most well-known for her Santa figures, Klawitter has a diverse pallet of sculptures. And every one is original.

Her most recent work, a commissioned piece, is of Old Tom Morris, a 19th century pioneer of golf. The Scottish golfer is remembered as a golf champion, course designer and maker of golf balls and clubs.

She spent a year searching for memorabilia for her client, who lives in Indiana. Standing at about 5-feet-8-inches tall, Old Tom Morris, complete with antique playing cards, ball markers, St. Andrews bag tags and golf towel, is on display through Feb. 20 at Simple Pleasures in downtown Coeur d’Alene.

When Klawitter takes on a commissioned piece, she spends time with the family to get to know the individuals and their tastes. She tries to embody the family and their memories in the sculpture and its accessories, she said.

For a family who enjoys fishing, she may include a fishing kit with a Santa sculpture or a miniature plane to represent a relative in the military.

“It will start a family tradition and an heirloom,” Klawitter said.

Klawitter also has created how-to sculpt videos, and she teaches weeklong seminars in sculpting, art techniques, costuming, accessorizing and marketing. She also freelance writes for Better Homes and Gardens magazine.

“There’s very little I don’t do,” said Klawitter, who also is an ordained minister.

She credits her artistic success to God.

“The bottom line is that everything I do, I do unto God,” she said. “God gave me talents and abilities.”