Holiday Decorating with Northwest Coast Native Art

The holidays are quickly approaching, and The Shotridge Collection has many fabulous holiday decorations for your home! Purchasing directly from our gallery ensures high quality, authentic designs from master Tlingit designer Israel Shotridge. His popular Pacific Northwest formline designs are now available as ornaments, greeting cards, and more. Liven up the holidays with the storied imagery of Raven, Owl, Orca, and others. This is the perfect way to bring formline artwork to the masses for the holidays!

Like all of the formline designs in The Shotridge Collection, the process starts with Israel Shotridge. He starts with a hand drawn design, which is refined into a cohesive piece. This drawing is traced into a design software by a graphic artist. The shapes are arranged into a cohesive piece to make a formline subject. Finally, the line weights, and details are finely tuned. Israel and the graphic designer work back and forth to create a very refined graphic design piece. All of the design principles that go into a traditional formline design are distinctly present in these two-dimensional pieces. However, these holiday pieces take a bit of creative liberty to bring some new stories and cheer. Fun frog wreaths and reindeer lead the way for a new line of awesome Shotridge holiday products.

The Shotridge designs make great acrylic holiday tree ornaments perfect for the most festive trees. Each design features a character from the traditional Pacific Northwest stories based on the formline design that Israel is famous for. The Raven Stealing the Sun ornament depicts the story of Raven bringing light to the world. Stories like these are great to tell around the fireplace or at holiday parties. Other designs make great stocking stuffers, or pre holiday gifts. Is there someone in your family that reminds you of a joyful messenger? That person would be the perfect recipient of a hummingbird ornament. The traditional messenger of joy in Pacific Northwestern lore. Each ornament is about three inches, or wide enough for the palm of your hand. They have stretchy hanging loops and mirrored backs.

One of our most popular items is our set of holiday drum ornaments. These drums are a fun, palm-sized representation of the traditional native drum, which represents the heartbeat of the indigenous people. Mix the sounds of these drums with the lights from a tree and you can almost feel the warmth beating from the drum. New holiday designs have been made available, including some reinterpretations. Such as the Raven Holly holiday drum ornament to spread joy across the world. The winter owl, wreath, and reindeer are each festive designs that make a great addition to the tree. There are eighteen different designs for the drums, including various traditional designs all of which are exclusive to The Shotridge Collection.

If you’re planning to host a party this holiday season, The Shotridge Collection is an excellent source for party hosting materials. Snacks can be laid out on the beautiful holiday glass cutting boards. These are made from tempered glass, with four different designs inlaid in the glass. Once again, the designs have the weighted tradition of lore behind them. The Orcas & Wreath are especially stunning. These creatures pair for life in the wild, and in lore are representative of longevity, strength, and wisdom. These glass serving boards can be used at holiday parties for years to come.

In addition to serving platters, you’re going to want coasters, cups, and more. The Shotridge Collection recently added a set of holiday coasters to our website. These are made with one hundred percent recycled wood and feature this year’s new holiday designs. They are sustainably sourced, and reusable. Perfect for resting your hot chocolate or glass of wine on. When these holidays are over, they can be packed away for next year. Much like the drum ornaments, Shotridge drink coasters are available in many other designs besides the holiday themed sets. So when the seasonal designs are packed away for next year, there is a wide variety of traditional designs for entertaining guests.

How are people going to know about your party? Shotridge holiday art cards. The most popular designs from this year’s holiday collection are available as high quality greeting cards. Vast personalization options are available, including custom print on the front or inside of the card. This makes them a great option for companies or families that send out greeting cards as part of their holiday cheer. Cards can help close the distance of vast messaging or provide a heartfelt handwritten thank you. The “From Across the Miles” holiday design embodies this connection with two members of neighboring clans passing each other in canoes. Each person may be on their own journey, but they are brought closer by the holidays.

For the Northwest Coast formline artwork aficionado, The Shotridge Collection’s finest artwork is available as archival, hand-signed holiday art prints. Each print is custom matted and framed, ready to be displayed on the mantle, side table, or on a prominent place on the wall for the holiday season. Every Shotridge print is made with professional high-quality materials. These aren’t simply joyous holiday designs; they are professional pieces of art that are sure to impress during every season.

Traditional formline artwork was carved out of wood, stone, bone and copper. In the past two hundred years, the formline style has expanded to paper and canvas. Now in the internet age, artists have the opportunity to bring formline art to a much broader audience through print recreation. Giclee prints have become the modern standard for print creations of formline artwork. Giclee is an archival ink that has vibrant colors and precision details. The giclées created for The Shotridge Collection use archival inks and museum grade papers. This means that the ink and paper is free from chemicals that would fade over time. Each art card includes the written story and inspiration behind the Tlingit lore.

Sue & Israel Shotridge began their journey as partners in the Shotridge business over 30 years ago. The Shotridge Collection began with a few designs printed on paper. Since then, it has expanded to over thirty-five original form line designs highlighted on dozens of products, including art prints, art cards, jewelry, mugs, blankets, cups, computer sleeves, iPhone cases,  journals, coasters, magnets, key rings, ornaments and more. They are passionate storytellers that want to bring more Pacific Northwest art into the home and office. 

Sue and Israel Shotridge wish you a safe and happy holiday and a happy new year.