For 11 years, Christine Rodriguez has been collaborating with the City of Fredericksburg to design special Fredericksburg Christmas ornaments, with the design of a different historical building each year. Some of the past designs have featured Fredericksburg Train Station and George Washington’s Masonic Lodge. This year’s ornament showcases the Hugh Mercer Apothecary on Caroline Street.
In high school, when she began delving into her art, Rodriguez worked with stoneware. After graduating college, she transitioned from stoneware to low-fire clay. Rodriguez creates the ornaments with white low-fire clay, on which she traces her design for five hours before heating the clay, then carves away the background, and makes a mold that allows her to repeat the design 600 times. The ornaments are then fired in a kiln. She then carefully paints and glazes over the clay ornament, with the same color paint for each ornament; this year’s color is blue.
Rodriguez made 150 ornaments in her first year, all of which were pre-sold by the end of October, allowing her to make even more; she ended up making 500 in her first year alone, and has made 600 for this year.
Rodriguez’s ornaments are gorgeous, with a clear amount of love poured into each one. Her work is wonderfully impressive, and she is excited to once again share her ornaments with the Fredericksburg community.
This year’s ornament can be purchased at Heather Boutique and the Fredericksburg Visitor Center.