THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 23, 1994 TAG: 9412220147
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY NANCY LEWIS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
Native American lore mingles with cowboy legend at the Governor's Mansion in Richmond this holiday season, thanks in part to two Virginia Beach women.
Tiny ceramic cowboy hats and boots, Indian tepees and medicine bags dangle from the branches of the two Christmas trees decorating the home of Virginia's first family.
Strings of red chili pepper lights twinkle as evening approaches, lending a warm glow to the bandana-fabric bows and knotted-to-scale rope lassos on the 11-foot second-floor pine and 14-foot main-floor Noble fir, carrying out George and Susan Allen's chosen Southwest theme for Christmas 1994.
Fifty-eight of the 225 miniscule Native American and cowboy tree trimmings were made by Lu Bowman and Lisa Kerrill of Virginia Beach. The pair worked feverishly for weeks filling out the governor's order.
While Bowman poured, fired and painted tiny 10-gallon hats, cowboy boots and skulls, Kerrill fashioned replicas of Native American medicine bags, tepees and ``dream catchers,'' complete with feathers and beads.
Bowman, who has been in the ceramics business for 19 years, also supplied ``rough cuts'' - or small statuaries - of eagles, cowboys and other Southwest scenes for the governor's mantels. They are deftly painted in the subtle russets, browns and beiges and big-sky blues associated with the American Southwest.
Stark, sun-bleached-white ceramic longhorn skulls by Bowman and Kerrill embellish the Allens' holiday dining tables. A larger-than-life skull is centerpiece for the main table.
Allied Florist president Brenda Wilson of Virginia Beach, chairperson for the holiday garnishing of the mansion, was delighted when she learned of the Virginia Beach craftswomen's talents, for she had been charged with bringing to fruition the governor's decorating request. Wilson was one of 19 florists from across the state who decorated the mansion Dec. 5.
Wilson had managed to find just the right number of chili pepper light strings when she heard about the work of Bowman and Kerrill. ``This is wonderful, I said, because I'd walked my legs off'' looking for decorations in keeping with the Southwest theme, said Wilson.
Wilson said that Gov. Allen had had lots of input during the hall-decking day. ``He contributed so much, was very present'' during the daylong decorating effort.
The Southwest theme was an outgrowth of the first family's selection of a Christmas card featuring cowboy regalia, including boots, Wilson said. While much of the mansion's holiday trimmings are replicas, some are authentic.
A pair of scuffed and worn cowboy boots stands next to a Conestoga wagon wheel by the fireplace in the north ballroom, said Wilson. Live cacti and bittersweet branches also festoon the rooms on the main floor of the governor's home.
Wilson said that Susan Allen plans to make a tradition of theme decorating for the mansion.
The tree decorations will be returned to Virginia Beach after the holidays and will adorn another tree as Christmas 1995 approaches. The tree will be auctioned off at the Holly Festival to benefit local charities. ILLUSTRATION: Photos by NANCY LEWIS
Lisa Kerrill, left, and Lu Bowman worked feverishly for weeks
filling the governor's order for Christmas ornaments with a
Southwest theme.
by CNB