Thirty-three years ago, Mary Myers carved and painted her first nutcracker because she thought the ones in stores looked too shiny and new — too perfect.
That day in 1989, the Virginia Beach resident turned into a self-taught folk artist.
Today, Myers’ whimsical wooden nutcrackers, small animals and angel tree toppers, whittled with a tiny knife and decorated by hand, are gift shop staples at Colonial Williamsburg’s recently expanded Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum. She sells about 400 pieces a year to Aramark, the company that buys merchandise for CW’s retail shops.
“I want them to be quirky and simple but still traditional,” Myers said. “I just like to make people smile.”
Myers, 77, can take up to 10 hours to finish a nutcracker at her home studio, swapping out blades as they grow dull. Her husband, Earl Myers, cuts pieces of basswood for her on a lathe before she takes over shaping them with a single 41/2-inch-long knife, foregoing power tools, and applies acrylic paints.
Some of her nutcrackers are personalized for customers; she has created more than 6,000 different versions to date. At the Folk Art Museum, her George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin characters are popular, as are figures in patriotic, colonial or holiday garb.
Many of the animals that Myers makes for Colonial Williamsburg are modeled after wild and farm creatures in “The Peaceable Kingdom” paintings by 19th-century American folk artist Edward Hicks, who is the focus of an Abby Aldrich Rockefeller exhibit. Her wolves, lions and lambs are all good sellers, although the rams and goats are her own favorites.
Myers’ art is a unique combination of folksy and patriotic that is a natural fit at CW, where she has sold pieces since 1994, said Dawn Sutton, a buyer for Aramark. Sutton places the items mainly at the folk-art museum but also sends some to the Williamsburg Lodge. Pieces generally sell for anywhere from $40 to $250, depending on size and intricacy.
“They’re appealing if people collect folk art in general, or nutcrackers in particular,” Sutton said. “I can’t think of anybody who does what Mary does. She fills great little niches for us, and it’s nice to be able to showcase a local talent.”
While Myers’ hands somehow don’t get tired after full days in the studio, her shoulders do ache at times. Painting can be tedious, and capturing lifelike eyes on animals that often stand just two or three inches tall is her biggest challenge.
“Once I get those eyes right, everything seems to flow together,” Myers said. “In terms of carving, ears can be a bit tricky.”
A Norfolk native and antique lover, Myers has never taken an art lesson. However, her father was a carpenter and often took her along to the lumber yard, where she discovered that blocks of wood could turn into toys with some imagination.
Once Myers had two children of her own, she experimented with making wooden board games before impulsively creating that first nutcracker. Soon afterward, she showed it to a buyer at the American Folk Art Museum in New York City, who was giving a lecture in Virginia Beach.
The buyer wasn’t just impressed — she ordered two dozen more nutcrackers on the spot. “I was absolutely stunned,” Myers recalled. “I had no idea where I was going to go with this, but it became a new dream to follow.”
By 1990, Myers had left her job as a Montessori schoolteacher to start her own art business. With support from her husband and kids — who helped apply base paints when they were young — Myers sold her pieces to retail stores across the country. In 1996, she even made ornaments and a soldier nutcracker for a display at the White House.
While business has slowed in recent years, Myers still has an online shop and reliable buyers at Colonial Williamsburg and at a Delaware-based store that sells American-made art. Williamsburg, the site of her 1965 honeymoon, is a particularly special customer for her. “I’m very proud to be there, and their renovated museums are absolutely gorgeous,” she said.
Three decades into her unexpected life as an artist, Myers, a grandmother of one, has no interest in retiring. Instead, she’s continuously brainstorming new ideas for nutcrackers and tackling different types of animals.
“I’m really into reindeer right now,” she said. “It’s a full-time job, but it’s fun. It keeps me busy, so I’ll do it as long as I can.”
Alison Johnson, ajohnsondp@yahoo.com
