During the 19th century, chalkware was sculpted gypsum painted effortlessly with watercolors. Because most chalkware was sold by carnival vendors, it was considered the “poor man’s porcelain.”
As described in the Vaillancourt Story, Judi, an artist and Christmas historian, received three antique chocolate moulds and decided to recreate the 19th century art form by creating the first commercial use of contemporary chalkware figures using historical chocolate moulds to shape her new 3-dimensional canvas.
Although dozens of individuals and organizations have adopted this story into their own history, Judi Vaillancourt was the first artist to apply her oil painting talent, her love of history and Christmas, and ingenuity to create contemporary chalkware using confectionery moulds.
Her method of creating the modern chalkware with this technique was first recognized in 1988 by Early American Life1, 1989 by Colonial Homes2, 1991 by Collector Editions3 and has been recognized in countless national and local publications since–including a feature story in Yankee Magazine4 in 2005 and throughout both the Colonial Williamsburg foundation and catalogs.
With one of the largest personal collection of vintage confectionery moulds in the world, Judi continues to find inspiration from historical contexts and hand-paints each piece that is produced in her Sutton studios.
Read about the history of Vaillancourt Folk Art
References
1 Staff Writer. (1988, August). Folk artists. Early American Life, Cover, 17, 40, 46, 49-50.
2 Staff Writer. (1989, February). Folk artistry. Colonial Homes, 53-68.
3 Bahar, A. (1991, September/October). Old-world charm. Collector Editions, 68-70.
4 Kasabian, A. (2005, December). Holiday house: Everyday is Christmas for this Massachusetts couple. Yankee Magazine, 22-28.
For a complete list of references, please see our “About” page
