Bus Stop Nativity

1994
Scratchboard

In 1989 I decided to make my own Christmas card. Because color reproduction was expensive, I created a black-and-white line drawing. The card proved to be a hit and it started a tradition—I've drawn the artwork for my (now our) Christmas card ever since. Initially my cards featured anonymous, fictional people—mostly children.

This is the one piece in the series that doesn't follow the standard convention of humorous vignettes featuring children and animals. In 1994 I had the idea of portraying the Holy Family (Mary, Joseph, Jesus) in a contemporary setting—as a modern day homeless family (since that is what they were in effect). I also chose to introduce a little racial diversity.

The medium also differs from the other Christmas cards as this was the only one done with scratchboard (at least, so far).