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| Who & Where is Pipka | Design Process • About the Gallery • Events | ||
 ipka was born in Slovakia
and raised in Germany. In 1949, during World War II, her family emigrated
to an idyllic small town in North Dakota. Annual return trips to Germany
to visit family kept the Old World customs and traditions alive and dear
to her heart. This inspiration and her natural artistic talent led Pipka
to explore the Bavarian painting known as Bauernmalerei, "Peasant
Painting."
She opened her first workshop in Minneapolis, teaching classes in Bauernmalerei and painting furniture for clients. It wasn't long before she was commissioned to paint a hotel and its furnishings in the Bavarian style and then she became nationally recognized. After a successful career in Minnesota, Pipka married and moved to Door County, Wisconsin a picturesque peninsula on Lake Michigan. In this pristine community filled with many other artists, Pipka opened a studio and shop, Pipka's Gallery, which flourished. One snowy winter day in her studio, Pipka was inspired to design and paint an old world Santa as a gift for her mother. This fueled a deeper fascination with Santa and all things Christmas. Study and research into the many cultural traditions of Father Christmas and Christmas around the world have resulted in the richly detailed and ornately costumed Old World Santas that are uniquely Pipka's. In 1995, Pipka met two young people who wanted to start their own collectible company. Michele Johnson and Gary Meidinger loved Pipka's Christmas designs and shared her vision to make beautiful figurines that represent the magic, charm, and holiness of Christmas. They formed a company, Prizm, Inc., and made Pipka's designs into limited edition collectibles. Pipka's figurines have been enthusiastically received by collectors throughout the country and around the world. Today Pipka spends her days traveling, designing, researching, and painting old world Santas, nativities and Madonnas for her ever-expanding line of numbered, limited- edition collectibles. |
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