Long white beards weathered faces, eyes lost in a maze of creases, some are in their pajamas and nightcap, others are dressed in colorful robes. If you turn your back on them you’d swear they’ve moved.

Filled with intricately carved wooden figures that resemble Father Christmas, Howard Bristow’s home looks like Santa’s Workshop.

And Bristow, with his neatly clipped white beard, bright eyes and expressive face, looks a lot like the figurines he carves. He’s the Head Santa in a house full of them.

Bristow formed his own company, Distinctive Wood Carvings, in 1994  in his Eric Road home after discovering he possessed a natural talent for the craft.

The Busy Season

Self-taught and self-motivated, Bristow carves two to three figurines a week. Three months before Christmas is his busiest time of year.

"I really enjoy carving, but it’s a discipline." He says. "I have no real clue what it’s going to do when I start. I let the flow of the wood tell me what’s happening, and each one is unique that way."

Bristow pays the bills with his job as a Sales Engineer, but is hoping that his hobby of carving wooden figures will eventually become a full-time job.

He sells hundreds of his carvings every year to collectors from as close as Attleboro and as far-flung as Japan and Germany.

The figures are carved by hand and then stained by Bristow’s wife, Bonnie. "She picks out every color combination, depending on what the customer wants or what works best on the piece." He says. "It frees me up to do what I like best, which is design." The colors seem to vary widely among his customers. In the Midwest, he says, they like colors like fuchsia and mustard; in New England, buyers like the colors more muted, Newport RI natural.

Old-Style St. Nick

But the figures do not resemble the roly-poly Santa's we typically associate with the season.

The figures are more like the Scandinavian and Germanic versions of Father Christmas – slim, aged types that appear at ease with their place in the world.

The characters are neutral enough to be interpreted as wise men, clergy or even wizards, depending on who beholds them.

He makes ornaments as well as carved figures. The ornaments sell for about $25 each, the carvings range from $35 to $150 , and the nutcrackers for $150. Commission work is always accepted and prices vary according to work.

Many of Bristow’s repeat customers are collectors, so he changes designs every year and "retires" old designs so collectors can have something different.

"It’s a whole subculture I knew nothing about when I started this." Bristow says of collectors. "They know exactly what they want and are willing to look a long time to find it."

Art Galleries take note.

His work has begun to catch the eye of art gallery owners as well, and his business is slowly moving away from craft shows to gallery work.

He still brings his carvings to big gift shows in places like Atlantic City, NJ, and Ocean City, MD, as well as large shows in Newport RI, and Sturbridge, MA.

"The irony of a big push for Christmas," Bristow says," is that by the time Christmas actually rolls around all the figures are gone."

His shelves are empty and his workroom contains only shavings. The rows of bearded figures have left for new homes.

"When Christmas comes, it’s this big relief," he says. "I sell them year-round, but Christmas is the biggest season. I’m usually relieved when it’s over."