Santa plans the big night within the warmth of his cozy study. The World Traveler, original oil painting by Steve Henderson, 24 x 24.

From Start Your Week with Steve, the free weekly e-mail newsletter of Steve Henderson Fine Art.

The story behind the painting, The World Traveler:

If you think it odd that Steve creates Santa paintings in January, it’s really not. It’s actually oddly normal.

In the first place, some people like Christmas so much, that they live it all year, one way or another. While we don’t keep the tree up past mid-January, we do talk about the spirit of Christmas, and how we can incorporate it into our daily lives, all year round.

In the second place, when you license your work, and Steve does, through Art Licensing, you work with manufacturers who themselves are working months, or even years, ahead. Christmas is a big topic early in the year, long before the Back-to-School sales start.

In The World Traveler, Steve wanted to bring out Santa’s fascination

We imagine that, sometime in the off season, Santa slips south somewhere — every place is south of the North Pole — and rides about on a sailboat. Golden Sail, original oil painting by Steve Henderson; licensed open edition print at Great Big Canvas.

and skill with navigation, because traveling and traversing the globe is a major part of Santa’s Big Night, and nobody has yet figured out how he does it.

However he does it, however, he uses the good old-fashioned instruments that explorers of old successfully applied: a sextant, a compass, maps, and much thought and planning. Steve, who has been a lover of maps, globes, and geography since he was a very young boy, wanted to bring out Santa’s love for what he does and where he travels, and the large globe in the foreground glows with warmth and light.

In contrast, a panoply of stars shine in a deep aqua blue sky, inviting viewers to look outside and imagine the big night.

Thanks to technology, many aspects of this world are different than what they used to be, and we’re sure that somewhere in his capacious pockets, Santa carries a cell phone (although he has no use for the GPS app). But it’s good to know that some things never change — like the goodness and joy that Santa brings, his commitment to the children of the world, and his skill and ability at using a sextant.

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