English Santa
Oil on canvas · 24" × 24"
A gentle, close portrait wreathed in pine and winterberry.
The Artist
A lifetime of faces, one Santa at a time
Celia Meadors is a Texas artist whose work is rooted in portraiture, storytelling and a lifelong fascination with the character found in every face.
Early Years
Born in Wellington, Texas, Celia began painting at the age of seven. She studied art at Sam Houston State University and Texas Tech before earning her Bachelor of Fine Arts from West Texas A&M University. Over the course of her career, she has worked in oil, watercolor, acrylic, pastel, pen and ink, pottery and sculpture. She has also created murals for homes and businesses and taught art in public schools and private classes throughout Texas.
A Second Career
Celia’s remarkable eye for faces led to a second, very different artistic career. For nearly four decades, she worked as a composite artist for the Amarillo Police Department, translating witness descriptions into drawings that assisted investigators in serious criminal cases. That experience deepened her ability to notice the smallest details—the shape of an eye, the character of a line or the story carried in an aging face.
The Santa Series
Her most beloved body of work began in 1990, when she painted a larger-than-life Santa Claus on a four-by-six-foot canvas for a Christmas gala. The painting became the highest-selling work she had created at that point, revealing a subject that would become uniquely her own.
Since then, Celia has painted more than 100 original portraits of Santa. Her Santas are warm, expressive and wonderfully human, filled with ruddy cheeks, weathered faces, flowing beards and unmistakable personality. Working with thinned oil paint, she allows color to drip and move across the canvas before gradually drawing the face from within it. The result combines the richness of oil with the freedom and spontaneity of watercolor.
“She paints more than an image. She creates something meant to be remembered, shared and passed from one generation to the next.”
Legacy
Celia’s work has been shown in galleries in Texas and Santa Fe, but its truest home has always been with the families who make it part of their traditions. Whether creating an original portrait, a commissioned work or a Santa personalized with the names of loved ones, she continues to paint pieces that become part of the Christmas season itself.