Detail Oriented

            At first glance, it may look like an ordinary holiday ornament, like any one of the millions that grace Christmas trees around the world this time of year. But move in for a closer look and it’s quite obvious this is not your run-of-the-mill glass ball.

            This ornament is an original work of art, thoughtfully designed and intricately painted to depict a bucolic summer day at Smith Mountain Lake.

            “People seem to be amazed by the detail, that there’s something to look at all the way around,” said Carol Geisler, a Hardy resident who has been creating the ornaments for more than 10 years. “They look at them and see that each has its unique features.”

            The ornaments mostly illustrate spring and summer lake scenes in soft pastel colors and include such details as islands, sailboats, even tiny jet-skiers.

            “She just captures the beauty of the lake better than anyone we’ve ever had [selling ornaments] in the past,” said Kay King, co-owner of The Little Gallery at Bridgewater Plaza, where the ornaments are sold for $20 each. “She lives here. She sees and experiences the beauty of the lake, and she’s able to put that into each ornament.”

            Geisler starts with a clear glass ball and primes it white. Using acrylic paints, she first creates the sky and clouds. She paints the background images, then layers on the foreground details. Geisler said the final touch is creating the reflections in the water that make the scene realistic. The painting process takes anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.

            “Sometimes I know what I want to do and sometimes I just let it happen,” said Geisler, who completes each ornament by applying a protective sealant, which also enhances the colors.

            Geisler, a medical records receptionist for Jefferson Surgical Clinic in Roanoke, describes herself as primarily a self-taught artist. She grew up in New Jersey and earned a two-year art degree from County College of Morris in 1980. In 1989, she moved to the lake area with her husband and two young children and began working on art projects as a hobby.

            “Raising a family was always my first priority,” she said. “But opportunities just sprung up here and there.”

            Word of Geisler’s talent spread through the community and she began getting requests for more and more commissioned work, including murals.

            “Someone saw something that I’d done, and that would lead to something else,” she said. “I started painting [murals] in friends’ homes, and then, when the kids went to Burnt Chimney Elementary, they asked me to paint an Indian in the gym.”

            The mural remains though the school changed its mascot to the Bulldogs several years ago.

            Geisler also painted a tropical-themed mural in the office of Bridgewater Marina manager Roy Enslow and a lake-themed mural in a dressing room at Bridgewater Sportswear. One commissioned mural was featured in a home on the 2006 Smith Mountain Lake Charity Home Tour.

            It was while working at Gifts Ahoy at Bridgewater Plaza in the late 1990s that Geisler got the idea for a lake-themed Christmas ornament.

            “Customers would ask if we had any SML ornaments, and we didn’t,” she said. “So I started making them, and I just haven’t stopped.”

            After Gifts Ahoy changed owners, Geisler continued to sell the ornaments at other shops around the lake. In the spring, she approached the owners of The Little Gallery about selling the ornaments there exclusively.

            “I always felt like they were little pieces of artwork,” Geisler said. “I felt like they belonged there.”

            Her first batch “went out the door the first week,” said King, who noted they are popular with both lake residents and tourists.

            “The tourists who visit love this lake and want to take a piece of it with them,” she said. “Many want to put it up year-round, not just at Christmas. They are that beautiful.”

            Geisler said she also enjoys painting animal portraits and large, Georgia O’Keefe-style abstract florals.