I pride myself on being a great gift giver. Not to brag of course, but in this age of fast and convenient, I like to put extra thought into a gift rather than grab a gift card off of the grocery store kiosk. How well the gift fits the recipient’s personality and the amount of effort that goes into the gift are all major factors – and it’s pretty obvious to the person if either of these things are ignored. So for Christmas this year, I thought why not go the extra mile (and maximum effort!) and give a little bit of myself to a few of my friends and family. Now that Christmas has passed, I can show a few of the paintings without ruining any surprises.

Title: A Pair of Pears
Size: 10 x 8
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas

I painted this one for my in-laws and I think they were really surprised to get it. I originally started out with a picture of their dog Oliver but I just wasn’t happy where things were going. When I showed this final piece to my husband he asked me “Where’s Oliver?” and I replied “Behind the pears” (as I had painted over him). On Chrstmas Day, I thought I had locked up the “best gift award” until my sister-in-law’s husband pulled out his handmade wooden cabinet (which was very nice by the way). I guess I can live with 2nd place 🙂 But it was funny how my mother-in-law joked that her in-laws had made gifts while her own children hadn’t gone to any extra trouble. In their defense, however, it does take special skills to marry well (wink!) My husband’s youngest sister is getting married next October so we joked with her fiance that he had better learn a skill by next Christmas – we’ve raised the bar!

Title: Mountain Wildflowers
Size: 7 x 5
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas

This is a small painting I did for my co-worker Kristin. Her grandmother lives north of Atlanta in the Blue Ridge Mountains and she had recently taken several photos around her property while visiting her this past fall. She sent me the photos and I chose this one to paint for her. I organize a “Secret Santa” game for our department at work and it just so happened that I pulled her name.  I usually struggle with what gifts to buy for these things so it worked out perfectly! Hopefully this piece will always remind her of her grandmother’s house –  and her sweet co-worker, Katie 🙂

And for the grand finale…

It’s easy to second guess yourself, especially when your painting is a gift that you want to make sure is extra special. Since my grandmother is 80 years old and not computer savy, I went ahead and posted “Myrtle’s Peacock” and received some great feedback…so my confidence was up going into our Christmas Eve family gathering. And I’m happy to report that it went over exceptionally well! She absolutely loved it and I think the rest of the family was impressed too!  The only thing left to do now is find a place to hang it.

It was a great experience to give paintings this Christmas. I feel like a painting, espeically from someone you know and love, is the gift that keeps on giving since my friends and family will now always have a little part of me with them. Overall, Christmas went very well and the reactions were well worth the time and effort.