ornaments

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Completion of a 25 year commitment

I have 28 nieces and nephews. I began handcrafting baby gifts for them when the first one arrived, not dreaming there would be 27 more! They received hand painted rocking horses, tables and chairs, quilts etc.

This year I was determined to finish these out. I had 3 more (and then an older niece commissioned one when she saw these) to do to finish my final commitment. I got the bright idea of painting their grandma’s beloved farm on ornaments. Hindsight – life could have been so much simpler… but, that is water under the bridge. I can now say, it is completed! Much as I loved making meaningful gifts for them all these years, I am happy to have lived to complete the task.

The top one is oil on a porcelain bisque and the 3 below are oil on wood. As one niece said, then there was no way she would break it in years to come.

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Christmas and Walnut Stain

For the first time, I chose to forage for walnuts in the backyard and create an “ink”. As was looking at it, I thought how cool to put it on some wooden ornaments I was creating for the nieces and a nephew! So I did! For an ink, this should be simmered for 3+ hours, but I was in a rush and only had an hour and a half. It came out perfect for a light stain. To use it for inking and ink washes, I may make some more and darken it. Really fun to do.

BTW – do not try to make ink out of catnip. Experience is talking here. Just don’t. One, the cats went bananas, and it does not make a very good stain. Not to mention I was happy it was a warm Nov. day since all the windows were thrown open.

Then there is whacked out cats in love with your Christmas ornament when you use it to stain the (tried it on the back of the one he is almost touching) wood. You have had fair warning! There are loads of recipes out on the internet. Foraged ink is loads of fun! Just follow the recipes unless you tend to be adventurous. Mint and catnip are not the same. Just sayin’.

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2018 Ornaments

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The problem with Christmas commissions is that I can not share them at the time of creation – and then I sometimes forget! So here is a catch-up on last year.

This was a gift to my first born niece (of 27 nieces and nephews). I hope to do one for each of them as they start their own home. This is the home she grew up in and one of my most favorite bulbs.

And pets! Always pets. I think of painting in oils in miniature as similar to sculpting – a little nudge of the paint here and a little one there to create that expression around the eyes. I remember a lot of nudging on this little girl.

This beauty went together in one sitting – a rare and wonderful experience.

I painted 9 last year (I will write up another post for the 9th). I keep my counts low so I can spend quality energy on them. When I was younger, I would paint many, but the images were quick and not personal (traditional New England horse and sleigh or barns and snow scenes.)  This type takes far more time and the quality is crucial to preserve those memories.

So, no, I do not advertise on Etsy and other spaces.

The others created in 2018 can be found here:

 

 

 

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2017 Ornaments

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This football helmeted tiger was for a high schooler whose team is the Tigers.

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A first Christmas for a new little cousin and another for some cousins who just got married.

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I first started painting these ornaments in the early 1980s. At that time my sister was very young and I copied a favorite artist (Karl Odenweller) for a gift for her. This past year, one of her own kids dropped it, so I recreated it for her, only with a slightly larger image. Second sister had the same thing happen. Hers was a Hallmark bunny that I placed in her little burrow. And no, I do not copy and sell these.

I do not know how I did those original images the size of a dime when I was younger and with no magnifier!

And speaking of magnification, I finally found a magnifying system that works for me now that I am wearing glasses. Getting older presents new challenges.

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For the Love of Ornament Collecting

I paint ornaments that capture memories. So what sort of ornaments would someone like me collect? Perhaps surprisingly, not always handmade (often coming from Hallmark). If it captures something important in my life, that is what makes it matter.

This year it was capturing my lifelong love of letter writing (as well as my dislike of our dog popping his cold nose on me):

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Our whole tree is about memories. The fun is finding the meaningful each year.

When I was going thru college a couple of years ago, this one was perfect for my nostalgic heart – I love the old clock I played with as a child, but this captures my constant chasing the clock.

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Retro Pooh is a favorite and this grouping reminds me of all the times I would read to my siblings on cold winter nights, as well as now to my nieces and nephews.

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A shout out to my Mom who gave me the CB handle of Foghorn Leghorn.

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But of course… (Peanuts is a favorite of mine anyway!)

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But with all the fun we have, there is nothing that can touch the old Shiney Brites from my childhood for evoking deep yet soft emotions.

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From Grandma’s tree —

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So – what sort of tree do you have? Artsy, hodgepodge, memory collecting?

 

 

 

 

 

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2014 Ornaments – A Walrus

This is the time of the year when I go “blog silent” until all the ornament painting is complete for the 2014 season. I will start with a fun one… for little Jude, born in a snow storm last winter.

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