May these bring joy in the memories they commemorate for many years to come.
More Ornament Commissions – 2022
ornaments
My Favorite House
Same house as in the previous post – different year, different niece, different angle. Still the same pleasure to paint!
Share this:
2018 Ornaments
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.)Â 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:
- Hummingbird – a commission from the photographer
- Jack – an adorable little white dog
- A new home
- A couple of impressionistic kitties
Share this:
2017 Ornaments
This football helmeted tiger was for a high schooler whose team is the Tigers.
A first Christmas for a new little cousin and another for some cousins who just got married.
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.
Share this:
That Time of Year
It is the year for white puppies! Another Westie…
Share this:
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):
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.
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.
A shout out to my Mom who gave me the CB handle of Foghorn Leghorn.
But of course… (Peanuts is a favorite of mine anyway!)
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.
From Grandma’s tree —
So – what sort of tree do you have? Artsy, hodgepodge, memory collecting?
Share this:
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.
Flexing My Wings 