Deck the Walls

I have a fascination and appreciation for art and photography.  When we built our house, I had a tough time finding artwork that fit the style of each room perfectly, so I painted a lot of my own.  I’ve been into art my entire life and was once considered to be pretty good at it.  Since leaving college, I’ve haven’t had as much time to put into it.  But, I don’t think you ever lose creative ability.  I don’t expect that anyone would ever want to purchase anything I’ve done, but it’s something I love and something that moves me.  This year for Christmas with money being kinda tight, I’ve decided to give several family members paintings as gifts.  Painting has been something that I’ve only ever done for myself, so I’m a little nervous about putting myself “out there” with these gifts.  What if they don’t like them?  What if they think it’s just a cheap way out of buying a gift?  I’m already committed, though.  I ordered some really cool square canvases last week and should get them in and be able to get started soon.  

Here are the ones I have in my house:

 

This one lives in my coffee brown bathroom. The flowers look like the ones on the curtain.

The red wagon lives in Carter's room. I love the cartoonish, kidishness of it.

The butterfly used to live in my classroom, now it's in my yellow and green master bath.

This one is a really large painting of 3 poppies on the wall of my bedroom.

 

This is my absolute favorite thing I have ever painted.

Not my favorite painting, but a great quote that inspired me.

There’s also several things I love that I didn’t create but are still worthy of sharing.

My favorite class (7th year) created this (with the help of an artist parent) and presented it to me in grand fashion at the end of the year. You can't see it, but there are layers of cheese cloth under the paint that gives the painting texture.

This colored pencil drawing is an amazing gift from a friend. It lives in my great room.

"Wind from the Sea" by Andrew Wyeth. This was a surprising Christmas gift from my younger brother 2 years ago. He went the High Museum in Atlanta to Wyeth's exhibit and purchased this one because it reminded him of the area surrounded the home we grew up in.