All I want for Christmas. . .

Weekend!  .  11 x 14"  .  oil on linen covered panel

I just completed this oil sketch as a gift for my daughter - this painting features her husband (a younger version) a few years ago, and is my way of "giving" that will leave a lasting imprint for my family as the years go by.  I also gleefully found some Richard Sloan bird prints framed in gold that had hung in my parent's home and subsequently in the home I raised my daughter in.  They haven't been suitable for other homes since then, but with love and care I have cleaned them and touched up the frames (an artist's trick bag!) so that we may hang them in her stairwell over the Christmas holiday.   I can already hear all the decision-making-chatter that will naturally be necessary for the hanging!  And the gentleman above will be right in the middle with necessary tools and a quiet countenance - how does he put up with us magpies?  But put up he does.

I falsely consider myself too young to be thinking of legacy - such as it is.  But what I give I believe will make some small difference.  Like over Thanksgiving how I rescued a child-sized, upholstered "divan" that someone had given the kids.  It sat forlornly in their garage for a long time - I passed by and decided something needed to be done, as it looked like a perfect fit for the window nook in my granddaughter's room - a place to read and dream.  I got busy and took off the damaged skirt, then cleaned it over and over with a concoction of bleach water and such, then left it to dry in the sun.  That evening, to her delight, I placed it under her window, and just this week I had a text from my daughter saying, "Guess who fell asleep on the little bench under the window?"   Mission accomplished!

 All I want for Christmas is that you too are able to find a peaceful simplicity, much like the spirit of my new painting above.  Little labors of love go a long way towards making life a little sweeter, a little more gentle.  I've already been the recipient of random acts of kindness this season - paying it forward may sound corny, but it just feels right, doesn't it?  Plus, it brings joy!