So sorry that I have not been around the last couple weeks. I have been working hard to get my new collection done for Ready2Hang Art, which is the online company that handles the sales of my originals on online sites like Perigold, Wayfair, and 1st Dibs. I’ve worked on so many larger pieces the last couple months to send off and make available in the coming year. But I do have a little thing I did that I wanted to share with you, because it turned out so well.

Last month was our daughter’s 25th Birthday. She has been asking me for a painting for a year now, but I got an idea to make it extra special. We had some art we were storing that had been her grandparents. They were canvas prints that were outdated, and no one wanted them. But our sweet girl had a special relationship with her grandparents before they both passed away, so there was some sentimental value to them.

They reminded her of her grandparents home. So I decided to use them as the base for our daughter’s pieces. Together they make a 40”x 40” diptych which is a perfect size to go over her couch in her apartment. So to start, I gave them a couple good coats of gesso, so that I would have a nice base on which to build my work.

Once I got the gesso on both canvases, I started the abstract in the palette that she wanted. She loves my neutral paintings and had one that is on my website for sale that she favored. So, I set out to push this piece in that direction, of course never knowing when or how it would exactly turn out. I always go with my intuition, and will change a piece at the drop of a dime to follow down a path that is more interesting if there is one provided to me. I also decided to flip the canvases on their side and have them in a stacked orientation. And here is how the finished project turned out.

Alexis Lovell is a joy to have in my life and a true gift from God!! I’m so excited to know that she has a little piece of my heart with her every day!! Happy Birthday sweetie!!

I hope this gives my fellow artists a new idea for gifting your work to other special people in your lives!! Its such a great way to reuse something that has sentimental value, but is either not the other person’s style of color palette. I love when we can reuse things that would just be discarded away. I guess that’s my little way to save the planet. If you want to gift something, you can always look through thrift stores to reuse canvases that are no longer wanted. The key is to make sure that they are not oil paintings if you are using acrylic paint. If it’s a canvas with a frame, that’s a special score too. While I wouldn’t do this for a piece that I am showing or selling, it is still a great way to pass your art in your own home or pass onto friends and family.