Recently a co-worker of mine asked me to create a painting of his parents to give to his mother for Christmas. His father has since passed and he felt that she would really appreciate such a unique gift.  Naturally I agreed, but it wasn’t until I saw the photograph of his parents and the spirit in which this painting would be done that I felt great excitement for the task at hand. “Task” really isn’t the word, this was a gift.

As I studied the photograph for days and visualized how I would recreate this image of his parents I was reminded of my own family. I was reminded of all the beautiful images of happy times, new beginnings and all the treasures that each family photograph holds.

When I was painting this picture of a happy couple on a happy day and I focused in on the details of the smile I felt a presence. I knew that this was special and that when my friend would see the finished work he would be moved to tears as I was when I started this project.

In the spirit of the holiday season I wanted to share this with you. It brought me great joy and satisfaction to deliver it today so that my friend would have it to give to his mother on Christmas. I can’t help but think his father was the presence that I felt while creating this gift.

Merry Christmas!