Special Artwork

Many thanks to everyone who submitted their favorite artwork to me. We share our love of nature and outdoor beauty with each other, but I was curious about what people have inside their homes that contributes to the beauty and happiness of every day life. Here are the submissions I received with the stories "in their own words." Enjoy the show!

From Mary at Mary's View:

This might be the most ridiculous art form you’ll see, but I’m submitting it anyway.

My daughter saw the movie “Free Willy” when she was in middle school and immediately knew she wanted to become a Marine Biologist. She painted this in the sixth grade and we have displayed it in her bathroom since then. It is still displayed in our guest bathroom. We moved it from Maryland to Delaware to North Carolina. One of these days I will frame it instead of hanging it with push-pins! She has a passion for marine life and swam competitively for twelve years but did not earn a degree in Marine Biology at the University of NC at Wilmington. She earned an Environmental degree instead. We have some very nice artwork in our home, but I think I treasure this piece most of all.

(Mary, it's not ridiculous at all. I love the colors and how happy all the marine creatures are!)

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From Anna (my sissy):

Here's my favorite piece of artwork. It's called Yellow Moon Rising and it's by Peter Paskas. It's an artists proof, #34/50. I love the picture because it reminds me of the areas around home....valleys, barns, cows, rural countyside. I like full moons also. I just feel very relaxed whenever I look at that picture. I can almost smell the country air! That's the story about my favorite piece of artwork.

(I was working at the art gallery when Anna got this picture, in fact I made the frame for it.)

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From Jayne at Journey Through Grace:

Around Christmas time when Sam (who has autism) was in the third grade, he was struggling mightily with wanting to know what was in those wrapped packages for him under the tree. He would pick them up, shake them around, and ask me what they were. I kept merrily telling him that he'd better not open them, or else he'd have nothing to surprise him on Christmas. Theory of mind is one of those concepts that kids with autism generally don't possess, and so imagine my glee when he came out of his room with this work of art for me. "That's me," he said with a grin, as he showed me the picture he'd drawn of himself representing the struggle he was having wanting to open his gifts. I could only chuckle as I saw he'd drawn himself with an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other. This work of art is just simply priceless to me.

(We framed lots of 'kids art' when I worked at the gallery. I always enjoyed hearing the stories that went along with their pictures.)

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From Mary C. at Mary's Corner of the World:

I'm sure others have already said it, and I will, too -- there are so many "favorites" -- but the attached is probably at the top of the list. If the attached doesn't come through very well, let me know and I'll try taking another picture. BTW, thanks for the invitation to participate. It sure made me think about what I have and admire the most.

This is a Navajo sandpainting. I have always admired many works of art by Native Americans -- their rugs, jewelry, pottery, and sandpaintings. My husband and I had the opportunity to live in Albuquerque for a few years, and I enjoyed learning more about these people and their cultures while living there. What better place to learn more about the Navajo and Pueblo people than the Southwest. Sandpainting, to me, is such an intricate work of art -- to me it's more precise and intricate than rug weaving or making jewelry or even creating their pottery. My husband and I bought this sandpainting, among other pieces of art, a few years ago when we went back to New Mexico for a visit, and it was after we had part of our house remodeled. This sandpainting is the focal point in our living room where everyone can see it as they enter our home, and it's my hope that everyone would feel a sense of peace while looking at it.

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From Ruth at Body, Soul, and Spirit:

I have attached a picture that I love that we framed last year.

I took the photo of my daughter sitting on a bench at the market with a bag of apples. My daughter, Becka, then photoshopped it in sepia, keeping the mural in colour and a few red focal points.

I would never have had the patience to do that.

I like pictures that have personal meaning. My grandparents were both artists and I have a few of their paintings. Becka has inherited their talent in drawing so I will likely add her work to my collection.

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From Donna at kgmomumblings:

When our daughter studied in a semester abroad, in Glasgow Scotland, the University had a month long spring break. She and two college mates of hers decided to do some touring in eastern Europe. They flew to Vienna, and from there a bit at a time, they traveled by train, with Istanbul as their terminal destination. Their travel luggage, for the most part, were the large backpacks that they could carry on their backs or by hand. When they got to Istanbul, our daughter saw the perfect gift to bring home for us--a lovely blue plate to hang on a wall.

This is a plate hand-made in Turkey that our daughter bought it in a local market, even bargaining for the sale price. The inscription says "The God knows everything; The God is everywhere."

She packed it in her luggage, carefully wrapping it, and managed to get it all the way home across Europe, back to Scotland, and then back to the U.S. without the plate breaking.

So, for all those reasons it is my favorite piece of art--a gift from our daughter, a wonderful inscription, a marvelous travel tale!

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Lastly, here's my art. Because I worked at an art gallery, there are pictures on every available bit of wall space that isn't already occupied with Rick's trophy hunting mounts (my niece doesn't like coming to our house because of all the dead animals looking at her!)

While I was working at the gallery, I fell in love with the art created by Carl Brenders. He is a painter from Belgium and creates some of the most fantastically detailed wildlife paintings you have ever seen. Click on the link below to see more of his art through his publisher, Millpond Press.

http://www.millpond.com/site/artistbio.cfm?DocumentID=23

I have 6 of his pieces in my house, but "Power and Grace" is my favorite.

Because I have a special fascination with white-tailed deer, I knew I had to have this picture. I love the way he has painted the deer with their ears turned different directions--I have watched deer do this many times. The grasses and thistles look exactly as the fields would look in the late summer when you might see deer together like this. Although this print had been sold out for many years, the owner of the gallery where I worked was able to order it from another gallery and this framed picture was my Christmas gift to myself one year. It's definitely the most valuable piece in my home gallery and is the focal point on my living room wall.

Here are a couple other Carl Brenders prints I have in my basement. (I apologize for my poor photography skills-it's hard to take a picture of a print under glass with artifical lighting.)

Den Mother-Wolf Family

Full House-Fox Family

Thanks again to everyone and have a Happy Summer!