The Life We Built Together

My parents recently celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary, and I wanted to make them a gift that was unique to them, that could be treasured for a lifetime. A reminder of where they started, and the beautiful life that they built together over 40 years of marriage. When I came up with the plan, I knew I would have to be sneaky about how to get them to pose in the same way I needed for my reference photo, without giving away the surprise, so I said to them one day, "How cute would it be to recreate your wedding photo?" My plan worked, they did it! Now my plan could commence.

But I didn't want to just paint a portrait, I wanted to paint their life. Mom and Dad live on a beautiful river-side acreage in southern Manitoba (Canada). Every time I'm there for a visit, I'm in awe of the beautiful landscape. The most gorgeous sunsets. The foliage (much of which is thanks to Mom's hard work with gardening). The lilacs, the birch trees, peonies. Their brood of chickens that provide our family with fresh, free-run eggs on a daily basis.  A painting of their life would not be complete without also an appearance of their 14 year old toy poodle, Luke - can you spot him? 

Size: 20 x 20 (inches)
Medium: Mixed Media and Oil paint
Surface: Gallery Wrapped Canvas