an artsy holiday...decking the walls

I think that it's much easier to walk into wal-mart, pick out a gift, drop it into the cart, head home, wrap it...and viola...let the gift giving commence.
Yet...as an artist it's joyous to have one of your paintings requested as a gift...especially when you can stray from the norm of what you normally paint in an effort to go the extra mile to make the gift receiver smile that much more!

This Christmas was no exception. I'd been wanting to paint something that was music related for some time...but this piece here on the left was for Chris' eldest daughter Hannah (she's a junior) who has played the trombone at Pike-Delta-York since at least the 8th grade maybe even longer. I've had the privilege of watching her play at home football game half-times and various local parades throughout the past year and a half. What an honor for me to create a piece in honor of her and her passion for playing the trombone! Painted with acrylic paint on wood with collaged lettering (also incorporating Hannah's favorite color of bright bright green) what fun is was to paint this piece and present it to her for Christmas 2012!

This little blue bird painting was the result of a special request. My mother-in-law had asked for a blue bird painting for Christmas...and what fun this guy was to create! Painted with acrylic on wood he emerged beautifully on the canvas.

There's just something very fulfilling about painting birds of the wild. They are so very beautiful and each one is different and unique in its own way.

These pieces here a but a sampling of the joy of holiday gift-giving and creating one-of-a-kind gifts for friends and family for the holidays!  I am blessed beyond words to have the ability to create such smiles for others!

Merry Christmas to all!

to learn more about Rachel's art visit www.racheldickson.com