Like many others, I've been crazy busy the past couple of weeks.  Adding to that this year was my decision to create a piece of art for certain people as their presents.  As I've written recently, my best friend and I started doing this last year.  So I finished two pieces for her.  Plus my parents, now retired, have declared that we (my sisters and I) are not to give them presents anymore, exceptions being things we make or bake, etc.  Well, I did get away with giving them a digital photo frame as an early gift (and it was a hit!) but I wanted to make them something special.

My father had requested a couple of months ago that I do a drawing for him to hang at his cabin.  My father feeds all manner of critters at his cabin, but most special to him is his squirrel that we named Spike.  There have been a number of Spike's through the years (we name them all that) but there was one in particular that really stood out.  When Spike would hear my father drive down the driveway, he would run to greet him.  When my father would call his name, the squirrel would come running.  He'd even climb up onto his knee or shoulder to be fed.  So when it came time to decide what to draw, it was pretty simple.  :)  Here's the final piece, a composite of two photos I took this summer:

I also reworked a painting based on a photo I took in Hawaii.  I'm giving that one to my mother.  I have a similar one that was part of a commission I did for a condo in Hawaii.  This one is meant to just be a soothing, peaceful painting with all the blues of the ocean.  The lighting on this one isn't the greatest, but I'll post a picture anyway.  It's really hard to get a good photo of this one:


Since my last post, I also added a few more mini paintings with easels to my shop.  I'm having a blast doing these and am currently working on a custom order for someone that involves two of these.  So much fun.  Here's a few pictures of the ones I've listed: