The mermaid and the Sea Horse

When I was a kid, I was practically obsessed with sea horses. I think I still am. Horses are amazing- seahorses are magical. Then there's mermaids- who isn't fascinated by them, right? I know oh so many girls that want to be mermaids. When I say girls, I mean from little girls all the way to senior citizens (the same thing also applies to wanting to be unicorns).

So now, as a grown up, I paint the occasional mermaid. This particular painting is 60"x48", but rather than talking about the origins of the painting (I <3 Seahorses / I <3 Mermaids - what else do you need to know?) I want to tell you about the day I delivered this painting... It was quite awesome.

I love surprises. I actually help plan surprises for most of my clients... Sure, I help come up with the idea for the paintings, but, half the fun of a custom painting is the reaction that the person it is for gets... So, I often help people plan how to pull off the surprise.

In this particular case I was visiting a friend. He moved from Montana to California. He didn't just move, he moved his entire family so that they can all be there together, as his son got accepted into a private art school there.

My parents were not huge supporters of my art career, so I suppose I am biased.. I was so moved when I heard this... and I came to visit him, now that he was a mere 3 hours away rather than half way across the country.

He moved to a mountain-cabin style home, and his wife had actually driven to Montana to get the last of their belongings from there. He told me that they need to decorate still, and that she wanted to have a theme around the color blue... And my latest Mermaid painting would be great for that.

We figured out the date that his wife would return, and that is when I would come back.... with the painting.

When I showed up, I left the painting in my car, and got to chatting with the wife. I asked her if she had brought back the 2 small paintings that they had of mine in Montana, and she said that she did not. They got placed in storage... I replied "What? Then this is just a house, not a home!" she chuckled. I continued "You know, I might have some sketchbooks in my car... Maybe some random papers that have drawings on them, something... so you can have some ORIginal art here."

I went to my car, and came back in the house with a giant cardboard tube. She didn't turn around initially when I walked in and said "You're in luck! I found one!" so she didn't know that I had a giant painting with me... She started saying "Awesome, what did you..." and then she turned around... her jaw kind of dropped, and she mumbled "that's not a random sketch, is it?"

I unrolled the canvas --and her reaction was priceless. She was giddy with joy... Which normally is a great thing, but in this case, was even better, because in my chat with her - before I went to the car to get the painting - I found out that she had gotten breast cancer. Any happiness that I could deliver was bonus... Happiness is the best medicine.

They've since had the painting stretched and hung. It is the center piece of their entire home, hanging in the center of the fireplace (which architecturally is the center piece of the home).

I'm doing another painting right now that is also going to be on the center of a fireplace, the centerpiece of a home. This time it's a painting of a collector's daughter and her cat.

If you've got a house that needs to be tied together - let me know, I'd love to make some art for it. :)

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