I hope all of you had an enjoyable holiday weekend. Between Easter celebrations and working hard on my painting of the Ship Hotel, it’s been a very busy week for me and my family. Easter is such a pretty time of year as the trees begin to sprout tiny green leaves, and flower buds are opening, scenting the air with their fragrance.
Yet amid all this springtime fun, my granddaughter Autumn is still obsessed with Santa. “Ho-Ho-Ho!” is her favorite phrase, and she never gets tired of talking about Santa and what he might be up to. Remember the Jolly Old Elf book I published just before Christmas last year? Well, Santa signed a copy for her family, and I of course drew a remarque (a small original work of art, hand-drawn or painted directly on the piece by the artist) inside the cover.
Well, this limited-edition signed and numbered book has been so well loved and read so many times that it now looks like it went through a war! Sadly, it may not be much of a collector’s item by the time Autumn grows up, but I have no doubt she’ll always treasure it and remember how it brought her so much joy as a little girl.
One day last week, we “read” that book at least four times over the course of the day. Later, I was face-timing with my daughter, when I heard “Ho-ho-ho!” – and there was Autumn, pointing to the book up on the shelf, asking to look through it one more time.
As the world begins to open up again, I’m looking forward to bigger and better sales for the book for the 2021 Holiday Season, when if all goes well, I can show off the book in person. Maybe I should bring Autumn with me to my book signings… she’s definitely its biggest fan!
So, as you can see from the latest photo (at the top), I did manage to make some progress on the painting. The front of the hotel is in, and I’m currently lighting up the windows on the long side of the building. I hope to have a lot more to show you this time next week.
In the meantime, I hope you can get out in the springtime sunshine and have a great weekend!
P.S. – Here are the girls enjoying a swing ride, compliments of Bop-Bop!