I don’t know about you, but I sure do hate to say goodbye to the lights and the sparkle of the Holiday Season.
Tom and I have been driving around Pittsburgh this week, enjoying the last of the lights before midwinter takes over. Twelve years ago was the winter that I froze during the Holiday Market in that year’s Polar Vortex. I remember calling Tom from the Market and with chattering teeth, informing him that we were going to Florida the very moment that it was over! I had to get warm, and we were going no matter what!
Well, that year we started a tradition – our January vacation. It’s a great way of breaking up those long winter months and gives me something to look forward to while I’m at my Market Square Chalet, shivering through December!
Now that I’m not afraid of long flights, the last few years we’ve morphed into overseas vacations. Last year, we spent ten days in the south of Spain. We loved it so much that this year we decided to visit Portugal! We’re leaving next Tuesday to spend twelve days enjoying more moderate temperatures and lots of sunshine.
But before I go, I thought I would give you a little art show of originals and how I frame them. I had some really nice comments about my Hills painting that I sold last week, and I wanted to share my four favorite originals in my pastel collection that are still available for purchase. I get to enjoy them hanging on my own walls until they find a happy home!
“Holiday Season on Grant Street” is the oldest of the four. It was painted after the third year of the Nativity Scene at the US Steel Building. Each year, they added new figurines to the crèche; that year, the Angel joined the scene. Molly’s Trolleys even got into the fun and sent one of their trolleys by during our photo shoot. We had so much fun that afterward the driver took us on a tour of the city! Here’s a secret – this piece was actually posed in May, and I added the snow and the Holiday feel later. One of my favorite parts of the painting was highlighting the First Lutheran Church and its beautiful stained glass windows.
“Dear Santa” is the only Santa original I still own, and it means so much to me. There is a lot going on in this painting. Nestled snug in his study (AKA, our old living room), Santa is reading letters from children all over the world. Noel the kitten is helping Santa, hoping Santa will share some milk and cookie crumbs. The letter, which I placed in the foreground so the viewer could read it, is an actual letter sent to Santa from a very selfless and sweet girl. It reads, “Dear Santa, I hope that all the people in the world find someone special to be with this Merry Christmas.” Many of the vintage toys and decorations in the scene are family treasures handed down through the years… you might recognize some of them from other paintings in the Jolly Old Elf series!
“Santa’s Favorite Toy Store” features SW Randall’s iconic toy store on Smithfield Street in Pittsburgh. This was a painting that I spent two years taking photos of while going to and from the parking garage during the Holiday Market. I just love the shimmer of the blues against the snow, the white gold framing, and the navy silken mat. Other highlights include my grandgirls peeking in the windows at the toys, my Santa as a statuette in the corner, and Mr. C working in the background; it’s truly one of my all-time favorites.
Finally, there’s “Glad Tidings at Gimbels.” I finally painted Gimbels after all these years of wishful thinking! The framing just came together on that one. I believe it’s the most unique of the four paintings! You would think those windows would have driven me crazy, but the funny thing is that I enjoyed painting each and every one of them! There wasn’t one single photo that became the finished painting – it’s a composite of dozens of photos that people were kind enough to share with me. I couldn’t have done it without many of you helping me find all the resources I needed.
So now I have a favor to ask you…
My goal is to paint Isaly’s this year, and I’m reaching out to all of you for any photos or memorabilia that you could share with me. I’ll be away until late January, but email still works! I would really love to hear from you.
I hope you have a great week, and I’ll try to check in from Portugal!