december update

I wanted to share a painting I just finished for a friend. She requested that I paint something as a gift for her husband who has a rare form of heart cancer that has unfortunately spread throughout his body and he is now in the beginning stages of congestive heart failure. I definitely knew this painting needed to be a special tribute to the man he is - father, friend, and husband. 

I added details to reflect his Japanese heritage, such as the "rising sun" and a giant cherry tree. This is as I was adding personal photographs to the branches of the cherry tree.

Here I have added all the photographs and completed the branches, starting to add little "greenies" to the branches. I also included the Japanese character for "strength".

She requested that I include several scriptures in the painting that the family really relied on. The scripture in the main part of the sun is from Matthew 6 about worrying.

What the cherry blossom looked like at the end.

detail of some of the personal photographs in the tree (and a subtle Japanese character in purple)

Here is a close-up of a photograph that was incorporated into the painting, with some of the scripture behind it.

In all the light spaces between the sun's rays, I included the passage in 1 Corinthians 13 about love.

I painted over and sanded down some areas so the words were "peeking through"

All finished! Thank you Danielle for giving me the special opportunity to create something for your family! I feel honored to have had a special part in your life that you would ask me to do this :)

And now, my next job will be a pair of canvases for a study room in a friend's home. These are the chairs that are in the room, and I can't wait to create a couple of art pieces around them!