The Four Seasons...in my living room

Well, for months now hubby and I have commented to each other that we need something to hang on our bare living room wall…the one and only wall that you can see as you approach the front door…the big green bare wall that you see from the street. We obviously weren’t getting anywhere by simply talking about it, so hubby suggested that I make something to hang on the empty wall. At first I shrugged it off…even though I have a few pieces hanging on the walls of our house (waiting to be sold), the prospect of making something large enough to make a dent in the vast empty space was daunting to say the least. I looked around etsy and proposed some alternatives, but not having hundreds of dollars to spend on artwork pretty much put an end to that discussion.

So, a few months ago while I was out, I picked up 4 16”x16” canvases thinking that I would certainly rather do 4 smaller (if you can call 16x16 small) pieces than one huge canvas. Bare in mind that I usually work small…2.5”x3.5”, 6”x6”, with an occasional 8”x10” thrown in when I’m feeling really adventurous, however, I’d recently completed a custom piece that was 20”x20”, so I felt confident in my abilities to do larger pieces.

If you don’t know by now, I’m kind of a tree freak…they show up in nearly every piece I do…and since I had 4 canvases, what better theme than a tree in each of the four seasons.

Until this point I tended to avoid spring trees (I had a bad experience once trying to create a spring tree that I’d rather not talk about) and winter trees…what can I say…I hate snow and wintertime in general.

I basically breezed right through the summer and fall canvases…they only took a month or so to finish. I made a few small studies for what the remaining seasons would look like, but I just wasn’t happy with the mediums I had chosen for the snow. I wanted something white and semi-transparent so vintage paper could be seen underneath, but wanted to avoid paint. Then, as I was lying in bed half asleep one night, it finally hit me…gesso! It was right in front of me the entire time and really added some unique texture to the winter snow.

Although the whole process took several months to complete, it was so much fun making these pieces “just for me”. As an artist, I am usually making art for my etsy shop, for friends and family or for gifts, but rarely take time to make something just for me. I’m extremely grateful that I did this project and now, I can’t help but stop and smile when I see my trees hanging on my wall.

Have you made anything “just for you” lately? If not, I highly suggest that you do it…even if it is just something small. You’ll be glad you did!