I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited to celebrate someone else’s birthday (no, smart-alecks, Christmas Day doesn’t count…).
The OH celebrated his 35th bday today, and I wanted to mark the half decade with something a little spesh. We’re currently in the process (fingers firmly crossed) of selling our London flat and moving to the ‘burbs of Bucks – a prospect which is both exciting and daunting for a city gal who hasn’t lived more than a few minutes from a high street for 20 years.
We’ll be moving into our first proper house – a somewhat dilapidated semi that has barely seen a lick of paint since the mid-70s. There’s a pile of work to be done, but it’s pretty cool to think that, in time, we’ll have a tailor-made family home of our very own.
I wanted to commemorate Dan’s bday, the addition mini-Monkey to our family six weeks ago, and our big grown-up house move.
I’d looked at getting a proper portrait done of Lucia a little while back. I liked the idea that we’d have an original piece of artwork that would capture a moment in time, and make it last forever. But I just wasn’t convinced by the photo-realism style most portrait painters use.
Then I came across a website called Children’s Portraits. I first spotted them on Twitter actually, and as soon as I visited their website I just fell in love with their contemporary styles and designs.
When I got in touch with the owner, Andrea, she explained how they take a favourite photo, and convert it into artwork, using acrylic paint on various sized box canvases. The finished result is a slightly abstract image, like a piece of art you’d find hanging on a wall in the Tate Modern.
I knew straight away that this was the special bday present I wanted to get for Danny, and the perfect housewarming present for our new home. I also knew straight away which image I wanted to use – a shot of the girls lying together that I’d taken when mini-Monkey was not even two weeks old. It was one of my absolute favs, and just captured a lovely sisterly moment between them.
Andrea kept me posted with progress pics (you can see all the different stages above) which looked amazing from the very first brush stroke. It was so exciting, seeing the image emerge, and I couldn’t believe how faithful it was to the original pic.
The hardest part, besides finding a hiding place big enough for the 90 x 90cm finished canvas (stashed under our bed, if you must know) was waiting to show Danny the painting. I was literally counting down the days, then the hours, until I could present it to him earlier tonight.
I was a bit nervous too. A bespoke painting of his two daughters was the last thing he was expecting – what if I’d totally missed the mark, and he didn’t ‘get’ it??
I needn’t have worried, as he thought it was amazing! In fact, the more he looked at it over the evening, the more he just loved it. What do you guys think????
So now we have the gorgeous one-of-a-kind portrait of our lovely girls. Now we just need the house to hang it in…
This is absolutely stunning and something to treasure always! What a fabulous, thoughtful idea & I totally get why your hubbie loves it. Good luck with the new house.
I think it’s stunning, an absolute treasure and a really personal gift. Simply beautiful.
Sarah and Suzanne: Isn’t it great? Turned out even better than I expected. I just LOVE it!!! x
Omg!That is amazing!
That is really gorgeous and it captures your little ones perfectly!
That is an absolute treasure, you will never be sorry you bought it. Money well spent.
Absolutely beautiful, what a lovely idea! X
Oh, that’s gorgeous!