The Greatest Gift 20 x 12 Original Oil Painting on Canvas

October 15, Monday ||What a great way to start the week, painting the birth of Jesus Christ. I bet not everybody can say that. I started 'The Greatest Gift' today and it went very well. ||I made great progress. The lighting is exquisite! I love that moment when you become a parent. The wonder and fear of it all. I grew up in a neighborhood where there weren't little kids and I didn't have the babysitting experience most young girls had so I wasn't around little kids much. ||Having my first child I was instantly in love with him! His tiny little hands and feet, (well, his feet weren't so tiny. He had to be blessed in stockings feet because I couldn't find a pair of newborn shoes that would fit him. He grew to be 6'6||, size 16 shoe.) ||I digress...that moment when you realize that you are now responsible for another life. I remember so well the fear I felt. I was afraid of dropping him, bathing him, feeding him and everything else my wild imagination could dream up. How could I ever teach him about life when I hadn't figured that out myself! ||As you can see, my thoughts today were on mostly on half of that parentage: Mary. I was 20 years old when I gave birth; Mary was about 14. Looking at this scene you get a greater understanding of how young these kids were! She opened my eyes that day and would forever be guided by them as I created more scenes from that sacred night.