Sarah and I have been friends for twenty years. She is a mother of four incredible boys. When I met her, two were just out of the house and two were still in school. Over the years I’ve gotten to be part of this amazing family as it grows with the boys growing up and meeting their significant others.
Sarah has been such a vital part of her son’s lives and she continues to be vital with the growing family. She wanted to do something special for the four girls that love her four boys. So we talked about ideas and she asked me to paint mugs for them.
I was thrilled and honored to take on this art project and be part of this family that I love. We talked about the girls and their personalities and then I got to work.
Sasha is with the youngest of the boys Dalton. She is an active environmentalist and works with Dalton at Joshua Tree National Park in California. I did a mug with Joshua Trees on it on a background striped with the colors of the dessert. I added a lotus flower to symbolize her peace and beauty in the world she is working so hard to protect.
Brigitte is with Dan. She is full of life and love. Always smiling and bringing life into the world she is in. She has a delicate strength and brings so much love into the family and to Dan. I wanted to do delicate flowers and patterns with bold colors against a dark background. A feminine design full of boldness and strength is what guided me while painting her mug.
Katy is with Dustin. She has a smile that you can feel before you even physically see her in a room. She is full of life with a laugh ready at any moment. She loves music and flowers and is a hippy child in many ways. I wanted big flowers and bright colors for her. I did a version of sunflowers to be the main theme on her mug. They are the flowers that to me describe Katy so well.
Erica is with Dylan. She is all girl that can hang with the guys. Her laugh is infectious and I always end up with a stomach ache from laughing when with her. She also can cry at any time due to the extremely tender heart she has and is not afraid to wear on her sleeve. Her faith is a staple in her life. With her mug, I wanted to represent her girly-ness along with her faith. Bright strong colors with pink being the main one were used. Crosses were also a main feature to represent her faith.
COVID caused get together plans to change but Sarah was able to get all the mugs to the girls. Even Sasha which required a trip to California. She then asked the girls to take selfies with their mugs and turned them into a collage. The mugs were a hit and I am so grateful for being part of this family once again. Nothing is more fun to me then painting something with someone in mind. To look at the blank canvas and figure out how to make it represent the essence of a person. It’s a project of the person, the canvas, and the art…a project I love to take on time and time again.
