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Wrap-up

Mr. Communicator came for the ornament and brought his brother and Grandma! What fun – we could have all talked for hours. His G’ma grew up on the same street in the same town in Orange County where my G’ma and G’pa raised their 3 children. His brother flies for the Air Force, and Mr. Communicator? He works in finance on Wall Street! Ever met one of those guys before? I have, and both have been as genuinely nice as you could ever hope to encounter – nothing like the nasty stereotype. Of course, both of the ones I met grew up in Tulare County, Perhaps that is the difference. Enough chit-chat. Photographs are more fun than words.

Had to show the 2 ornaments together!

He is tall – I am not short. More American women are 5’4″ than any other height. Just sayin’.

11 Comments

  1. I feel like a broken record!
    I so enjoyed the “saga” and the finished product (that’s a very understated word for the ornament) is simply incredible! (which is also an understated word for the ornament!

    • Thank you, Deb! The real ornament looks much better than the photograph – just couldn’t wrap my lens around that spherical surface for some reason.

  2. P.S. About keeping commissioned gift painting a secret: I was commissioned to paint a portrait of a woman’s house in watercolor as an anniversary gift for her husband. Since I knew neither of them were blog readers, I was posting work in progress (including the time I spilled coffee on the painting and had to fix it). Meanwhile her niece happened to Google the Federal Building in Oakland, and my sketch of the building was near the top of the results. She clicked the link to my blog and saw the painting of her aunt’s house and called her to tell her about it!

    • Jana, how hilarious, and how awful! We got away with posting our project, maybe because I put TOP SECRET on the posts, maybe because we just got lucky!

  3. The ornament is stunning and all that detailed painting on an odd shape and difficult surface must have been a lot of work! I guess I missed the story of your ornament on the national tree but wow! it’s beautiful.

    • Thank you, Jana! It was hard, so I went very slowly, drank only decaf, and stopped working if things weren’t going well. The national Christmas tree story got posted in four parts on December 20-23, 2008. If you look on the left side of my blog, scroll down to “Monthly”, and click on December 2008, then scroll down to December 20, you will be able to read/see it.

  4. Maggie, thank you for keeping the secret! One of the fun parts about living in a smallish place is all those connections. And it was Jake who made her happy, not me. It was a pleasure to participate in his great idea!

  5. Here’s an even smaller world. I know him and his mom. She’s in my book club and will be so thrilled with this gift; good job Jana. I know you will make her very happy.

  6. Thank you Jennifer – and that is the official photo of the ornament I painted for the White House 2007 Christmas tree.

    Diane, it really looks better in person than photos. Even Mr. Communicator conceded that the photos have not done it justice. Thank you for thinking it is fabulous – it was fiddly, challenging, and fun!

  7. Fabulous!

  8. Very fun! I liked the pine tree photo in the background too. Whew, you worked hard for that personalized ornament, and it looks lovely. Happy New year.

    Jennifer Dougan
    http://www.jenniferdougan.com


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