I went wandering through the house this morning looking for elements for a still life.
First I chose a Santa mug, a couple of candy canes and a snowman snow globe. It was cute, but almost too cute.
Next I was traipsing through the neighborhood collecting holly, berries, and pine sprigs. Funny thing was, they just weren’t Martha Stewart caliber. I wound up stuffing them in my hedge and heading home.
I came back in the house a little disheartened. I’m feeling like I want to paint something Christmassy, There is Christmas stuff everywhere I look, yet nothing seems you know, right.
I made a cup of tea and quieted my brain. I asked myself the question “If I did paint a holiday painting what would I actually hang on my wall?” The answer was not much! I don’t want santas, reindeer, snowmen or elves. It would have to be prettier than that. It would have to be colorful….I began to finally get somewhere…I started to look around the house with fresh eyes…when I gazed at my Christmas tree. I didn’t want to do a tree painting, but the ornaments, the ornaments, each one of them is prettier than the next.
I pulled some off the tree and began photographing.
To me vintage ornaments have a quality that simply cannot be matched by our present day adornments. That icy blue, minty green, and cherry red are so crisp and illuminating.
They quite simply make me happy.
My friend Kim gave me the large blue ball as a present. It’s an antique. The blue pine cone ornament came with my family from Hungary two generations ago and the others I have slowly collected, treating myself at antique shops and sometimes scoring big at thrift shops. I adore each and every ornament and yet they are so fragile, so perishable, so hard to retain.
Now how cliché is this? I actually pulled a toy football and broken ornament off of my tree. How many times do you have to tell kids “NOT IN THE HOUSE!!!” That’s something I’ve learned about ornaments over a lifetime. They break. I have broken a hundred I’m sure. I will break many more, but just like fine china, if you don’t use it every day it sort of loses it’s purpose and if you’re not enjoying it every day, then what’s the frigging point?
I use my vintage finds, I enjoy them, they break and instead of feeling bad about it, I get excited. It means I now have a reason to hunt for another new treasure!
I love today’s photographs. They make me want to fill my entire house with this color palette. They make me want to eat grandmas butter cookies, listen to Bing Crosby, drink cocoa, jingle bells, partake in a little rum punch and why not, eat a little fruit cake!
It took me a little time today, but I found my inspiration.
I sketched out the foundation of a painting and tomorrow I will attempt to capture a little bit of that Christmas magic.
Is it even possible to capture twinkle?
Join me on Facebook: Be Creative Mary
Be Creative Mary 
Glitter on your painting?