After completing all the work I had planned to offload on family for cheap holiday gifts, my grandmother — “Granny” as we call her — asked why she was not on the recipient list for a painting. Honestly, it came down to time. I didn’t have much of it with the quickly-approaching Christmas holiday.

I sat down with a few hours to spare and created what I think is one of my best overall paintings in some ways. I still screwed up a lot of things because I am constantly learning and trying out new techniques. I just bungled a little less this time around.

My longer-term goal is to paint something more specific to my grandparents. I have a vision of a little cottage in the country that would be more their style. I am not quite ready for that yet. The picture is in my head, but I know I have some more things to learn first.