A Collaboration
This painting is 2’x3’ and is an oil on canvas. It was painted by Ariel Uppstrom, Kaitlin Uppstrom, and me (Jennifer Alford) in 2007 as a Christmas present for our parents. It is currently hung in the front hallway of their house in Ohio.
3 comments:
This was one of the best presents we ever gave them I think. One of the reasons why this is important to me is because I was able to complete this with my sisters, who are so important to me. We completed several sister presents for them and each one I think is so special. To me, this one is special because it sums up what it is to be "home". Each of us painted something that reminds us of home and for me it is catching lightning bugs in our backyard with Dad and the beautiful gardens I spent so much time in with Mom. Both of these experiences were influential in my early years and led to my current career and passion in Biology.
I was always so move by anything that you kids ever made for me or your mom. I could never get rid of anything that you took the time to make. Well, except maybe the little flour and water baseball and bat the Kait made. I probably had it for 25 years before it finally crumbled completely to dust. I remember being so touched for a number of reasons when you guys unveiled the painting of memories. First, since you worked on it together, it meant that you loved each other and enjoyed spending time together. Second, it represented happy, fun memories from your childhood that I may have had a hand in helping to create. Finally, to me it symbolizes "family" and that is what makes it so beautiful.
For several years our daughters met weekly for "sister's night," sharing a meal and doing crafts together. They started making us a mutual present each year, and they were amazing! One was a beautiful quilt representing all our interests, one was a book they wrote and published telling their individual stories of times they enjoyed with us, and this painting was one of the last they made us. It represented their childhood and home: gardening, flying over our town with their father, our kitties, going to Lake Michigan for the sunset,which we always tried to do when we visited the town where I grew up, catching fireflies in the back yard, a vacation I took with Jen in Sedona, and the Hot Air balloon Nationals held in our small town for three years. The girls always know which present is the best of the year-- the one that makes Mom cry.
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