Day 15: Sharing art

My husband and I love buying and showcasing art in our home. We pick up mementos on trips and try to fill our home with things that will remind us of our adventures and the life we are experiencing together.

We have framed postcards, notecards, pictures we’ve taken, cards we’ve written to each other, our wedding cake topper, and gifts from friends. Every year we add a piece or two to our collection and now we are reaching a point of saturation. We almost have too much art – if that’s possible? Soon we will have to start rethinking our displays and how to make it all fit cohesively. (Right now, most pieces are in storage, so it’s not an immediate problem… but it will be when we do find our next home.)

However, even with all this art, we can’t stop. It brings us joy and sometimes its the perfect gift… which was the case for our most recent piece.

Our anniversary was July 13. We are really into following the traditional gifts which mean the theme this year was fruit and flowers. That’s kind of a hard theme for buying for a dude. I was racking my brain, googling ideas and still wanting to knock his socks off! (Last year I was pregnant and not great at the anniversary gift – so I really wanted to WOW this year.)

Well, it finally hit me about 9 days before our anniversary. In 2014 we were on one of our West Texas trips, exploring an art gallery in Fort Davis and we fell absolutely in love with a painting. It was THE piece of art for us. We almost bought it right then and there, but we had just bought a home and furniture and we thought we should wait and be smart with our money. We wrote down the name of the piece and the artist with the idea that one day we would own that work.

Over the next year or so, I thought of that painting often and almost bought it for Eric’s birthday, but it was an expensive purchase and never exactly the gift I wanted to give him. THANK GOODNESS because it fit this year’s anniversary theme spectacularly. (I may have stretched the flowers theme a bit – but it is a Texas landscape and those are West Texas flowers!)

Here it is:

The artist is Lindy Cook Severns. She does amazing landscape paintings of West Texas and she was a pleasure to work with. I emailed her directly to ask some questions, order the piece and tell her about our anniversary. I didn’t expect for it to come in time with me ordering a week before, but she said she’d get right on it and expedited the shipping for free! Sooo awesome! You should definitely check our her website here and admire the exquisite colors and details of her work.

She also wrapped it beautifully with ribbon and a hand written note. Eric LOVED it and we now have it hanging in our bedroom across from our bed. Our West Texas trips have always meant a lot to us. They provided us a break from the busyness of life and a chance to slow down and connect with each other. We cooked good simple food, had deep conversation and strolled hand in hand through the quiet stillness of that wilderness. Being able to look at this work every day is one of the best reminders of our love and our trips to a place we cherish.

BK