Julie’s birthday was coming up. Her husband, Ken, wanted to mark the occasion in a special way and commissioned a painting of their home. Over the years, they had done various renovations, developed the landscaping, and added a garage. The property had lots of gorgeous trees and a well-kept garden, thanks to Julie’s green thumb.

A unique home of half-brick and half wooden planking, the house was gorgeous from every angle, and it took some back and forth before landing a viewpoint. In the end, I asked Ken, “Where do you and Julie spend the most time together?” and it was the back porch, where they like to sit in their Muskoka chairs and drink coffee in the sun. This then, was the decided angle. Their dog, Copper, was also an important part of their family home, so I added him lounging in the grass.

Ken received the finished painting. “Yessssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!! You friggin nailed it!!” And later from Julie herself, I received a message, “I LOVE LOVE LOVE my new painting! I was totally surprised and got weepy especially when I saw you were the artist! Thanks so much. Ken surprised me this year. You are amazingly talented. And I will treasure it. ❤️ ❤️ ❤️"