third story(ies)
Menu
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • HOUSE TOUR
    • PROJECT ADDITION / “PROJECT BACK POCKET”
  • LET’S EAT
  • (STORY)TIME
  • AROUND TOWN
  • MAKING
  • ADMIRING
    • blogs i love
Menu

portrait wall beginnings

Posted on June 14, 2016June 14, 2016 by thirdstoryies

Portraits 1

I’m not sure why I never posted this after the holidays, but I thought about it this weekend since Father’s Day is approaching. I find that buying gifts for my husband is tricky sometimes. He has lots of interests, but not the kind of hobbies that lend themselves to new gear purchases. He’s very tall and thin, and typically has to order clothing to fit, so it’s also not really easy to spot a nice shirt and pick it up for a gift. I’m actually excited this year about our Father’s Day gifts that the girls and I picked out, but I can’t talk about those here quite yet. But I thought I’d share what we gave him for Christmas this past year.

M spent a ton of time last year working on the stair hall that goes through the center of our house – painting, updating light fixtures, final fittings on the stair treads, etc. On the middle floor we have a great wall for hanging portraits, and once some of the other projects start wrapping up, I’d like to start building that. I thought a neat way to fill it would be to commission portrait work from different artists each year. I started with Paul Ferney last year, and commissioned these two pieces.

I chose a picture of each girl, and this time I focused on our favorite place – the beach – and two activities that make me think of M and the way he loves to play at the beach with each girl. The underwater shot of E is one that M took while goofing off in the pool, flipping and splashing and diving. I love the light and everything about it. (I also loved Ferney’s beach paintings, so I knew this was a good match.)

Ella-Underwater photo

Portraits 2

The one of F makes me think of the quieter moments at the beach – the way M gets the umbrellas positioned just right for shade, and the way we sit under them and relax. This particular photo of F is the start of a colossal city of sand that M helped her build all afternoon. It had roads and bridges and tunnels and towers. It was one of my favorite afternoons ever, just watching them work, chasing the shade as the sun moved through the sky.

Frances-Umbrella

Portraits 3

I’ve got plenty of ideas for future pieces – some local artists, some distant ones. (And maybe a few in our own house!) If you’ve got someone you’d recommend, please let me know in the comments. I’d love to take a look at their work.

4 thoughts on “portrait wall beginnings”

  1. Lilly says:
    June 14, 2016 at 11:19 am

    I saw this on Instagram and thought it was such a brilliant idea. Those paintings are wonderful! Putting this on the list 🙂
    Lilly recently posted…The End of The BeginningMy Profile

    Reply
    1. thirdstoryies says:
      June 14, 2016 at 12:49 pm

      Thanks – that’s sweet of you!

      Reply
  2. AshleyM says:
    June 14, 2016 at 2:01 pm

    Wonderful! Our plan for Christmas this year is to add two of the Paul Ferney commissions to our portrait wall and I’m happy to see another great review. I love love love the pictures you chose- especially the underwater! So neat!

    Reply
  3. Pingback: our portrait collection continues | third story(ies)

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CommentLuv badgeShow more posts

Welcome!

Welcome.

This is a blog about an old house with a new life (and all the lives within it). There are plenty of stories to tell.

Recent Comments

  • Kristin on project files: phase one renovation begins
  • AshleyM on project files: phase one renovation begins
  • Sue J. on slow spring
  • Cindy on gumball machine crafts (my rookie pinterest moment)
  • thirdstoryies on admiring: relax tabletop collection
  • Eileen Allison on gumball machine crafts (my rookie pinterest moment)
  • Marla on admiring: relax tabletop collection
  • Sue J. on for real, for real
  • Becky collins on noticing
  • Sue J. on noticing
June 2016
S M T W T F S
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
2627282930  
« May   Jul »

Recent Posts

  • project files: waiting on people
  • project files: appliance decisions
  • project files: exterior demolition
  • project files: phase one renovation begins
  • august priorities

Archives

Categories

  • (story)time
  • admiring
  • general
  • holiday story(ies)
  • house tour
  • let's eat
  • letters to my loves
  • local haunts
  • making
  • party(ies)
  • project addition
  • renovation
  • Uncategorized
©2022 third story(ies) | Design by Superb