No. 346: "The Miracle"

No. 346, "The Miracle," Ashleigh Musick

I was fortunate to be commissioned to create eight new pieces of original art -- drawings and paintings -- for this holiday season.  I worked from late October through mid-December to provide new and repeat customers (friends, really) with pieces that stand out, and will stand the test of time.
Nothing leaves my work table until I'm happy with it, so anyone who has a Tom Wills Production also gets a piece of my satisfaction.

But some pieces really stand out, and really make memories.
This, No. 346,  is the big memory moment for Christmas 2016. I called it "The Miracle" because it is impossible.

What I was asked to do here was to place the cute little boy, whose name is Wyatt, in an image with his grandparents. But sadly Grandpa had passed in 2008 and Grandma died two weeks before little Wyatt was conceived. So the grandparents never met their grandson.
And that really bothered Wyatt's mom, Ashleigh. Could I possibly create something with the three of them together, she asked.

She sent me a couple of pictures and we settled upon a snapshot of the grandparents enjoying time together at a restaurant. They were seated in a booth and his arm was around her.
As for Wyatt, we went with a shot of him in his camo playchothes. And I plopped him right down, in between Grandma and Grandpa.

There was a little luck and some science to making this image happen. I had to right-size the toddler to his grandparents and then make the pose look natural. I moved grandma to the right a little bit to cozy the three of them together.

The final piece was the frame, which is an exact match to the pencil lead. We decided to forgo a mat so that the picture would look less crowded in the frame, and so the frame and the drawing would compliment each other.
This group portrait is Ashleigh's mom's Christmas present.  Her mom can now enjoy looking at her parents and her grandson in one pose that otherwise would have been impossible.

"Mr. Wills made this moment and this gift possible. 'Thank you' cant even begin to express how grateful we are for his talent. He was a joy to work with as this picture came to life. Step by step from the start of the picture to the framing, he included me in the process. And the outcome is so life-like. This is the best gift I could've given to my mother this year. "

My work is done here for 2016, and I wish to thank all who have stopped by here to read and browse. We'll get together again in 2017.
Here are the other holiday projects, which also are very special to me. Have a happy new year!

Julie Russo

Venetia Hixenbaugh Moore

Julie Davis

Greg Davis

Pam Root

Greg Davis

Sandy Wood