Snuggles

 

There is nothing sweeter than a little boy or girl climbing up beside you to snuggle with them. Such trust, love and warmth! When my daughter and her two children stayed with us for a time, her little boy used to ask me to 'Come, snuggle.' And the time we spent quietly together became an almost daily ritual. It also made me think of my own children, and their snuggles with me. All of them snuggled. One of them became very attached to a yellow quilt with flannel backing, and had to have it before he could comfortably snuggle or go to sleep. Actually, it doesn't matter whether you are the mother, father, aunt, or grandparent. We all love to snuggle. We love burying ourselves under a quilt, or propping ourselves onto comfortable sofas and pillows with someone else. Snuggling just doesn't work quite as well if you are all by yourself.  

So this is a very small painting in an enormous frame. The painting itself is 8" x 8" and framed in a 4"-wide, very ornate gold and cream frame. As usual, it is oil paint, this time on board. I painted a couple of layers of under-colors, to bring texture into the piece, as well as the warm tones that are hinted at. One of the things I enjoy is painting a print design onto clothing, or any use of 'fabric'. So often, the characters in my little stories are dressed in prints. 

That may have to do with my background in the quilting industry. For thirty-five years, I worked as a pattern designer, how-to book author, and maker of many things from beautiful quilting fabrics. But all through those years, I yearned to paint. So, now I do. (But I still can't help myself when I see beautiful fabrics and quilts--so I stitch when I am not painting.)