An update on a post from December 23, 2015
Our Christmas Tree: Our Work-in-Progress Tradition
It started in 2012.
It’s a little hard when you are adults, with no kids around, to find the proper level of Christmas decorating for the home.
To not decorate at all would be bleak. It would be an unhappy break from a lifetime cycle of excitement and fun around the holidays, as well as missing out on commemorating one of the definitive miraculous events in human history.
But to go for an 8 foot live tree with all the trimmings and a giant outdoor display seems excessive. There are other complications as well. Our cats were too intrigued by even the small artificial tree we used for a few years, leading to some unfortunate episodes. And we don’t even have an outlet on the outside of our house to plug lights into.
In 2012 my wife Michele Bledsoe came up with a great solution. We were both painters-why not make a painting of a Christmas tree that we could bring out for the holiday?
Inspired, we made a quick trip to the art supply store and got to work.
2012: I began with the star and some vague spots of color as a base coat for ornaments
Michele’s sister Sherry was living with us at the time, and joined in creating the tree and decorations. The idea was just to roughly block in the shapes at first. Then, every year at Christmas time when we bring out the painting, we would continue to work on it.
Sherry and Michele, adding details
Michele took on the role of clean up and enhancement. Since her paintings are so precise and intricate, she excels at getting images resolved.
2021 marks our ninth season of painting on the tree. There’s still room to add new ornaments, and plenty of opportunities to refine the elements we’ve already depicted. I imagine we will be working on this the rest of our lives.
When the tree is not on one of our easels, we put it on our family room floor, surrounded by presents. It’s been a wonderful tradition. And the cats don’t try to climb it.
Merry Christmas!
“Christmas Tree” acrylic on canvas 36″ x 24″ 2012-2021
Michele Bledsoe, Richard Bledsoe, Sherry
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