The Christmas List

Santa paintings are — or should be! — happy, just like the season. The Christmas List, original oil painting by Steve Henderson.

From Start Your Week with Steve, the weekly e-mail newsletter of Steve Henderson Fine Art.

This is the story behind the painting, The Christmas List:

Warm reds glow in the inside, set against the cool blues of a North Pole night. The push me/pull me of contrast in a painting causes visual and intellectual interest, and viewers see the contrasts in light versus dark, illumination versus shadow, warm colors versus cool, reds versus blues.

Santa paintings, like The Christmas List, are challenging and fun simply because there are so many elements, so many things, in them. There’s a decorated tree, a patterned rug, knick knacks scattered throughout the interior; even outside in what should be a cold wasteland there are trees, stars, and a curious reindeer.

Figuring out what to put in a painting like The Christmas List involves a lot of brainstorming, getting into Santa’s head and household, always keeping in mind that Santa represents goodness, happiness, joy, and acceptance — and even when he’s looking over that infamous list of his, there’s the idea that nobody, really, will be struck off of it, or presented with just a lump of coal.

Santa’s very act of eating a cookie — major elements of his diet on Christmas Eve and Night — is a conscious statement for enjoying the good things of life, especially in a time when cookies, like all sweets and treats, are feeling the pinch of disapproval. While obviously a diet of sugar and spice isn’t the best option, Santa’s world is a different one, and during a short period every year, he invites us to relax, to let go for a bit, and to fall into the holiday.

Look for more Santa and holiday-themed works by Steve in 2014, and while it may seem unusual that Steve focuses on Christmas in March, licensees and manufacturers of goods with images on them work months, or even years, in advance.

Steve finds Santa work to be a refreshing break throughout the year, and in July, when the bees are lethargically buzzing around the raspberry plants and the dog longs for a walk so that she can jump in the river and cool off, North Pole scenes and snow dusting the windows are most welcome!

Every Steve Henderson original oil painting is a creation of beauty, love, skill, and expertise. Join us in 2014 as Steve continues to create on canvas, and Carolyn continues to write. Child of Eden, original oil painting by Steve Henderson.

Read the rest at Start Your Week with Steve.

Find Steve’s original oil and watercolor paintings at Steve Henderson Fine Art.

Find Steve’s licensed open edition prints at Great Big Canvas, Light in the Box, Sears.com, Amazon.com, Sagebrush.com, Rakuten.com, AllPosters.com, Wall Art Box, Luban Decor, Art.com

Businesses and manufacturers: contact Steve’s agents at Art Licensing.

Find Carolyn’s books, Live Happily on Less and Grammar Despair, and Steve’s DVD, Step by Step Watercolor Success, at Amazon.com.

Merry Christmas to all. I will be taking a break from This Woman Writes to enjoy the Christmas season, and will be back on schedule in January 2014. In the meantime, you can follow my writings on Christianity at BeliefNet’s Commonsense Christianity, where I post three times a week.