Something to be thankful for.

This is the month that we all give thanks for what he have in our lives. I'm thankful for a great many things, such as the people that I have in my life and my recent promotion at work, but I'm also thankful for the things that I see. A few months back after I finished the portrait of my uncle I had a small amount of time left before the West Alexander Fair and I wanted to get one more piece made to display and since I just finished a portrait I was still in the same mindset so I started looking around for someone to do the portrait of and I came across a few pictures of this very sweet little girl named Aspen. Aspen is the daughter of a childhood friend of mine and just like everyone she's had her share of problems, but Aspen had so many in her first few years of life and no matter what was going on her spirit always manages to shine through the night. 

So how do you capture that spirit? Once I decided on doing a portrait of her I spent a lot of time looking through all the pictures of her to find one that I thought captured her spirit just right and here's what I came up with:

After I had finished the portrait I started thinking I should have done a close up of her smile instead, but if I did that I wouldn't be able to show that energy that she always brings out. I displayed it at the West Alexander Fair hoping that Aspen and her family would be in for a happy surprise, but they weren't able to make it up unfortunately. There were other members of her family who were there and happily surprised as were a few of their family friends, so once the fair was over I shipped it off to their home and a few weeks later I was very happy when I was sent this:

Needless to say, that brought a smile to my face as I'm thankful to be able to bring a smile to hers and her family. Blessings upon you Aspen, your smile and your cheerful spirit touch so many and your pains are felt by all, for you are one of the lights in life that can bring people together in a special way.

~Patrick