Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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John’s Bee-Day Gift

Yesterday was my sweet hubby’s birthday so I figured I should share what Clara, Burger and I got him. John and I have recently been talking about how we’d love to amass more “real art” to complement all the DIY stuff that we have framed on every wall. This goal is definitely inspired by our friends Matt and Kristin – who we House Crashed here and here. The cheerful original art that lights up their home always has us jonesing to add more color and fun to our walls. So consider this painting to be the beginning of an exciting little collection that will happily hang in the new house:

Johns Birthday Art

It’s a 12 x 12″ original oil painting on canvas done by an amazing Etsy artist named Roz (to the tune of $75). And the moment I laid eyes on it I knew it was perfect. See, John and I actually worked bees into our wedding invitation (which you can check out here) so we’ve always considered them to be our animal- er, insect. And the fact that there are two of them galavanting around the canvas together makes it even easier to see as a symbol of our relationship. My man gives me a buzz, what can I say. Ok, enough cheese. Hubby loves it. So glad.

Comments

  2. Lynn says

    Yall are so cute! My Bday was on the 8th. Happy Bee-day John. Sherry you think of everything it seems!

    Lynn
    mycreativityunleashed.blogspot.com

    Reply

  4. Jenn Lee says

    That’s actually quite a fun piece. I love the texture with oil on canvas! My husband and I are looking to dress up our walls as well, I’ll definitely give Roz a visit on Etsy!
    LOVE EtSY! :)

    Happy Birthday to John.

    Reply

  5. Agent Scully says

    Original art, I love and loath thee. I have many framed photos, but I would love, love, love to have art covering my walls. However, since my style tends to draw me towards Picasso and the early works of Pollock (not the splatter) I doubt I will ever own any real art.

    Unless, of course, a hitherto unknown rich uncle leaves me his vast fortune.

    Reply

  6. Lindsey d. says

    Awesome! I, too, just got my first “real” work of art. It’s a 4 ft. x 3 ft. painting of an abstracted saxophone with fabulous blues, greens and purples.

    Even better is the back story. I bought the painting at Louisiana State Penitentiary (better known as Angola Prison). Every year in October, the prison holds an inmate rodeo. Inmates ride, rope, etc., in the rodeo and outside, other inmates sell what they call “hobby crafts,” which can be anything from leather belts and furniture made from kits to incredible art.

    You barter and deal with the inmates themselves to decide on a price, although civilians handle the money transactions. My painting was created by an inmate who is serving a life term for armed robbery.

    Reply

  8. Mindy says

    That is the cutest thing I’ve ever heard! I love that you have a symbol **sighs** Actually you guys really are busy bees! I love the color palette, bright, complimentary and cheerful! Good job on a thoughtful gift that everyone will get to enjoy!
    xo
    Mindy
    http://fisilis.wordpress.com

    Reply

  9. Kari says

    Happy 1-day-late birthday, John!

    Sherry–why don’t you paint something for John next time?!

    I LOVE art.

    The only original art we own is a painting that my husband’s cousin did (it’s definitely a man painting) and a few that I did in high school. I wish we had more!!!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I was thinking about getting my mitts on some oil paint soon. But I had to spring for something “professional” for John’s b-day. I can mess around with my own attempts when there’s less pressure- haha.

      xo,
      s

  13. Kristen says

    Sherry,
    I hear oil painting is a easy peasy once you start…I am taking a class at the Hobby Lobby in my area in early January:) This should be interesting. haha!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Ooh, your Hobby Lobby class sounds fun! I actually used to work with oil paint all the time (it was one of my favorite mediums up there with watercolor and clay sculpture) but I definitely feel rusty. It’s been nearly 8 years since art school!

      xo,
      s

  17. Rachel says

    I love the painting, Sherry. What a great birthday present! I’m just curious how you surprised John. He seems to be the type that would notice the charge on the credit card…I always have this problem when trying to surprise my husband.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I told him not to look at our online statement until after his b-day. He loves surprises so he was happy to oblige. The funny thing is that it’s going to come up as “DrunkenCows” or something random like that, so I doubt he’d figure it out from that description. Haha.

      xo,
      s

  20. Kristen says

    That’s a really great gift! My boyfriend’s birthday passed in September and I got him tickets to a concert he was itching to go to (that we saw this past weekend), but with Christmas coming up, I’m low on ideas of what to get him besides boring kitchen things (my manslice loves to cook). Besides a mandolin and a flask I scored on Etsy, I may have to nab a page out of your book and score some nice art for our bedroom, which has barren walls.

    Etsy is such a great place. I’m in the midst of setting up my shop to sell jewelry. It’s a bit overwhelming (shipping! pricing! competition!) but I’m really excited to get it up and running once I have good photographs of everything.

    Reply

  21. Dana says

    Given that bees are your animal – er, insect, have you two ever thought of keeping bees? They’re super cool and pretty easy. Plus you get honey (bonus) and it’s a really green thing to do since honeybees are on the decline and are such an important part of our ecosystem. It doesn’t take much space, either… Maybe a project for the next casa?

    Reply

  22. Kim says

    Just curious – what are some of your favorite Etsy shops? I have been doing a lot of perusing there lately for wall art and am always looking for new shops to “favorite”!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hey Kim,

      I’m a huge etsy fan and browser, but I never really remember shops specifically (so I don’t have a little roundup to share or anything). I just click around and search certain terms (in this case “oil canvas”) and see what I find. Happy hunting!

      xo,
      s

  27. Kay says

    Aw, our husbands share a birthday. Mine turned 28 yesterday. :) We also have a goal to invest in original art. So far, we haven’t pulled the trigger on that yet — just prints.

    Reply

  30. Liz says

    This is kind of off topic, but I saw that John just turned 29 and I wanted to share the project that I did for my 29th year. It’s called a 30 by 30 list (I can’t take credit for it … I got the idea from a friend, who got the idea from a friend …). You make a list of 30 things you want to do by the time you turn 30 and then you spend the year trying to get them done. Like a bucket list, but better because a) it makes things a priority for right now .. not someday before you die, and b) it’s focused on living, not on death! I found it to be a really great experience, and helped me to really welcome my 30th instead of dreading it. Anyway, I just thought I’d share since it seems like the kind of thing you guys might be interested in! Hope he had a great birthday!! And great job on the painting choice! Love it!

    Reply

  32. Tessa says

    Don’t forget to check out your local University/College ‘s art departments / galleries / fairs – another great place to shop for original, affordable art + you’ll be helping an artist AND a student!

    Reply

  36. Brooks says

    I LOVE the painting. My husband bit the bullet for my 30th bday and commissioned a 4ftx4ft painting by a folk artist in Georgia that I have always loved. He goes by “Cornbread” and the painting came to its new home yesterday. I am in love=)
    You can read a little more about him here:

    Reply

  42. Terisia says

    Roz’s art is great, and affordable as well. Earlier this year I purchased a wonderful painting of a woman hanging laundry. The painting looks like it is generating light. I receive lots of compliments on that piece.

    Reply

  43. Lauren says

    John, we share a birthday! All the cool kids are born on Nov. 15! I got tickets to a concert, but an original painting would have rocked, too. Isn’t it great having a thoughtful spouse who buys you awesome pressies?!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Thanks for dropping in with that link Joey! We were excited to check out your stuff! And the custom painted book idea is amazing- John is such a book nerd. I’m filing that away for next year…

      xo,
      s

  47. jeanne says

    Okay now seriously, I was going to control myself and not make a comment this week. Why be a bug? (pun intended..) And here i am at work.. but I go and check – and what do I see?
    You have a BEE posting. So now I have no choice but to say how completely adorable the painting is .. plus,you and john..bees – totally darling. Sheesh. I was a goner. “you had me at… buzz.”) LOL!

    Reply

  49. Megan Elizabeth says

    I’ve been incorporating art into my home too. I think it’s important to have a mix if “real” art, DIY stuff, and personal photos. It makes a home more alive.

    Happy Birthday John!

    Reply

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