Mia and Juliana Christmas Surprise

I made this portrait about two weeks ago right when I got back from Annapolis. It was a Christmas present to the Grandparents of Mia and Juliana from their son, John Santos. Mia and Juliana are a few years older than their images in the portrait and they were happy to pose under the work. I was lucky enough to be invited for the presenting of this gift. They even fed me some fantastic traditional Portuguese dishes of cod and octopus. I loved it. It was a very good evening. Thank you to the Santos family.

Thought that I would show what has been going on in my art journal. I have not been painting as much and this is not a good thing but I am still getting in a sketch every now and then. These drawings are done while in the car on the way back from a short day trip to Newport. Life can get so in the way of drawing and painting that I really have to pay attention to how I spend my time or before I know it, weeks go by without the smell of paint and that is sad for me.