I had several fun commissions for Christmas this year. One old friend asked me to paint Grace St. Luke's church because her husband is a reader there. I love painting churches, and it was peaceful to sit in the quiet sanctuary and paint.

Another old friend is a co-owner of the Irish pub the Brass Door and wanted me to paint it for her husband. It was a chilly day, and I got lucky enough to be able to pull my truck up just opposite it and paint from inside the truck instead of sitting outside in the elements.

Then I had to find a proper parking spot, though, because Meg had arranged for me to be fed lunch when I went down to paint, and I had some marvelous Irish stew and house made soda bread.

I also did something a bit out of my ordinary. Christian Stanfield of the band the Side Street Steppers wanted a handmade, personal card for his wife Vera, also in the band. They have stuffed animals wtih instruments in their house, so I set up a still life of those animals but also took photos of her banjo (one Christian made himself for Vera) and his guitar to add those details to the sketch.

Vera posted a photo on facebook and seemed quite happy with the result. "Got choked up over this last gift from @tntomcat... He had our local artist Martha Kelly do a watercolor of our banjo puffin and guitar monkey ❤️❤️❤️#truelove #spiritanimals"

I really love being able to give joy with my work. And it's an honor to get to be a part of special occasions for my friends.