The original painting, signed by "CA Renee," is brittle, has holes, tears, and nails sticking out of the sides. I really have no idea how old it is. My mom owns an antique store and didn't have the heart to get rid of it (or sell it), and there's no telling where it came from.

To be frank, I felt VERY weird copying this person's painting. I feel like I committed a cardinal sin that my college professors would shun me for, but like I said, it's for my grandma. She needed something over her mantle, loved this painting, so I recreated it. What's odd is that no painting I have ever done has been this easy. Perhaps it is because I felt a connection to the original artist, felt like I stepped back in time onto an island overlooking the deep, black sea. It could also be that this is the first "real painting" I've done since I graduated... last December. I got really burnt out on painting for awhile, and a little bitter about some things at school. All the pressures of trying to please professors who had completely different beliefs, opinions, and backgrounds from myself made for one big pile of bitterness and no desire to paint. This painting was a turning point, and maybe recreating someone else's image made that transition a little easier.

Back to my grandma. She lost her mother last Friday, so I thought now might be an appropriate time to give her the painting I had promised a while back. Hopefully she likes it, despite its melancholy-ness and neon sea... a little different from a discolored, hundred year-old original.

By the way, sorry for the horrible images. I took them from my phone... don't know why. :)

Have a wonderful evening!

Kiley