I wanted to take a minute to share with you a little about one of my new Christmas paintings, “Three Ships on Christmas Day.” The title is inspired by an old Christmas carol , with the main refrain being “I saw Three Ships on Christmas Day, On Christmas Day, I saw Three Ships on Christmas Day, on Christmas Day in the Morning.”
With these words stirring around in my mind, I imagined a nautical themed Christmas painting, and mused that someone who would be very happy to see 3 ships arrive on Christmas Day would be a young mother awaiting the arrival of her sea fairing husband.
So in this piece, the young mother is at the window in excitement as three little ships enter a snowy harbor (somewhere in New England, of course!) in the background there is a lighthouse, beckoning them to shore. In the cozy cottage there is a humble Christmas tree with a small gathering of gifts and a tea set, and on the wall is a silhouette of her beloved and a small cross and an anchor. Tucked down in a little cradle is her new baby in a homemade quilt.
I think this was one of my favorite subjects to paint, marrying together many of my favorite things. And many of them can be left open to interpretation as you’d like—- three ships, three crosses? The anchor, for a sailor, or a symbol of Christ? Coming home to port? Family love and joyful expectation? Perhaps there is something in it you see that I havent even thought of…..
This piece is now available as a print AND I still have the original in my etsy shop! sleightholmfolk.etsy.com
If you’d like to see a video of a choir singing this carol, I highly suggest this one:
I’d also like to say a big THANK YOU to those of you who’ve purchased my calendar! I have been so pleased with its reception and hope you LOVE it! And if you’re just now thinking about 2019– I do still have a few calendars left in my shop!
And before I go– I’d like to mention that I’m getting ready to send out my newsletter if you’d like to sign up! You can go to THIS PAGE (or click the button on my sidebar) and fill out the info to get folk arty news in your inbox 🙂
Thanks so much, and happy November!~
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Sleightholm Folk Art 