"Persimmons # 1" and "Persimmons #2" oil on canvas -- 8x10"
I painted both these at a Christmas open house at the Barlett Travis House in Canton, Michigan a few weeks ago. The place was beautiful and filled with all kinds of decorated Christmas trees, poinsettias, teddy bears, dolls, etc. I was set up in one of the bedrooms with a "Santa Tree" and there were baskets of pine cones and baubles, scenting the air with cinnamon and pine. Two women, dressed in Victorian garb, serenaded us all with traditional holiday songs. They started singing downstairs and I thought it was a whole choir.

I'd been in a little bit of a hurry to get there and grabbed these 2 persimmons as I ran out the door. They weren't ripe yet (as you can tell by the color). I ended up wishing I'd brought more items to paint, especially after finishing the second version. If you scroll down this blog a couple entries, you'll see the doll painting I did that afternoon.