Finding a gift for those who have one of everything can be a pleasant challenge. If you are looking for something unique and memorable a gift certificate for a portrait can be a wonderful gift.
Typical past special occasion gifts have been:
Anniversary Gifts
Birthday Gifts
40th BD Gifts
50th BD gifts
90th Birthday Gifts
Gifts for Grandparents
Wedding Gifts
To learn more about commissioning a portrait, please click here soniahale1@gmail.com.
Showing posts with label great birthday gifts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label great birthday gifts. Show all posts
Monday, November 23, 2015
Thursday, September 17, 2015
Great Birthday Gifts! Paint my Photos: Cape Cod oil painting Commission — A gift for a Sister
Sometimes it can be hard to ship paintings. I get attached to them as they are propped up around my studio and home. This is one of them. It is a gift— so I was pleased to mail it out with one day shipping, insurance and signature confirmation. . . but I will miss it. The happy aspect is that it is a gift for the sister of the recipient and that warms my heart.
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
Luxury gifts online: Commission a painting for a Loved one
As we wind down the summer and head into fall, you may start wanting to address your Christmas/ Holiday gift list to get a head start. Something really special and everlastingly memorable is a gift certificate for a painting to be commissioned or a painting commissioned and presented for the holiday or other Special Occasion.
I am always so pleased to hear from my clients after the presentation:
" Mom is going to cry when she sees this."
" Sonia exceeded expectations at capturing the warm feeling of a New England home that was ours
for a memorable three years. That picture immediately brings us back to great friends, neighbors,
schools, and community. What an awesome way to remember the best of the past."
"Sonia painted a wonderful pastel landscape for me that hangs in my living room and is admired
on a daily basis. We worked together closely to bring my memories to her vision and the result
brings me great happiness every day. I sincerely recommend Sonia as a supremely talented artist and
professional who strives to make sure her patrons are more than satisfied with the result!"
As I have a waiting list for new commissions, it's wise to plan ahead to be sure I can meet your deadline.
Some ideas include: paintings of special places, people or things. Please see my website for ideas and let me know if I can assist you for this type of work.
www.soniahale.com
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
Paint my Photo: Seascape Commission: paintings from your photos
I have just started a small commission for a Sea Street beach lover. Sea Street Beach in Dennis, MA is a charming place that I visit most years. {This year I was also able to start on a morning view of the beach, which I will post when it's done.} The client has asked for me to paint from her photo of a sunset there. I will also add to this with my own reference material.
Commissioning a painting from your own photo(s) or mine of a special place makes a wonderful gift for others or special momento for yourself, so that when those cold winter winds blow again you can smile in remembrance.
To learn more about these paintings, please click on my website:
www.soniahalefineart.com
Commissioning a painting from your own photo(s) or mine of a special place makes a wonderful gift for others or special momento for yourself, so that when those cold winter winds blow again you can smile in remembrance.
To learn more about these paintings, please click on my website:
www.soniahalefineart.com
Saturday, July 4, 2015
Luxury Gifts for Dad: Commissioned Men's Oil Portrait unveiled
It was a pleasure to work with this family on their gift for their father for his 90th birthday! What a wonderful idea for the person who has everything and what a lovely way to honor your loved one.
I worked from existing photographs and added the Harvard University tie. Seeing the close family bonds through other special occasions was a delight.
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
An Interview with. . .Sonia Hale
At what point in your life did you realize you were an Artist?
I was born an artist and knew from the age of five that that was a part of my identity. In early grade school I realized I was living in and viewing the world with a visual perceptiveness unlike most of my classmates and friends.
In addition, when I got a 100% on a spatial relations test in school, my parents knew I had an inherent 3D comprehension, which most likely comes from my maternal grandfather, who was a gifted tool and die maker in the Bridgeport, CT area. Family folklore is that he was asked to help with one of Howard Hughes’ planes in California and in New York with the development of the atomic bomb, called The Manhattan Project (the later of which he declined).
Sonia, what was it that led you to painting to be your creative medium?
I was enthralled by oil paints from the time I found a starter set abandoned up in my attic when I was in late grade school. I yearned to be able to paint far ahead of my years and my school art class's abilities to teach.
A family friend, who was an artist, advised that I take drawing classes prior to painting, so that my painting would have correct structure. That was incredible advice for that period of time in art in the 70's when realistic art was not in vogue. Creative expression was favored over learning the fundamentals of drawing and painting, as a later teacher would call it, "The Language of Art." I was enrolled in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts' art class program and was able to view master works and to draw and paint in the galleries. The art world was less cautious then, prior to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum thefts. I glimpsed the behind-the-scenes of the museum on my way to art class: I walked through long hallways with crated paintings and other art objects casually stored along the way. Art class was always the place where I felt most at home and with kindred spirits, though I did very well academically.
When did you first realize you wanted to be a Portrait Artist?
When I saw the John Singer Sargent painting, The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit, at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. The painting is very large and made an equally large impression on me. I saw how beautifully he captured each daughter in such a painterly way. His flowing brushstrokes spoke to me. I devoted myself to a decade of study and mentoring to learn, as a third-generation student of John Singer Sargent. I was pleased to have learned how to draw in my many classes at Harvard University's Carpenter Center, as well as an undergraduate at Colby College (I had been accepted to Tufts University’s engineering program, but ultimately chose to attend Colby.), and was ready to begin the process of painting the face—the most challenging subject there is!
What compels you to get out of bed in the morning?
I am driven to discover the visual truth in what I see. Painting is about showing how you see the world—I am moved every day by the beauty around me and there are many paintings I see, but do not paint, as there are not the hours in the day. My training, which comes from John Singer Sargent, is that one does not just paint portraits, or they will never become a fully developed artist, so I paint still lives and landscapes as well, and enjoy this very much as well. If I can share the beauty that I see with others who do not have the opportunity to study it as I do, and they are equally moved, then I have done my day's work.
What are you looking to capture in your portraits?
My goal in my portraits is to bring forth the best day of the person I am painting. I am capturing them at their best moment. When clients, portrait subjects and parents are moved, often to tears, I know I have done my job at its peak and that makes my efforts so worthwhile.
Do you have any special anecdotes you'd like to share?
Before I had really received much training, I was told my style was painterly (this is correct). I was very surprised when I was told I painted like Matisse in one of my first art classes at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts at the age of about twelve. Back then class was not so much about teaching, as letting students draw and paint during class with very little input. So I was described as painting like Matisse, which was meant as a compliment and is very nice, but there was so much I wanted to learn about portraying form. I still have that painting of a green bottle with a large white highlight on it. I would go on to learn to draw and paint in a more realistic manner, challenging myself to learn from the top artists in the country, taking workshops and classes nationwide.
I revel in the range of days and experiences I have, as well as the wonderful artists I have had the opportunity to meet and paint with. It is truly a privilege to be an artist. I have spent days meeting wonderful people of all ages to paint their portraits. I have painted on the banks of the Seine. Some more amusing times have been rummaging through closets of my portrait subjects, to help select clothing which will translate well to a painted portrait. I feel very fortunate to share the journey of others' lives, in paint.
What recommendations do you have for those who will be painted? How can a client be ready for their portrait session and achieve the most out of your abilities?
The things that clients can do are to choose 3-5 outfits and to be themselves. They will have input in the process, so they can relax and we will find our way together. Their best self will be depicted in the painting. They can trust I was bring forth the best in them.
I was born an artist and knew from the age of five that that was a part of my identity. In early grade school I realized I was living in and viewing the world with a visual perceptiveness unlike most of my classmates and friends.
In addition, when I got a 100% on a spatial relations test in school, my parents knew I had an inherent 3D comprehension, which most likely comes from my maternal grandfather, who was a gifted tool and die maker in the Bridgeport, CT area. Family folklore is that he was asked to help with one of Howard Hughes’ planes in California and in New York with the development of the atomic bomb, called The Manhattan Project (the later of which he declined).
Sonia, what was it that led you to painting to be your creative medium?
I was enthralled by oil paints from the time I found a starter set abandoned up in my attic when I was in late grade school. I yearned to be able to paint far ahead of my years and my school art class's abilities to teach.
A family friend, who was an artist, advised that I take drawing classes prior to painting, so that my painting would have correct structure. That was incredible advice for that period of time in art in the 70's when realistic art was not in vogue. Creative expression was favored over learning the fundamentals of drawing and painting, as a later teacher would call it, "The Language of Art." I was enrolled in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts' art class program and was able to view master works and to draw and paint in the galleries. The art world was less cautious then, prior to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum thefts. I glimpsed the behind-the-scenes of the museum on my way to art class: I walked through long hallways with crated paintings and other art objects casually stored along the way. Art class was always the place where I felt most at home and with kindred spirits, though I did very well academically.
When did you first realize you wanted to be a Portrait Artist?
When I saw the John Singer Sargent painting, The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit, at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. The painting is very large and made an equally large impression on me. I saw how beautifully he captured each daughter in such a painterly way. His flowing brushstrokes spoke to me. I devoted myself to a decade of study and mentoring to learn, as a third-generation student of John Singer Sargent. I was pleased to have learned how to draw in my many classes at Harvard University's Carpenter Center, as well as an undergraduate at Colby College (I had been accepted to Tufts University’s engineering program, but ultimately chose to attend Colby.), and was ready to begin the process of painting the face—the most challenging subject there is!
What compels you to get out of bed in the morning?
I am driven to discover the visual truth in what I see. Painting is about showing how you see the world—I am moved every day by the beauty around me and there are many paintings I see, but do not paint, as there are not the hours in the day. My training, which comes from John Singer Sargent, is that one does not just paint portraits, or they will never become a fully developed artist, so I paint still lives and landscapes as well, and enjoy this very much as well. If I can share the beauty that I see with others who do not have the opportunity to study it as I do, and they are equally moved, then I have done my day's work.
What are you looking to capture in your portraits?
My goal in my portraits is to bring forth the best day of the person I am painting. I am capturing them at their best moment. When clients, portrait subjects and parents are moved, often to tears, I know I have done my job at its peak and that makes my efforts so worthwhile.
Do you have any special anecdotes you'd like to share?
Before I had really received much training, I was told my style was painterly (this is correct). I was very surprised when I was told I painted like Matisse in one of my first art classes at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts at the age of about twelve. Back then class was not so much about teaching, as letting students draw and paint during class with very little input. So I was described as painting like Matisse, which was meant as a compliment and is very nice, but there was so much I wanted to learn about portraying form. I still have that painting of a green bottle with a large white highlight on it. I would go on to learn to draw and paint in a more realistic manner, challenging myself to learn from the top artists in the country, taking workshops and classes nationwide.
I revel in the range of days and experiences I have, as well as the wonderful artists I have had the opportunity to meet and paint with. It is truly a privilege to be an artist. I have spent days meeting wonderful people of all ages to paint their portraits. I have painted on the banks of the Seine. Some more amusing times have been rummaging through closets of my portrait subjects, to help select clothing which will translate well to a painted portrait. I feel very fortunate to share the journey of others' lives, in paint.
What recommendations do you have for those who will be painted? How can a client be ready for their portrait session and achieve the most out of your abilities?
The things that clients can do are to choose 3-5 outfits and to be themselves. They will have input in the process, so they can relax and we will find our way together. Their best self will be depicted in the painting. They can trust I was bring forth the best in them.
Thursday, February 19, 2015
Commission a Portrait: what age is best to paint a child, oil or pastel portrait
Continuing on in decision-making for a portrait commissions:
The next decision that a parent needs to make if they choose individual portraits, is how old do they want their children to be when painted.
I have been painting several families child by child, as they become a certain age. I find that 4 years old is very popular for those with several children. The other very popular age is, of course, 18 year old. Most families who choose to have group portraits done have them done while the children are young, all in grade school or mostly if not all in high school.
I have painted a few middle schoolers too and they seem to capture a genuine quality of what is to come in the child. Before all that serious growing up...
So in short there is no perfect time, but rather how you best wish to have your child represented as the years go on...and speaking of which, once the children move on to college you will be so happy to have their painted presence in your home!
Sonia Hale is an award-winning, nationally-collected artist in Boston. She paints commissioned portraits for families and institutions nationwide. Her original landscape and still life oil paintings can be purchased at http://www.soniahale.com. For more information, go to http://www.soniahale.com. You can reach her by email at soniahale1@gmail.com.
The next decision that a parent needs to make if they choose individual portraits, is how old do they want their children to be when painted.
I have been painting several families child by child, as they become a certain age. I find that 4 years old is very popular for those with several children. The other very popular age is, of course, 18 year old. Most families who choose to have group portraits done have them done while the children are young, all in grade school or mostly if not all in high school.
I have painted a few middle schoolers too and they seem to capture a genuine quality of what is to come in the child. Before all that serious growing up...
So in short there is no perfect time, but rather how you best wish to have your child represented as the years go on...and speaking of which, once the children move on to college you will be so happy to have their painted presence in your home!
Sonia Hale is an award-winning, nationally-collected artist in Boston. She paints commissioned portraits for families and institutions nationwide. Her original landscape and still life oil paintings can be purchased at http://www.soniahale.com. For more information, go to http://www.soniahale.com. You can reach her by email at soniahale1@gmail.com.
Friday, November 8, 2013
Luxury Christmas—Gift Certificates for Commissioned Art
My commission assignments seem to come in clusters. Sometimes its clusters of landscapes, women, teens or in this current case: young children.
Children's portraiture is special to work on as they are all about "Sieze the Day." Capturing young children accurately is a big responsibility in my eyes. It is stunning how fast they change from one season to the next.
Children's oil paintings and family portraits are an incredibly thoughtful and timeless gift for Christmas, Hanukkah, Birthdays and Anniversaries. For the spouse who has everything, why not treat them to something truly memorable and everlasting—either of your children or your spouse! A heirloom quality work of art will be never forgotten.
I am booked up for this Christmas for Christmas deliveries, but gift certificates are available.
Sonia Hale is an award-winning, nationally-collected artist in Boston. She paints commissioned portraits for families and institutions nationwide. Her original landscape and still life oil paintings can be purchased at http://www.soniahale.com. For more information, go to http://www.soniahale.com. You can reach her by email at soniahale1@gmail.com.
Children's portraiture is special to work on as they are all about "Sieze the Day." Capturing young children accurately is a big responsibility in my eyes. It is stunning how fast they change from one season to the next.
Children's oil paintings and family portraits are an incredibly thoughtful and timeless gift for Christmas, Hanukkah, Birthdays and Anniversaries. For the spouse who has everything, why not treat them to something truly memorable and everlasting—either of your children or your spouse! A heirloom quality work of art will be never forgotten.
I am booked up for this Christmas for Christmas deliveries, but gift certificates are available.
Sonia Hale is an award-winning, nationally-collected artist in Boston. She paints commissioned portraits for families and institutions nationwide. Her original landscape and still life oil paintings can be purchased at http://www.soniahale.com. For more information, go to http://www.soniahale.com. You can reach her by email at soniahale1@gmail.com.
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