The Gift That Keeps On Giving

by Charlotte Savage

The doorbell rang, it was September of 1988, just before Rosh Hashonah., the beginning of our new year. I had been painting pictures for a little over two years when Rose, a member of my synagogue dropped off the gift I had won at a sisterhood meeting. Perhaps she hadn't heard me when I said I was re-donating it for the next meeting. From the doorway she saw my easel and the picture I was painting. She said she hadn't known I was an artist-- could she see what I was painting. As she admired my work I learned that she and her husband had been searching for over a year for a painting to put in the living room of their new condo. She asked if I would be willing to paint a picture for them. I told her that the picture on the easel was to be a wedding gift requested by my nephew and his fiance; I hadn't thought about painting for profit. My excuse being I didn't have professional grade paints and perhaps not qualified since my only training had been in an art class with twenty other people at a senior center. Rose said that she loved the painting on my easel and would be happy with whatever grade paint I was using. She had no idea what kind of painting she wanted other than she liked flowers.

I asked Rose if I could visit her condo and see what she had in her living room; which turned out to be floral drapes that went the width of sliding doors plus she had vases of artificial flowers on the tables near her couch. The couch and arm chairs were white, as were her walls. She definitely liked flowers. However, I suggested she already had enough flowers in the room.

The following week I showed her and her husband a picture I found in a calendar of Monet paintings. The painting had grass and trees in the foreground, a river, with houses on the far shore, and mountains in back of the houses. The size canvas needed above her long couch was 36 inches by 24 inches. With the deposit she gave me I went directly to the art store and purchased professional grade paints, new brushes and a canvas.

At first I struggled with the painting, I hadn't worked on a canvas of that size before. An artist friend visiting my home saw my confusion and suggested I paint it exactly like Monet did and then go back and make it my own painting, which turned out to be an excellent idea. The second suggestion he made was to enter the wedding gift painting in an art show and to my surprise it won a first prize ribbon. This helped a lot to build up confidence to copy a Monet painting.

I called Rose when the picture was almost finished and asked for a swatch of her floral drapes. Into the leaves of the trees in the foreground and the mountains in background I painted the colors seen on her drapes. My study of interior decorating and design, when in real estate, actually helped me in my painting.

On the completion of Rose's painting a couple of months later I delivered it to her house. She was going to have it framed according to her own taste. As she handed me a check I told her that if at any time she felt the painting not to her liking I would buy it back for the $500.00 she had paid me. She was a member of my synagogue and I wanted to make sure I had a satisfied client.

A few months later I received a call from Rose. Had I seen the show Sixty Minutes the previous evening, it featured Monet paintings? It seems Japanese people were buying copies of Monet paintings and paying as much as $10,000.00 for a copy. She hadn't realized what a bargain she had got and she and her husband and all her family really loved the painting. Something I was very pleased to hear.

Several years passed and Rose and her husband moved down to Florida permanently. She was bringing the painting with her in their car to make sure it did not get damaged. I reminded her that if it did not fit into her décor I would buy it back; she shook her head no. Over the years she returned to Massachusetts and the synagogue for Rosh Hashonah services and each year she would greet me with the words “you can't have it” then laughed and wished me a happy and healthy new year.

It was the very first painting that I had sold and it has been a constant source of pride to know that my painting had brought Rose and her husband so much joy over these many years. Her confidence in me, the joy she showed for the painting was the kind of gift that never stops.

This past September Rose was not part of the congregation, we could not wish each other joy in the new year. However, her memory lives on in my heart and mind because I will never lose my appreciation for a lady who had so much trust in me as to buy that very first painting. It is a gift that keeps on giving.

© 2018charlotte savage all rights reserved