A while ago, I created the painting "Don't Mess with Me!"  I finished it in mid-Oct, then showed it in November's version of Sacred Flesh.  During the next month, I used up 4 6"x6" canvases I had just because I had them.  I painted vegetables on them with fun patterns in the background.  I had so much fun doing them!

When Chris saw them lying next to Don't Mess with Me! he held them up by her side and said, "I should make a frame for this piece that can hold all these pieces right next to it!"  When I agreed, his project for the next two months was born!  Last night he finished the final coat of paint after so much tender effort working on this gorgeous thing!  It's a very complex frame - he had to create the inside plus all the small outer frames.  First he built a tic-tac-toe framework, then the outer frame, then the inner cross pieces.  He had to do all kinds of fancy woodworking to connect the pieces - different kinds of joins, etc.  He had never done any of these things before!  The first one he made wasn't precise enough, so he started all over.  He's so careful and exacting - great qualities in a framer - and a husband - I am very blessed.

After sanding it for several days (necessitating a new sander, of course!), it was smooth as a baby's butt, finally ready to paint.  He put on a coat of primer then the paint we'd bought - but it was too light and too blue - so I mixed in some black paint, and the next coat was just right.

We haven't attached the painting permanently yet, so there's too much space at the top, and we're going to put a piece of black matboard on the back so you don't see the wall behind the piece, but otherwise it's finished.  I'm so excited!  I love Chris's concept, and I think it ended up looking really powerful!  It's a fun, fun piece!