Our Christmas day was quiet and peaceful. All the family gathers and celebrations happened a day or two earlier leaving us a full refrigerator of delicious baked goods and leftovers with plenty of time to enjoy. For me, I brought my easel and paints upstairs and spent most of day and evening painting at the dining room table near the fire with our dog under my feet and our cat on the chair next to me. 

Inspired by a christmas card I had saved from years ago. I once painted this same image on a very large canvas for St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Glastonbury. This time I decide to paint it small, 6 x 6 format that I'm accustom to these days. The base coat on the board was a salmon pink color which can be seen peaking through the paint strokes. I felt it gave a nice warm glow like an inner light or radiance coming from their skin.

It was a quiet and peaceful time of reflection. Such a magnificent gift. A perfect gift. Not just a baby for Mary and Joseph to hug and cuddle and kiss and adore… but a gift for us all. How incredibly thankful I am for this  precious gift and precious moment. Because so many times "the gift" is truly the moment in time when our eyes are hearts are opened to see clearly what the most precious treasure we can have here on earth.

And speaking of gifts, now I  get to give away the last Christmas Giveaway gift. A very special thanks to Bruce Belco for leaving a very wonderful and touching comment here on my blog about what he is thankful for.
And the prize…  and 8 x 10 dog portrait of his late dog "Baruch". Merry Christmas Bruce!

Thank you everyone who participated in the Christmas Giveaway… Hugs to you all!
Linda

Just a reminder….. just a few days left for the December Studio Sale which is still going on… until Dec 31.    click here to check out all the beautiful paintings on SALE!

The winner of Day 6 Christmas Giveaway is ….. Karen Gibbens! 
Thank you Karen for sharing your favorite Christmas memory! … which included… my brother and her brother! 
Day 6 prize is… an original mini oil painting!
Karen please message me your mailing address and I will send it out soon! 


Day 7 Christmas Giveaway Question: What are you most thankful for this year?
What am I thankful for...
This has been such a wonderful year for me in my art career but it wouldn't have happened without the love and support from so many friends, colleagues, and family. I truly appreciate everyone's support, kind words, family members and dear friends who have purchased my artwork, attended my art openings… I am so humbled by all your support…. And very THANKFUL! I'm thankful for the new collectors who have purchased my work at Maple and Main Gallery. A Gallery I am so thrilled to be apart of with so many friendly, helpful and amazingly talented artists! 
But what I'm most thankful for…...
My Family, my amazing Husband and celebrating the birth of Jesus tomorrow morning!
Peace and blessings to you all!
Linda

Ok, I'm back… needed to take a little break and spend time with my kids this weekend! Thanks to my friends who have been participating, commenting and patiently waiting for the next giveaway.

Day 5's question was: What's your favorite Christmas Song? 

Hi Everyone, sorry for the delay in this post, I wasn't feeling well last night and today I spent the morning finishing up a pet portrait and 4 hours on the road picking up my son from school. But I'm back and ready to give away a prize for Day 4… Thanks to my friends who participated in the Day 4 and

…...the winner is..Cindy Stevens!

Day 4 prize is a ceramic holiday mug designed for this Christmas… I can drop it off to you Cindy soon! Thanks again.

Day 5 Question is: What's your favorite Christmas Song?

This is one of my favorites and I just love how these incredibly talent young men and woman sing so beautifully…..

please feel free to share here on my blog in the comments or on my Facebook post and you will be included in Day 5 Christmas Giveaway! Thanks for joining in the FUN!


I will be giving away something on my blog for seven straight days. 
here's the link to sign up:
Linda's Art Blog
To qualify for the daily drawing you will be required to do something … nothing big…. maybe leave a comment…or make a suggestion…. share a link… it's all fun  … the prizes will include: a free print, free calendar, even a free mini painting! It's all for fun. And in the spirit of giving!
So, sign up today and get ready to win something!

So nice to hear about your Christmas traditions… from decorating the tree to lighting firework and even all the preperations of making this time of the year special.. thank you so much for sharing your traditions with me. 
Today's winner is …. Lois Diaz!
Day 3 prize is a set of 8 Linda S. Marino Art Notecards! Thanks Lois… I'll package the cards up and send them out to you! 

I love to bake! I can remember my Easy Bake Oven with the lightbulb that cooked the little chocolate cakes! How funny! My mom and I use to make lots of different shaped cookies using a 1970's cookie press… that would always turn into a pretend gun for my brother… we made the little green christmas trees with a cherry on top… the shortbread scotties and lots of frosted cut out sugar cookies.

I continued the tradition of baking christmas cookies with my kids…. below is a photo of Veronica and Ray making gingerbread cookies… that's one of my favorites. But my all time favorite is the chocolate cookie sandwiched with vanilla frosting and sprinkled with bits of peppermint candy canes…. made each year by my that my sister-in-law Gail ! Sooo delicious!

Some of you know that my husband Dean is just finishing up his first semester in Culinary Art School and he had to take Baking 101! And if you know Dean, the only thing he knew how to bake before this class was bread. But his skills in baking have soared and he's really getting the hang of it…. I should show you the photos of the delicious apple pies, double layer chocolate mousse cake, cinnamon rolls and so much more!

So today's question is …. What's your favorite Christmas Cookie and if you have a cookie recipe to share … we would love to try out some new recipes!


please feel free to share here on my blog in the comments or on my Facebook post and you will be included in Day 3 Christmas Giveaway! Thanks for joining in the FUN!


I will be giving away something on my blog for seven straight days. 
here's the link to sign up:
Linda's Art Blog
To qualify for the daily drawing you will be required to do something … nothing big…. maybe leave a comment…or make a suggestion…. share a link… it's all fun  … the prizes will include: a free print, free calendar, even a free mini painting! It's all for fun. And in the spirit of giving!
So, sign up today and get ready to win something!

How wonderful it was reading everyone's answer to which is your favorite Christmas movie and why? It looks like "It's a Wonderful Life" was the most popular… and I have to agree the story really puts life into perspective and reminds us of what's really important… family and community. On the funny side, Elf, Christmas Story, The Nightmare before Christmas and Christmas Vacation get the big HOHO. I'll have to be on the look out for some of the other movies  that I've never seen before…. like… Prancer, Christmas in Bayou and the Christmas Shoes. And we can't for get the classics like  Charlie Brown's Christmas, A Christmas Carol, The Grinch, White Christmas and Rudolph.  Thank you everyone for your comments… it's a great start to the 7 day Christmas Giveaway!

To pick a winner I went to Random.org…. and today's winner is Gail Shouvlin! 

Day 1 prize is a set of 5 Pink Ribbon Series Art Cards from my 2012 Pink Ribbon Series… 
Gail please send me your home address so I can get them in the mail to you!

Traditions are what knit our lives and families together… I just love hearing someone say… "When I was growing up we use to…." or "In my family we always…." So today's question is…. how would you finish either one of those lines? It can be simple or silly…. involving foods or an event… something from your childhood or a newly acquired tradition… 

When I was growing up I couldn't wait to see my cousins! Even though we didn't live very far from each other getting together at Christmas time was  the best tradition in my house… Christmas eve was spent with my cousins from my Dad's family… Susie, Judy, Peter, Sharon, Cindy, Marybeth and BJ. And on Christmas Day we would spend it with my mom's family. And even though it was just my brother and cousin Bobby we always managed to find something crazy to do!


And with my own kids,  we loved to pick out our christmas tree together. We would go to a local farm in Glastonbury walk around several times touching almost every tree branch. My son Ray was the best at picking out just right tree. We carried on that tradition when Dean and I blended our families together. Our first year together, we piled in two vehicles and headed over to a tree farm in Cheshire. Walking up and down the hillside with a sled in toe until we spotted the right one. Well, needless to say, the kids lost interest when the first snowball was formed from the freshly fallen snow….SNOWBALL FIGHT… which left  Dean to do the cutting and hauling and me…. well, I happy to be a spectator!  

please feel free to share here on my blog in the comments or on my Facebook post and you will be included in Day 2 Christmas Giveaway! Thanks for joining in the FUN!


I will be giving away something on my blog for seven straight days. 
here's the link to sign up:
Linda's Art Blog
To qualify for the daily drawing you will be required to do something … nothing big…. maybe leave a comment…or make a suggestion…. share a link… it's all fun  … the prizes will include: a free print, free calendar, even a free mini painting! It's all for fun. And in the spirit of giving!
So, sign up today and get ready to win something!

This is me, my brother Mickey and cousin Bobby ……  and from top left… my cousins.. Judy, me, Cindy, then Sharon, Peter, Susie and brother Mickey!

For the next seven days I will be giving away a little something from my studio to say "thank you" to all my friends and family for all your support this year… 
Each day I'll post a question and all you have to do is leave a comment on my blog or Facebook and you'll be entered to win a prize for the day. A name will be picked the following evening and I will announce the winner.

I can remember when I was a little girl my brother Mickey and I couldn't wait for my mom to bring home the December TV Guide from the grocery store. We would comb through the pages to find out when each one of our favorite Christmas shows would be on and dog ear it. Charlie Brown's Christmas was always top on my list but there was one Christmas movie that brought me both excitement and anxiety …. I can remember curled up in my "feetie" pajamas after my bath with my long wet hair wrapped in a towel…. I would turn to my mom and say  " I'm going to do it this year! I'm going to watch the whole thing … I can do this!" and my Mom would smile and say… " it's ok… you're going to be fine…" And I would be fine. Everything was great. I sang the songs. I knew the character's next line… but just as the pick went into the ice berg… I'd hid my head behind the pillow… waiting for that scene to be over… sure, I can laugh now… but to me… The Abominable Snowman…. was the scariest thing I had ever seen! So I would have to say Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer… was a childhood favorite.

But I have to include among my all time favorites… one my college roommates, Maureen, Chris, Ellen and I would watch over and over would be Christmas Story…… "you'll shot your eye out"….  it was a favorite during our WNEC days!

So what's your favorite Christmas Movie? Just leave a comment below or on my Facebook post and you'll be included in Day 1 Christmas Giveaway… 

I will be giving away something on my blog for seven straight days. 
here's the link to sign up:
Linda's Art Blog
To qualify for the daily drawing you will be required to do something … nothing big…. maybe leave a comment…or make a suggestion…. share a link… it's all fun  … the prizes will include: a free print, free calendar, even a free mini painting! It's all for fun. And in the spirit of giving!
So, sign up today and get ready to win something!

7 Day Christmas Giveaway! 
Join the Fun!

As my way of saying "thank you" to all my friends and family who have supported me in purchasing my art, attended shows, participated in the 30 in 30 challenges, encouraged me and just blessed me with such wonderful compliments ---  I want to give back to you!
 I will be giving away something on my blog for seven straight days. 
here's the link to sign up:
Linda's Art Blog
To qualify for the daily drawing you will be required to do something … nothing big…. maybe leave a comment…or make a suggestion…. share a link… it's all fun  … the prizes will include: a pack of greeting cards, free calendar, even a free mini painting! It's all for fun. And in the spirit of giving!So, sign up today and get ready to win something!