RECONSTRUCTING THE PAST

Hey all.
I have been busy working on one last piece before the holidays start. It is a Christmas gift for my Mom and Dad. Thankfully, neither of them reads this blog....or I would have to wait until after Christmas to post about it.....It's not that my Mom isn't on the computer everyday, it's just that she is too busy playing her online games to check out her only son's blog.......
;-)
So anyways, they wanted a picture of my Grandfather's barn. Easy.......EXCEPT....she wanted it to look like it did back in the 50's. Sadly, these are the only three pictures I had to go from:

Here is what the old barn looks like today. YIKES.

This is a little picture from the 40's.

This one is from the 60's.

So, as you can see, I had a big job ahead of me. The hard part was figuring out what the colours of the barn were! I had to email my cousins who still run the farm with a boatload of questions.
I sounded like a big 'ol city slicker!!! (Which I guess I am)
Ok, so here are some progress shots of this piece.
Enjoy.

Look at all my reference. It was crazy. Reference is the MOST important part.
Without good reference, it will never look right!

A quote from my husband. "Rob, a teal sky? Really? Is that YOUR favourite colour....or you Mom's?"
:-(

Coming along. No more teal sky!

Almost done. Except I do not like the final composition.

So, to finish it off, I cut it smaller, and repainted the leaves.
I then took it to my local framer (because my folks are of the FRAME EVERYTHING generation)
This is the final piece:

Hopefully it is well received on Christmas morning!
What do you think?
I'd love to hear from you!