{"id":21,"date":"2025-01-19T16:51:37","date_gmt":"2025-01-19T16:51:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theoliveraskew.com\/?p=21"},"modified":"2025-05-09T20:46:21","modified_gmt":"2025-05-09T20:46:21","slug":"a-christmas-miracle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theoliveraskew.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/19\/a-christmas-miracle\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas Gifts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Shortly before Christmas, I realized I could paint and manage small motor skill tasks again. I\u2019ve spent a lot of time trying to pretend that these skills weren\u2019t diminished. This came after being able to get on medication that has been incredibly helpful for my body. I\u2019ve been able to paint and draw again like I started to in middle and high school, and as I have gotten older, the concentration and power (physical and mental) that it takes to do those tasks had become too much. I remain incredibly grateful to the doctors and NPs on my team that have documented my symptoms, provided care, and ultimately answers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>I was happy to be able to create two scenes for two very special people. I set out to paint them separate things and then I just felt like this paper was theirs. I couldn\u2019t bring myself to cut it into their individual scenes. They belong together, in life and on paper. For a proper view, you\u2019d look at each side of the painting. The following are cropped and oriented photos for your viewing convenience! <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" src=\"https:\/\/theoliveraskew.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/img_1866.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-36\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Florida beach scene side.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" src=\"https:\/\/theoliveraskew.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/img_1867.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-37\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Colorado aspen scene side.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1500\" height=\"2000\" src=\"https:\/\/theoliveraskew.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/img_1875.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-38\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Framed and backlit.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1500\" height=\"2000\" src=\"https:\/\/theoliveraskew.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/img_1874.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-39\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Framed in a two-pane glass, second hand frame.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>For a friend of mine, who grew up in Paris TN. I\u2019m sorry they cut the trees down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1324\" height=\"1560\" src=\"https:\/\/theoliveraskew.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/image.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-15\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Watercolor on heavyweight paper.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"447\" height=\"447\" src=\"https:\/\/theoliveraskew.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/img_1750-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Paris, TN courthouse reference photo (not my photo).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1332\" height=\"1656\" src=\"https:\/\/theoliveraskew.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/image-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-17\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Framed in something second hand, picked out with love. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>As I began thinking of presents, my bank account reminded me why I was blessed with creativity! So I set out to create something special and challenge myself in the way only I do when I find out I can do a task. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1500\" height=\"2000\" src=\"https:\/\/theoliveraskew.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/img_1796.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-40\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Her two very cute puppers for my girlfriend\u2019s sister and husband. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1257\" height=\"1514\" src=\"https:\/\/theoliveraskew.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/image-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-42\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Reference photo of said puppers!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Shortly before Christmas, I realized I could paint and manage small motor skill tasks again. I\u2019ve spent a lot of time trying to pretend that these skills weren\u2019t diminished. This came after being able to get on medication that has been incredibly helpful for my body. I\u2019ve been able to paint and draw again like [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[6,5,4],"class_list":["post-21","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-artwork","tag-landscape","tag-watercolor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theoliveraskew.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theoliveraskew.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theoliveraskew.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theoliveraskew.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theoliveraskew.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/theoliveraskew.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":105,"href":"https:\/\/theoliveraskew.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21\/revisions\/105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theoliveraskew.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theoliveraskew.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theoliveraskew.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}