Here's a Fabulous (and Personal!) Holiday Gift Idea

What parent doesn't love the idea of commissioning a painting of their child? Something to enjoy at home, give as a gift to grandparents, and keep forever as a family treasure...

But there's the cost. And in financial times like these, when we're all watching our holiday spending, this sort of gift might seem out of reach. (And those less-expensive, but tacky-looking, digital "paintings" that are available online don't quite cut it.)

But artist Dare Johnson Wenzler of Lincoln Park Studio has created a unique art form that results in a painting that will be adored by you and your loved ones. Take a look at the painting Dare created from a photo of my son, Matt, and our dog, Charlie. It is hanging in our living room and I just love it.

Lincoln Park Studio is Dare (painter) and Mark (photographer) Wenzler. They are a husband-and-wife team and they live with their young daughter in Washington D.C.’s historic Capitol Hill neighborhood.

Dare received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Southern Methodist University and did graduate work in graphic design at Texas A&M - Commerce. Her work is exhibited at galleries and other venues throughout the D.C. metro area.

The paintings start with a photograph that she crops and adjusts and then transfers to stretched canvas. The canvas is then overpainted/overdrawn by hand, in layers.

A variety of media is used, including digital, acrylic paint, oil stick, oil pastels, dry pastel, carbon pencil and colored pencil. The finished painting is coated with a UV-resistant spray varnish.

Pricing depends on painting sizes, which are customized based on the image a customer sends and are not necessarily standard. To give you an idea of the cost, an 11 x 14 painting is $110, a 20 x 26 is $210, and a 30 x 40 is $440. Shipping charges are additional.

To get started, the client e-mails one or more images. Dare makes a recommendation regarding which one(s) would be best to use. She'll explain how she would digitally alter the image. (Usually this just involves cropping, but she's been known to lighten/darken an image or to pull objects out of a photo, etc.) She'll give size and pricing options. The painting takes about two weeks to complete.

“The paintings are like the photograph they are based off of in that they capture a moment in time," says Dare. "But the they're warmer, hazier, lovelier and somehow more 'real' than the photo. The paintings are more like how you might have experienced the moment if you'd been there. and they are also more like the way you might remember the moment afterward."

These portraits are "an opportunity for 'regular' people to commission a painted portrait without spending a fortune," says Dare. "The portraits are normally large, 2' x 3' and up, and make quite showstopping paintings for just a few hundred dollars.”

If you'd like to commission a painting for the holidays, the deadline is Dec. 8. For Valentine's Day, the deadline is Jan. 26.

And here's a special offer for Parent Talk Today readers only: Mention that you saw this post, and you'll receive a 10% discount on your portrait.

For more information and to contact Dare, visit Lincoln Park Studio.