My Wife's Paintings
  
My wife has a passion for painting by numbers. This is a type of guided painting where you paint of pre-numbered canvas. We first come across painting by numbers at a relative's house, where my wife's cousin had done one. We were fascinated by it, and asked the cousin where she bought the canvas. We were told that it is at Gurney Plaza.
Searching around Gurney Plaza, we found that paint-by-numbers canvases are being sold at MPH. That was when we began buying. One painting leads to another, and when we have painted all the titles we wanted to paint from the selection at MPH, we continued to scout other places. We also found another company selling it at Parkson Grand and Borders, and after that we also found yet another company online, at Lelong.com. My wife likes the painting from Lelong.com, so we ordered a few canvases from there.
As of today (13 March, 2014), my wife has built up a virtual gallery of her paintings, which I am proud to display below.
Two Kittens
This is the very first paint-by-numbers canvas that my wife did. We both like this painting, which now hangs at our dry bathroom. We think the kitten on the right is particularly cute. This painting was completed around 9 June, 2013.
Doggies
This is my wife's second painting. Compared to the first, it is extremely difficult to paint, as each dog is meticulously detailed. Anybody who thinks that painting by numbers is easy should give it a try. To finish this painting, and many of the subsequent ones, my wife had to use a magnifying glass to read the tiny numbers. We actually made some small changes to the colour, particularly of the puppy on the top right, which we feel improves on it over the suggested colour on the box.
I always love dogs, and so this is one of my favorite paintings. It was completed around 4 July, 2013, and is now hanging on the wall above me in my study room.
Cherry Blossoms
After completing two paintings with animal themes, the next canvas my wife tackled is a scenery. It appears to be a Japanese garden in full bloom. The difficulty of this one lies in the riot of colours, which required her to keep changing from one colour to the next. It was completed around 22 July, 2013 and is now hanging in our bedroom.
Lakeside Villas
I had a déjà vu looking at this painting. I thought I have seen this place somewhere, but I cannot remember whether it is in Italy, Austria, Switzerland or somewhere else. This is also quite a difficult painting, especially the portion where my wife painted the reflection of the villas. However, we both agree that the reflection came out very nicely. She did a bit of modification to the painting in the box by adding more flowers to the bush on the bottom left. It was completed around 13 August, 2013, and is now hanging in our bedroom.
Montmartre
The next painting my wife did is a scene of a cobblestone street on a wet evening at Montmartre, in Paris, France. When we posted this painting to Facebook, a friend of ours mentioned it, and she's correct. The painting shows Le Consulat restaurant on the left, with the spire of the Sacré Cœur in the background. It was completed on 31 August, 2013. My wife places it on the sideboard in her laundry room.
Blooming Pasture
This is the first of many triptych (three in a row) paintings that my wife did. In comparison to the earlier paintings, this is quite easy to paint, as it comprises mostly of broad areas of solid colour. It was completed around 24 September, 2013. We enjoy the brilliant colours of this painting, and hang it right over our couch in the living room, where it adds some colour to the room.
Under the Shade (I)
This is the second triptych that my wife painted. We thought we liked it when we saw the canvas on the web, but after the painting was done, we both felt that the colour is too gaudy. We wanted something more detailed. As luck would have it, we discover that there is a second triptych on sale of the same scenery, which is much more detailed. As a result, my wife bought another set of the canvas and did the painting all over again. Under the Shade (I) was completed around 31 October, 2013.
Marshland
This is a triptych of a marshland, with waterlilies and egrets. My wife did painting for her father, who has a new apartment unit that will for now remains vacant. The painting was completed around 20 November, 2013, but for now remains in its box until it is ready to be hung.
Two Swans
My wife started this painting in 2013 but the project was interrupted because she put it aside to do the triptych paintings. When she had more or less done the triptychs, she returned to complete this one, of two swans in the moonlight. We felt the painting is very romantic, and like to think that the two swans represent the two of us. The date I have on the photo indicates that it was completed around 1 February, 2014. It now sits on the shelf in my study room.
Under the Shade (II)
This is the second time my wife did the same painting, using another set of canvas with a more detailed paint numbering. We both prefer this second one, which was completed around 3 February, 2014. We hung it on another wall in the living room, replacing the first painting, Under the Shade (I), which returned to its box.
Aged Bough
This is the final triptych that my wife has done so far. It is an aged branch of a tree in full bloom. What is unusual is that the blooming seems to take place in the dead of winter. Both my wife and I like this painting very much, which has the feel of a Chinese ink painting. We put in on the wall of our bedroom.
Santorini
After all the complicated paintings that she did, my wife found this one to be quite easy. It's a view of the village of Oita in Santorini, Greece. To be honest, we both feel that the canvas could be improved. The colour is darker than what was shown on the box, so this is an example of a painting that did not quite turn out the way we have expected. It was completed on 24 February, 2014, and was returned to its box.
Dolphins
As of time of writing, this is the most recent painting my wife has done. It shows a pair of dolphins, probably a mother on the right and her child on the left. What we like most about this painting is how the water surface is reflected on the two dolphins. Again, this is quite an easy painting to complete, as it comprises mostly broad areas of solid colour. The completion date for this painting is 1 March, 2014. We don't have a spot to hang it, so we probably will just keep it in its box until we decide where it goes.
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