Owl Family Paintings

My friend, Kristin, had a birthday on Sunday and a few weeks ago I painted an owl family canvas to give to her.  I had some cute ephemra with family quotes and I picked one that said "family, forever, for always, no matter what."  I glued that down with Americana Decopauge glue (my favorite - dries clear and holds well), and started applying paint.  I used the edge of my pallete knife to apply some turquoise streaks to the background, really like the result:

I drew on 3 owls as she has a little boy 2 yrs old, and choose some colors to compliment the background:


Here is the finished piece:

Since then I've made another owl family painting for my step daughter representing their family of four:

I enjoy making art for gifts but there is always that fear, what if they don't like it and it ends up in a closet somewhere??  I usually have a pretty good idea how the person feels about my art so I don't worry about it too much.

What about you, do you give your art away as gifts to family and friends?  Do you sale your original pieces, and if so, how do you determine a price?

I appreciate your visit to this blog and any feedback!