Strasbourg sunset triptych

It is always difficult to think of gifts for my Dad, and even more so because his birthday is right before Christmas. This year, I am on a homemade trip and have decided that pretty much all presents will be made by me and am even roping the boyf in to make some culinary xmas goodies for family! What to make for my Dad, though? I took some inspiration from Lucy over at Make Do and Blog and went with a unique oeuvre d'art.

This is the view from my balcony (lucky, huh?) and I will really miss it when we move back to the UK in a few weeks time.

On a bright, clear day you can see the Vosges mountains in the distance. Today is heavy fog, so not much of a view at all! I thought it would lend itself well to a triptych.

I bought a set of mini 7cm x 7cm canvasses at the local supermarket the other day and also some very reasonably priced acrylic paints and had a go last night at my first ever acrylic painting.

It wasn't easy to get the dark foreground to make it look like dusk, but the sky was fairly straightforward. Not having ever been taught how to paint, I didn't use any particular technique, just went for it!

The bumpy canvas wasn't that easy to paint on, but I got used to it after a bit.

Above is the third canvas with Strasbourg cathedral spire in it. There are fabulous views to be had if you want to climb the narrow, stone, spiral stairs to the rooftop.

I am pretty pleased with my final effort (difficult to stop fiddling with it!) and think it will make a nice little present for my Dad :)