An Unforeseen Encounter

Stopping at the window and checking it twice, Santa enjoys an encounter with himself -- many times over.... more

by Steve Henderson

Buy the Original Painting

Price

$3,300

Dimensions

24.000 x 24.000 inches

Title

An Unforeseen Encounter

Artist

Steve Henderson

Medium

Painting - Oil On Panel

Description

Stopping at the window and checking it twice, Santa enjoys an encounter with himself -- many times over.

In the artwork, An Unforeseen Encounter, the viewer is invited to join Santa on his Christmas Eve rounds, and we stop, along with the jolly old elf, outside a store window display filled with figurines of Santa himself.

Intrigued, St. Nick takes off his glasses for a closer look (does this mean that he is wearing reading glasses? Or are the glasses fogging over in the cold?). Who ARE all these Santas? And does he really look that fat? Red does look good on him . . .

A slight smile plays across Santa’s face as he looks at himself, over and over and over again because, among the many attributes of Father Christmas is that of a sense of humor, and he is intrigued to see so many varieties of himself in one place.

It’s intriguing to note that, on the busiest night of Santa’s year, he has time to pause and look at the colorful window display. One would think, in a highly driven corporate culture like ours, that there is NO time for stopping, no time for a pause, no time to look at something that makes one smile.

But Santa knows better. He knows that there is a lot to do, and he will do it. But he also knows that driving oneself into abstraction is not the answer, and the person who is so focused on working all the time – even when time is pressing and there are deadlines to meet – is not in a good place.

We can learn from Santa – to work hard but to work wisely, to take time out for little breaks, and most importantly, to chuckle lightly at ourselves and not be so serious all the time.

An Unforeseen Encounter is featured in 17 Fine Art America groups.

Uploaded

April 24th, 2017