To Mastery Or Bust: The greatest gift of all: linen, pigment, and linseed oil!

I received my roll of claessens canvas today, and just had to try it out. The first painting is 2x3 inches done on a scrap piece left over from an 8x10 piece I cut for a panel. It is a gift for a friend of my mother's. She originally asked for a painting I did a while back that was very similar to this one- but I have a bit of an emotional connection to that one. She said if I painted her another one it would be acceptable. :]

The second is a post mortem painting of another one of my mother's friends cat. this one is also a gift, that had resided under various watercolor sketches half complete until tonight. I think some may find the sentimentality of pieces such as these ( and also the cliche of the first) unpleasant; but sometimes an artist's rendering of these things hold more value to the recipients than a photograph would. And if the pieces were done with the artist keeping in mind things such as composition, color, value, edges, and brushwork, why should they be looked down upon? ( this is not to defend the likes of a Kinkade, however. There is a difference between cheesy and sentimental)