Happiness

The story behind the "Happiness" artwork is quite fascinating. When I decided to paint a squirrel, I found a reference photo online, though it was dark and not very clear when printed. Nonetheless, I didn't intend to copy the image exactly. Sometime before starting the painting, I came across an article about a truck carrying nuts that had overturned, scattering the nuts everywhere. Two weeks later, a photo showed a very happy, chubby squirrel. The reference photo reminded me of the story , so I completely dive into painting of the happy squirrel and absolutely forgot about the reference photo. I called this artwork "happiness" not only because of happy squirrel, but because I noticed that everyone, who passed by this painting and takes a look at it became smiling. Interestingly, after finishing the painting and revisiting the reference photo, I realized that the squirrel in the photo wasn't chubby or particularly happy. It dawned on me that I had created my own happy squirrel from my memory, imagination, and the pleasant impressions of the story. The painting exudes positive, happy vibes—I was even smiling as I painted it because I was in such a joyful mood.

The feedback from the buyer of this artwork: "We absolutely LOVE the painting. It brings lots of happiness and smiles! I also remember the overturned truck full of nuts."