To not know what to do about this gift :(

[Ifyourawizardwhydouwearglasses]

Oh dear :(

There is a photo in our house of me and my old dogs on the hills behind the house. It's been missing lately but I didn't notice it until recently. I love it and its one of my favourite pics ever.

Anyway, DH came in the other day with a large package. It was a painting of the picture. As a gift for me. It's a LOVELY thought......but the painting is terrible.

It's just....really bad. It looks like a gcse art project. At best.
I look like a weeble and the dogs are just awful - they could be any chocolate labs. In fact, you can't even tell they're labs. They're just brown dogs with back legs that don't bend properly. It looks like a child did it :(
God I feel awful saying this.

I can't even look at it because its a scene that is so personal to me, which has been totally spoiled.
He hasn't had a bill yet from the 'artist' but I'm sure it'll be eye watering.

The artist in question is a family friend (I don't know them, friend of his parents) so to return is as being substandard would cause huge offence all round.

Wtf do I do!?
Obviously I've said thank you very much etc, and I am SO touched by the thought of it, honestly I'm not ungrateful of the sentiment.

But what do I do with the thing? Should I be honest? He said 'its not brilliant is it...?' and he looked so disappointed.

:(

Send it off to a "framers"
Somewhere far, far away...
They have a long long back log of work ...
Even more at Christmas time...
Dam Royal Mail , I keep calling them and they don't know what's happened to it... Will have yo fill out a compensation claim firm....
When I get round to it...

NC because this would out me.

We got given a painting done by a family member of our son. It was hideous, I've never seen anything like it. Our darling DS was yellow and looked like a jaundiced chucky. Gives me shivers just thinking about it.

It creeped me out so much I called DH at work and told him what it was. He told me to put it in the spare room and wait till he got home. When he did he went and looked at it and came open mouthed in shock and said get rid of it. I took it to the bathroom, poured nail varnish remover on it and scraped the canvas clean.

Please can we see it?!!!!

FuckingAwful, you do realise that, by scraping down your son's hideous portrait, he will now become that jaundiced Chucky.

Can't believe how common this problem is!

FuckingAwful that's hilarious.

I would love to post it but it would totally out me and I'd feel awful if she ever saw it.

It's in acrylics so could be improved-ish......but not loads really as the basic shapes are wrong. I considered having a go at it but I just don't think it'll work.

The ironic thing is that I'm actually an ok artist myself and I know that I could have done better.

I just feel so AWFUL as she's an older lady who I know will have taken hours over it. It's all neatly signed and dated at the bottom.

Am I an awful person??

I could cope with it if it wasn't an image that was so personal to me - does that make sense or is it silly?

pluCa :D

Oh, an "older lady" does make it worse: terrible dynamics if a younger woman calls her on "sub-WI" efforts! Still... bah.

BTW, no need to at me: Fucking Awful was the one who described the fucking brilliant jsundiced Chucky!

Oh dear! Art is such a personal thing, it really does not make a good gift!

What a shame, it could have been such a lovely gift. A colleague's wife did a painting of our kids from a photo as a thank you for a favour. It's a bit chocolate boxish but it really captures their facial expressions and over the years I have come to love it. I couldn't display a picture I didn't like. It's so personal and in your space.

Trip over into it, whilst holding a bread knife.

Definitely one for the bathroom where you can chortle every time you see it. Or make it a personal symbol - every so often bring it into your boudoir as a sign that you're going to get jiggy with DH. Have a good giggle about it :o

A friend recently had a big birthday and we all contributed to the painting as a gift. There was great excitement at the surprise party as the birthday girl peeled off the wrapping paper... and revealed the worst painting I have ever seen. It was hysterically bad, like a twelve year old had tried to paint the two dogs (yes, steer clear of animals and children) but as the artist was a guest at the party everyone just stood clapping and biting their cheeks. Hilarious, not least because the friend has impeccable taste but has now had to hang the monstrosity in her home as her DH commissioned it.

Oh your poor DH how disappointing for him. He really shouldn't pay anything for it.

I can't help sniggering now, imagining your DH strolling into your bedroom, seeing the monstrosity work of art propped up on the pillows and thinking, 'Hayup! I'm in there tonight!' :o You could store it under the bed and whip it out as required.

If you really want a larger version of the original pic, which sounds lovely, cant you just have it enlarged and printed on canvas? If you love the photo, I dont see how an artistic interpretation could ever better it.

I'm betting he is more gutted than you

One Skinny Chip I like your style.

Have the photo made up into canvas the same size as the painting, and alternate on the same spot as required. Keep the awful version under a sofa nearby and train the family to swap out depending on who is at the door.

It was a few years ago and DS has managed to grow up very unchuckylike.

The painting wasn't something we asked for or commissioned, it just arrived in the post one day as a gift then the full horror was revealed when I unwrapped it.

The painter suggested if we didn't like it then MIL might want it, she would have but DH said no way was he having her put that up in her house and then tell people it was her grandson.

FuckingAwful, you see, you were treating the painting as a talisman, maintaining control of it so it couldn't be a proxy for DS at his GM's!

You VooDoo Vandal.

So OP have you paid upfront for this painting? What are you going to do? 150 squids is allot to part with for something you hate.

This 'older woman' obviously values her work quite highly. Charging you a fair bit. She's not done this out of the kindness of her heart remember.

(interested as i used to make a living selling my art)

Oh god I can totally see how this happens. No one wants to offend so everyone continues the pretence down the chain.

I have my own yearly nightmare of the artistic variety in my house

I went to a local craft fair a few years back and fell in love with a lady that did clay sculptures of animals. Her work was quite expensive so I bought this beautiful little pewter mouse and I luffs it. When my birthday came round my partner tracked her down and purchased the most beautiful white/blue hare, it's gorgeous. All good. Except when my next birthday came round I received two more fucking animals, but this time they are the kind of thing you can buy off the shelf in a shop and I had to fake happiness. I am scared that this is it now for life. Every year I'm going to get another animal until I die under a pile of the things and they find me necrotised years later with a rabbit imprint on my forehead.

We have a gap above our mantelpiece which is currently in need of filling. We have a good friend who is an artist, we love her work and have several pieces of hers up on our walls already. We had considered commissioning her with reproducing one of our favourite photos. I think you have just made up our mind for us, thank you!

My ma in law has absolutely no taste very different taste to me.

Her and Pa in law and the BIL's all have these revolting Scottish Puff Paint Clan pictures that cost a fortune mounted in their houses.

She rang and asked me if DH would like one for his 30th. As politely as I could I said no he wouldn't. Because he hates them!

She got it anyway. He received it with good grace because he's a nice guy. and we giggle at our Puff Paint picture in the hallway when we see it.

I am an Artist and I make a living from what I do. Double gutting to have Puff Paint horror on my walls.

I have to say though they did get a commission done of a large garden gnome to be done in the image of the Pa in law and it's the funniest thing, in a good way, I've ever seen.

I am intrigued as to what Scottish Puff Pain Clan pictures are! I am Scottish but this may be a phenomenon that has passed me by.

Thankfully we have not been gifted with art. We did once receive a Sunday Post tea towel from FIL with a sticker telling us it was a rare limited edition. I detest the Sunday Post and we don't use tea towels. Not sure what we did with it - probably in a box somewhere.

Puff Paint not puff pain. That sounds much more niche and not the kind of thing ILs would gift.