I have yet to wrap a single Christmas gift.  But the online orders are due to arrive any day and I am supplied and ready to dive in.  I love this part!!  Every year, I would wrap my gifts just so, often thinking of what type of wrapping the giver might enjoy as much as making it look artful and pretty.  Some may think, “what’s the point”?  It’s what’s inside that matters, right?  Well, not entirely.  You see, to me, the gift is the entire process– spending the time choosing something the recipient will enjoy, carefully and lovingly wrapping the gift, and seeing their surprise and delight when opening it.  In these paintings ( yes, paintings! ), Swedish artist Yrjo Edelmann presents us with meticulously painted images of hastily and carelessly wrapped packages.  Are these treasures or leftovers from “the gift closet“?

Now, just because a gift isn’t perfectly wrapped doesn’t mean that the giver didn’t put a lot of thought and effort into it.  Maybe wrapping just isn’t their thing.  Maybe they’re being ironic in a isn’t it more artsy this way kind of way.  But don’t we give more care to the things we find important?  Would you wrap a Picasso all willy-nilly?

Sometimes I think we are so materially blessed in this country that we are rarely truly grateful for even the smallest of things.  I remember my grandmother telling me the Laura Ingalls-ish tale of being delighted in receiving an orange every Christmas as a little girl.  An orange! Not an orange iPhone, not an orange Lexus.  A piece of fruit.  And she looked forward to it every year.  This season, its my hope and challenge to give and receive freely and thoughtfully and with a gracious heart.  Every gift will be as precious to me as an orange.

To see more of Yrjo Edelmann’s work, please visit the website of his representing gallery, Galleri GKM.

All images via the Galleri GKM website.