When Jo Ann first contacts me, she lets me know that the house she'd like depicted is not her own. Yet they have always loved the place from afar. They've mailed me several photos, and I can immediately see why. A graceful, well-maintained home, it perches atop a gentle hill surrounded by green lawn and great old trees. It had once been a private school.

Jo Ann asks me to envision the house as it might look on Halloween night, though she asks that I leave out the hidden spooks. She is quite clear on that.  The only manifestations of Halloween are to be an un-carved pumpkin, a black cat on the veranda, a lone figure in the tower window, and a flight of bats against the moon.

The painting is to be a surprise gift for her husband, so our correspondence is carried out rather clandestinely, through her daughter's email address.

Because of the second-hand communication, my feedback from Jo Ann through her daughter is brief and precise. Changes to my study painting are remarkably few, and yet it's clear she is pleased. I soon have a go-ahead to proceed with the painting, and when completed, it, too, is shipped to her daughter's home.

Now, I'm accustomed to receiving an enthusiastic email within minutes of the crate arriving and being opened to reveal the painting in all its glory. But this time, there's silence, though shipment tracking confirms that the crate has indeed arrived.

I decide to wait, but by the third day, can stand it no longer. I send a brief email query through Jo Ann's daughter, and receive this reply:

Yes, we have received the painting and my mother LOVES it!! it is very beautiful ... you did a great job, from one artist to another artist, it looks great!

Now I can breathe easy!