Sharon Nowlan Time Together Framed Picture, Wood, Multi-Colour, 2 x 30 x 40 cm

SturdyI thought the pebbles would have been much biggerVery smallTis nice i suppose

Bought as a gift for a couple with a dog. They absolutely loved it

A beautiful picture perfectly framed. All my friends loved it as I do. Definitely value for money.

Love Sharon Nowlan pictures!Simple, beautiful, elegant.I've now bought a few and they look lovely hung as a group on my bedroom wall

Lovely unique picture.

It’s hard to appreciate from the 2D product images that this is a collage, if that’s the right word, using around sixteen small rounded stones, carefully shaped to form the silhouette-style image. How they’ve managed to mass-produce these I’m not sure, because the stones look very naturally shaped, as though this is were a completely unique one-off design that was inspired by the shape of this particular small set of stones that was found. In practice I think some clever weathering has gone on to allow it to be reproducible, but it’s very smartly done and does make it look like a unique and hand-crafted item.The presentation is rather nice, with the image set deeply inside a three-dimensional frame in a way that really adds to the effect. The MDF frame is nothing special and maybe a little over-chunky for my tastes but it’s reasonably in keeping with the artwork itself.The “Loyal and True” image is sweet and open to plenty of interpretation, and that’s where things get a little bit odd- though perhaps this says more about my psyche than about the art. There’s a couple shown, but they both have their head down somewhat, in a rather sad pose. Weirdly it makes me think that this is a couple who’ve either lost, or been able to have, a child (and the dog, like most dogs, is generally clueless about what’s going on).Then on a rather more childish level I see two other things in the picture I’m sure the artist would say that I’m not supposed to see. Firstly, the rocks that the couple are standing on bear very similar proportions to the body shapes of the couple (small rock head, long larger body, thinner legs)- as though the couple have managed to kill a giant and are now standing on its body.Secondly, and most childishly of all, there’s a rogue rock that stands on the right-hand-side of the picture- looking really quite a lot like a dog poo, and of course the dog is now looking at the couple to say “look what I did!” and the couple are hanging their heads because they’re so tired of having to clean up after the dog…So this picture did ‘speak to me’, as they say, but certainly not in the way it was meant to, I’m sure. And once you’ve started seeing that kind of feeling inside a picture, it’s really difficult to shake, and it’s not particularly pleasant.However for the nicely smart crafting of it, and the fact it looks so unique and has a bit of character that ordinary 2D prints can’t replicate, I have to give it credit on that level for sure.

The product page for this offers you six different pictures, including the Big and Little picture which I was supposed to receive for review, but the one I actually got was one of the others offered on Amazon – “Follow Your Heart”. See attached photo, which shows a woman standing on top of three boulders (presumably representing a hill), holding a balloon on a string. Although the photo suggests that the picture is monochrome, it actually has a subtle mixture of dark brown and slate-grey.The description says “the meaning of each can be open to interpretation, making it personal to the giver and the receiver”. Some are more obvious themes than others , for example, From This Moment and A Place To Call Home. Follow Your Heart would be a suitable present for a daughter leaving home, e.g. going to university. Big and Little is described as two siblings playing with a balloon; before reading this, I thought it was a mother and child, which is a good example of the “openness to interpretation”.The concentric rectangles on the front of the frame appear to be progressively inset, and this gives an impression of depth, but in fact the frame is flat. However, the frame is actually as thick as the optical illusion of the front suggests. The back has a good easel, but there is also a recess on the back for a hook if you want to hang it.I think the series will appeal to women rather than men. My wife thought it was a beautiful concept, and that the range gives a choice of pictures suitable for many different messages and occasions.