Some artists don’t like to be told what to do, and therefore, don’t like doing commissioned work. While few of us care to be bossed around, the challenge of interpretation from viewer to artist can actually be fun. A puzzle to solve. A challenge to meet. My work is usually based in an idea or inspiration that has come to me but sometimes I am asked to paint an idea someone else has had.
In COMMISSIONED WORK Part 1, below, I talk about a specific project that I was asked to do. It was fun to step away from the intense details I had been working on with my series of tropical foliage paintings and to have the freedom of abstraction and a new palette . The challenge of taking someone else’s ideas and translating them until both painter and viewer are in agreement is tricky, but when it comes together it’s fun for everyone.
To see a range of commissioned work I have done on canvas follow this link and to see commissioned pieces done with watercolor go here.
Sometimes I have been asked to paint solely based on palette, with no imagery specified..
Sometimes I am asked to change one of my own compositions to fit a different shape, size or palette.
Sometimes it’s about a color change.
Or sometimes, a portrait of something or someone.
Whatever the requests, even the really hard ones, I am given a chance to step away from the intensity of my current project, enter someone else’s world, play, and solve a puzzle.