Commissions

A Day In The Park

I just completed this lovely family portrait. Each family that I work with is very unique and has very different ideas about how they would like to see themselves portrayed. In this particular case the children were the main focus. My clients wanted the activities that interest their kids to be the main story being told. In our interview I had my client discuss activities that their family enjoys doing together. She listed many things, but in the end we came up with summer activities in Minnesota, which include barbeque and picnics at the lake. There were also a few details relating to my clients Lebanese and Croatian heritage that she wanted included such as the houses with the little red roofs and the food that they enjoy eating. The children enjoy wearing their swimsuits,playing dress up and and pointing out butterflies and birds, while the father loves Nascar. I added as many details that worked in the composition and the image posted above is what we came up with!

Beauty Has Her Way

It's been a busy few weeks. Art-A-Whirl is coming rapidly which means furious art production in the studio, then cleaning up the mess so that it is presentable to the public. I have been making a series of smaller pieces lately that play with flirty poses and color. The piece I just finished was inspired in part by some commission sketches that I have been doing for a client. I showed the pose to my studio mate and she said that if the client didn't like it that I should do it anyway because she loved the look of it. So I decided to give the sketch a full color rendering. 

This is what the end of the day looks like when you kick off your heels and dive into the wine and tortilla chips... my new vice. I titled the image Beauty has her Way.

Splish Splash

This family portrait was completed in July 2010. We settled on the idea of a pool scene to capture the antics of the boys and also because hanging out at the pool is an important part of family life in the summer. Christmas cookies, chess and sports were important themes that we tied into the image to tell the story as well. 

Maple Grove Hospital

This commission was a year in the making! Maple Grove Hospital commissioned a pastel painting for the dining room in the hospital. They wanted a piece that reflected a variety of ages and some ethnic diversity. It took a lot of back and forth with a committee, which is why the piece took a year to make. The actual execution of the final piece took about two months. It is one of the largest pastels that I have done at 3 feet by 5 feet unframed.

 

  

The Recital

This is my newest completed commissioned pastel painting. My clients loved my musical themes and wanted something that related to their life on some level. I had a lot of creative freedom with this piece which was fun. My clients only request was that the piece had a girl playing the piano, a saxophone, and a Jack Russell Terrier somewhere in the piece. 

Fashionista

I just completed this sassy little piece for a client's daughter. It was meant to capture her love of fashion as well as some of her favorite things... check out the Pepsi can on the table. This is a 20"x20" pastel  painting. 

It's a Dogs Life!

I just finished this piece for a client who wanted to be surrounded by all the dogs that have ever been in her life. She loves bright color and wanted to be painted in her favorite dress from Mexico. She lived in Palm Desert California for quite a while and wanted to have that represented in the painting- hence the Mexican tile, gardenia bush, and humming birds flitting outside the window.

London Calling

I just completed a small piece that was commissioned as a wedding gift for my client's brother who is getting married in London. The groom is Russian and the bride is from Sri Lanka. I added an outline of the London skyline to pay homage to where they live, a floral pattern to represent Sri Lanka , a tea pot to Represent Russia and a cat because they like them.

Retirement Gift

I just completed this project that was a year in the making. It was a surprise painting for my clients husband who was retiring. It is a very symbolic portrait and I worked closely with my client to achieve a nice composition while still adding everything that she wanted. I love the way it turned out... and so did she!

Bright Lights Big City

This is the latest in a series of symbolic family portraits. I posted the sketch previously and am now posting the final piece. I love the colors and the night time back drop in this piece!