Commissioned Painting - a case study

I've been meaning to write a commission case study for some time now but have been procrastinating...struggling to pick a commission to study as they're all so personal to the person who commissioned them.

I feel a weight of responsibility to keep safe the personal stories that have been shared with me on every commission. I know it's only a painting but inside the layers are precious memories that I've laid down on the surface but that doesn't mean they are now mine too.

I'm responsible for keeping those memories safe during and after the commission process.

Then I saw a post on IG about how bees will be getting ready to die off or hibernate at this time of year and hey presto, case study selected.

But before we start, I'd like to thank the lady in question who very kindly gave her permission for me to share part of her story with you.

The detail that started it:-

Rewind to 1st December 2022 and I was creating a painting for a small business supplying raw honey and mead products.

At the time I posted this 'work in progress' detail on IG and was contacted by one of my lovely followers to enquire about the full painting.

As the painting was already destined for a wall space of its own, we discussed my creating for her a painting in a similar style, using a similar colour palette and with a similar subject matter.

The mission:-

At that time, I knew this lady a little but she did have specific and personal reasons for wanting the painting and she kindly shared these thoughts with me.

To have a 'because' can really help me embed personal meaning into the painting while I work...it could be as simple as special place, a poem, even a colour; just a little seed that I can nurture and plant inside the painted layers.

For this commission and without giving away the personal stuff (because I just won't) the lady in question had a deep love of bees, handed down to her from her Mum - that was the seed, the hook, the 'because'.

And off I went...

The stages:-

Every painting goes through a series of stages - I try not to get tied up with what I want the finished piece to look like which can be difficult as I'm a self-confessed control freak.

It's why I like painting expressively; it requires that I shut out the noise in my brain and just be in that moment, thinking only about the puzzle in front of me - every painting is a puzzle.

I find that making as much mess and chaos as possible in the early layers helps because it gives me something to put order on and it's the best fun!

Soon into the process I hit what I call 'the messy middle' or the 'ugly' stage - this is when the painting says 'aren't we there yet' and I have to coax it into sticking with me for just a little while longer.

It's only over time that I've realised giving up at this stage, which is mostly what I want to do, is the worst thing ever because this is actually where the finish line is just around the corner.

The finish:-

Close to the finish, I do share images with the commissioner, just to make sure that we're all on the same page but what they won't know is that more than likely I've got a little trick up my sleeve for that extra bit of 'WOW' for the final push. This is where I add an element or two that makes the painting theirs and only theirs, an added level of uniqueness.

It might be some hand written notes, a piece of collage, even the painting title is secret until the handover.

Unlike my own work, my commissioned paintings don't get professionally photographed - this means that I don't ever publish the commissions or reproduce them in any way.

Because they've been inspired by someones private experiences I don't believe it's mine to share; in print format, splashed across a cushion cover or worse.

This is the best photograph I've got of the finished painting; of course the real deal is much more colourful and vibrant but I would say that wouldn't I...!

Click here if you'd like to know how to commission a painting from me.

I'm told this is a 3 minute read, so if you're reading this, thanks for taking the time to stick with it!

Next time...

I’ll be sharing a little about what being 'inspired by nature' means to me.